A Gnostic Childhood

Part XXI

More Labor Service

  After working for the Labor Service for one year, I received the certificate pictured on the left and a quite large pin like the one shown pictured on the certificate.... The pin looked great on my uniform and even though I knew that it meant very little, I was, nevertheless, somewhat proud of it.
 It made me a full fledged 'member' of the Service.
Of course, just about everybody got this after one year of service. But it made one look 'important' to new recruits and established a certain sense of having rank.

  And I did earn it, not through any heroic deeds or other accomplishments, but through being able to stand guard exposed to the bitter cold of German winters and the heat of it's summers.
 I have been so cold, on some windy posts, that I literally had to run for a while, up and down my area, in order to be able to continue. Sure, we had winter-caps with ear-warmers attached, but even that and long warm underwear, did very little to keep one going after an hour or so of total exposure in wind ice and snow.
 Two hours without a warm up in a heated guard-house is a very long time in the biting cold and we often swore to each other that we wouldn't take another winter.
But most of us did anyways.
 The summers, and especially the summer nights, though humid, were usually quite nice.
 One time, I remember, when I was posted at HQ on Clayallee, along a long high fence, walking up and down, a narrow wooded path, I suddenly felt watched and looking up discovered a large owl sitting on top of the fence looking down on me.
 This was quite an eerie experience.
 Just imagine, it's the middle of the night, you are all alone, and you have this unusually large owl, sitting only about five feet above you, watching you... And then you have to keep on passing by this weird bird every five or so minutes....
Plus, the bird didn't move at all, but like a sinister spirit messenger seemed quite comfortable in my frightened presence.
 This experience might seem comical today, but at the moment, it was very, very disturbing.

 There were also stories about a woman undressing herself nightly in front of an open window in a villa next door. Thinking that it might be something of an 'urban legend' among guards, I eventually did see her and she did exactly what was told about her. Why would she do such a thing, if not to tease the guards whom she must have known were watching her?

Destiny Unfolds

 One day, on my day off, I had a brilliant idea: -What if I went to see the American Chaplain at the little white church on the left of the entrance to Andrews Barracks and asked him for help in finding a sponsor?
 It felt like a good idea, so I dressed properly in sports-jacket and tie and took the bus to the Finkelsteinallee.
Driven by destiny I didn't even think this idea through. It felt like was given an inner command: Do it 'now or never!'

 Walking up to the American guard, and purposely avoiding the Labor Service German guard who was posted there also, I told him in English that I needed to see the chaplain and showed him my Labor Service picture I.D....
 ...And to this day, I'm still amazed that he let me go in and even told me to use the side door because that's where the chaplain's office was located.
 
 Knocking on the side door, I heard a kind sounding voice calling "Come on in!"
Stepping inside, I saw an officer with the two silver Captain's bars and silver crosses attached to his uniform.
Not knowing which faith he represented, Catholic or Protestant, I nevertheless felt very comfortable in his presence.
Despite of his officer's uniform and his military bearing, he spoke gently and reassuringly. In short, he liked me and I liked him immediately, and thus I opened up completely and told him, in my best English, that I just had to live in the United States and that I had made countless attempts to find a sponsor, but been, thus far, unsuccessful.
 He, looking intensely into my eyes while I poured my heart out to him. Reassuring me, after I had finished, that I had come to the right place and that he could steer me in the right direction.

 He explained that being a Lutheran pastor, he had strong connections to an organization called 'Lutheran Immigration Service' and knew their American representative in Berlin, a Dr. Otto, very well.
 Writing down Dr. Otto's name and address, located on Clayallee, for me, he handed me Dr. Otto's address and told me that he admired my courage and drive and that this man, the head of the Berlin branch of the 'Lutheran Immigration Service', could not only help me, but circumvent a lot of bureaucracy which I would have to encounter if I just went to the regular office of the LIS in Berlin.
 The address was Dr. Otto's private residence....  He also promised me that he would personally call Dr. Otto and give him my story and his recommendation before my arrival there.
 Not being able to thank this wonderful, kindhearted human being in an officer's uniform enough, I had tears of joy forming in my eyes.
 He patted me on the back and told me again how much he admired my 'guts' and resourcefulness.
 
 Saying my final "Good bye, Sir!", I walked towards the main gate of Andrews Barracks as if floating on a cloud.

  Of course, I went immediately to catch a bus and then the subway to 'Onkel Toms Huette' station on Clayallee.
Through my service in the Labor Service, this was by now very familiar territory.
There was the 'Shopping Center' and 'Outpost Theater' on the left as I kept on walking and looking for numbers at the gates of the many stately homes and villas which I passed.
 Finally, after walking down Clayallee for about thirty minutes, I found Dr. Otto's residence.
 
