Lars Niehaus, Kathrin, Joerg Leistikow, Siegrun & Andreas Leistikow standing by the statue.
We spent a great week in Pommern, we being Joerg Leistikow, our grandchildren Kathrin and Lars Niehaus, my wife Siegrun and me. Our son Joerg drove us. We started on July 28th, to enjoy the anniversary of the consecrating of the stele (statue) which we previously set up. On Sunday the 29th we went to the church service in the Labenz church. While we were there thoughts came to me about the banishment of our family on December 16, 1945, as we came to the church together. Back then I sat in the first row on the left side. My seat on Sunday was in the 3rd row left. As we entered, many memories came to me of the times of old. I was very troubled, even after so many years. The Catholic priest remembered us from the consecration of the stele last year, and he often looked over at us. But unfortunately we did not get to have a conversation with him.
A visit to the cemetery and with the stele, the lime tree and the 2 benches brought us the memories of the consecration on July 30, 2017. Every time, including this time, there is a stick laid on the statue which exceedingly excited us. It symbolizes that the memorial is well accepted by the people of today in Labenz.
Of course the holiday wasn't over so quick. Then we drove to Kolberg, to swim in the Eastern Sea. In these types of temperatures we used every opportunity we could take to cool off. Then we went to Tempelburg in the large Dratzig Sea, in the sea near Teschendorf, and we marveled at the small castle and swam in the Saranzig Sea. We made a pit stop in Stargard, to see the renovated city wall and the fortifications. Of course, it was important for me to show my childhood home on Repzinger Weg to my grandchildren. They were quite interested.
With this Pommern trip I brought the roots of our family nearer to Kathrin, Lars and Joerg. On the 3rd of August, the last day of our Pommern visit, we met with the family Zielinski at the Labenz cemetery, to take a few minutes and thank them for their great help putting up this statue. We said goodbye with a dinner together and we left Pommern.
On July 28, 2018 I drove with my grandparents, my uncle, and my brother to Pommern in Poland for a week. Semmingly last minute, I said yes to the trip and was excited to see the birthplace of my grandpa, the place where my ancestors lived and to get to know the area.
We visited the cemetery of Labenz, the place where my grandpa lived for the first 7 years of his life. Then we went to the catholic church there and enjoyed a church service, after which we went to the cemetery and sat on the benches near the statue that was made a year ago for everyone that is buried there. We came back a few times to this place during the week, and Grandma and Grandpa told us stories from their childhood and their fleeing from there.
The countryside in Pommern was very beautiful. Especially impressive I found was that every few Kilometers you could find another sea. I read later on Wikipedia, these parts of the Pommern Seaplates originate from the Ice age. The weather was great and we were able to swim every day in the clean, warm Seas. Other than that we visited the eastern see for 2 days, on which we could lie under the sun on white sand.
The visit with nice polish friends of my grandparents was also very good. They had a garden, that was growing a small paradise. It was in the middle of the nature with a pond, sunflowers, fruit trees, and many other plants. They took us in nicely and made sure we had fresh apple juice and homemade cookies.
It was very important to my grandparents, that they pass us down their memories. I loved learning a bit about our family history. very interestingly but also scary were the stories of their flight, that began in Poland and ended in Nottuln. Of course, I knew about the uncivil background of the war, but it was something very different to learn about the direct affected people like my grandparents experienced, and the role they played in the story.
This topic is very emotional for my grandparents, my grandpa hung onto many memories as we were visiting places of his childhood. Of course we have grandkids, that were born decades later, that have a very different perspective of the war than the people who experienced in for themselves.
It is very important to me, that we listen to our grandparents, develop an awareness for the stories and be active in keeping Peace.
Kathrin Niehaus