Mother was gone. Now what? The Pan was not happy and he had two kids on his hands.He had children too. I remember one name....Angie Milzarek..about 3years old near the age of my brother Diet. I got a picture of him that my Uncle Erich Redschlag obtained during his visit to Poland many years ago.I tried to see if he was on F-book but no luck so far.This could be another adventure if I decide to visit POLAND to face the ghosts of the past for I have not made peace.If I do go it would be to meet him face to face and thank him that his father took us out of the concentration camp and to get a cup of dirt from my brother Armwin's grave side if I can find it. I want to bring back that dirt and sprinkle it over the resting place of my parent in Belvidere,Illinois so that the family can finally be united forever in the Land of Promise.This will the title of the book if it gets done...The Journey to the Land of Promise.
What was Pan Milzarek's solution?...He had heard of a camp for orphans in another area and so he hired a guy to drive us there.We were put on a wagon drawn by horses and off we went into the unknown country side.I don't remember how long the ride was but when we got there ...no camp.The driver did not want to go back.He had been paid and his job as far as he was concerned was done.It seemed like the Hansel and Gretel story...except we had two Hansels and we did not drop bread crumbs or stone pebbles to find the way back.Evidently somebody took us in and gave us shelter for a short time. It was summer and the weather was kind.We must have been near a bigger city for I remember big chimneys near by.The kids in the area knew we were Germans and they pointed at those towers and shouted that all Germans will be burned up at that place.My God the ghost of the past do not go away easily.Can I make peace with the past?...
How did we get back to the Pan Milzarek's farm? I really do not recall.My Uncle Erich Redschlag keeps telling us that he found us walking on a dusty dirt road near the village he was living in.Maybe we had a homing sense or a build in GPS.We ended up staying at Pan Milzarek' s farm for he did change his mind or heart or the local authorities pointed out to him that he could not dump us as he had first planed.
Time went by...we became older.I became useful as a herder of geese and slept in the horse barn for a while until Grandfather Redschlag decided it was time to leave Poland before we all became lost on those dusty roads.
There are some more memories of the period before we snuck away into the night.Mr.Fester,Mrs Pauline Fester's husband was working on a different farm...he was old, in the 70s,not treated well for he could not work hard or fast enough...probable was beaten,kicked around by his keepers...he died one night.Somebody dressed him up and laid him in the wagon that came by our farm and stopped to pick up his wife for the trip to the cemetery. I think he was buried in the same place there my brother Armwin was laid to rest.I didn't know better and curiosity made me climb up and take a look.
I also remember my first exposure to maize ...field corn at that time a new crop that the farmers were trying out.My future dance with corn and the Green Giant is another story.
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