  Dr. Otto, a somewhat rotund man in his late fifties answered the door bell immediately and after I told him my name, asked me to come in while telling me that he had just come off the phone talking to the Army Chaplain.
Happy that I didn't have to go through the whole story over again, I was asked by Dr. Otto to sit down.
 Dr. Otto then told me that he was impressed by the Lutheran Army Chaplain's recommendation and that, indeed, he would be able to help me.
He had me fill out some papers and told me that the whole process would take from six month to a year and that there was no absolute guarantee of a sponsorship, but that he thought my chances were excellent.
Urging me kindly not to give up while waiting and not to loose hope, he rose from his chair, taking my filled out papers and led me gently to the door.
 Again, tears were welling up in my eyes as I thanked him for his kindness by seeing me and helping me. Shaking his hand many times, I said "Auf Wiedersehen!" and went back to the subway station.

  The ball had been set in motion and I just knew, that destiny had lead me to both men.

  After a couple of weeks I received a letter from the offices of the Lutheran Immigration Service in Berlin-Steglitz to please come there for further instructions.... Yes, Dr. Otto had done as promised....and had worked his influence for me.

  At the offices of the Lutheran Immigration Service, I received all kinds of papers to fill out and a list of documents which I had to bring in for verification. I didn't need to get a German Passport because I had already received one in 1962.

 After having taken care of all the paperwork, I was told to be patient and wait for a sponsor in the United States to send me a personal letter to my home address.

  And sure enough, after about six month, I received a warm letter from an 'Evangelical Lutheran Church' in Arlington, Virginia in which the Pastor, Dr. Schumann congratulated me and told me that he had picked me out of a list because I was a 'refugee' working for the US-Army and thus being able to at least speak and understand some English.

 I couldn't believe it and neither could my mother, who had probably hoped that this immigration thing was just a passing and impossible pipe-dream of mine.

 Pastor Schumann told me that he and his congregation were my official sponsors and that I should report as soon as possible to the Immigration Service office to receive the notarized certificate and further instructions.

  When I received this letter, it was the middle of March. And, of course, I went immediately to the Immigration Service office.
They told me that I would receive details of my departure date in the mail within a few days and that I was to go to the American Consulate and present my notarized certificate of sponsorship there in order to obtain an immigration visa.
I also had to get a lot of 'shots,' -vaccinations, which were to be marked in a little booklet like folder and presented to the Consulate. The shots were given at a special office and I also had to bring proof of vaccinations I had received as a child.
 
 Leaving the Immigration Service office, I immediately went to the Labor Service and filled out my resignation.   

 Everybody was impressed that I had managed to accomplish what very few had been able to...
 
 And there were many young men working at the Labor Service who wanted to immigrate.
 
 Taking a couple days off in order to go to get my shots and go to the consulate, I would still work there until April the seventh, 1963.
 Word of my upcoming immigration went around our company quickly and one day Pete Wagner, whom I had only seen around, up till then because he belonged to a different platoon, approached me and told me that he too was going to America in May and that his sponsor was a distant nice living in Danbury, Connecticut.

 We agreed to definitely meet at his apartment in Berlin-Wedding and in America, no matter what.

  After going through my vaccinations and presenting my childhood shot record, I went to the Consulate at Headquarters Building where I had stood guard countless times and where this owl had harassed me one entire night...
  Presenting my sponsorship certificate to a secretary, I was asked to wait.
Then the Consul called me into his office where he gave me a little speech about immigration and eventual citizenship in the USA.
 Finishing his lecture, he also told me that as soon as I arrived in the USA, I would be subject to being drafted into the US Army. He also explained to me that I could refuse to be drafted but that upon this refusal I would never, ever be able to receive my citizenship. Then he handed me a waver and I had to sign with my name that he had made me aware of these facts.

 He then signed a formal visa and I was ready to go.... If only I had a definitive date.

 
Clayallee HQ's

   When I arrived back home, I had a letter from the Immigration Service waiting for me.
It contained all the specifics I needed.

 I was to fly from Berlin-Tempelhof airport on Pan Am to Hamburg on the 16th of April, stay overnight at the 'Turm-Hotel' and my propeller plane, a 'Super-Constellation' operated by Capitol Airways was leaving for New York Idlewild-Airport on the 17th.
 The letter also told me that we would stop at Brussels - Shannon, Ireland - Gander, New-Foundland, Canada - and from there we would arrive at 10 am at Idlewild-Airport, New York City.

  The 'countdown' had begun and my time in Berlin was running out.

 I still had to visit Pete Wagner, my new friend, at his apartment and also say "good bye" to my grandparents in Berlin-Spandau and my aunt Gerda in Berlin-Tempelhof.
 There was also Peter Haller and his mother as well as my old friend Joachim Bandmann in Berlin-Britz to say "good bye" to.
 Just one day before my departure I went to say "good bye" to my friends at the Tempelhof Airport fire department, especially Herrn Gaertner and Shorty, who both couldn't believe that I had really managed to accomplish what I had said I would.

  Pete introduced me to his sister Ingrid, her three year old daughter Pia and his brother Klaus at his apartment. We had coffee, beer and lots of cigarettes while sitting in his living room discussing my upcoming adventure which would, almost an exact month later, be also Pete's adventure.
 Giving Pete Pastor Schumann's address in Arlington, VA, he promised to bring it with him to Danbury and write me a post card as soon as he could. We all were instant friends, real friends, a friendship which would last for more than forty years.....to this day.

Go to Page XXII to continue the story

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