Instructions Go On Toilet Paper

German people discovered their wanderlust,  their love for travel and the Volkswagen Beetle ascended to their preferred companion.
For each and every destination or excursion - be it the coast, the mountains, Fairy Parks or Zoos - Koziol produced and provided the matching brooches or pins, souvenir pictures on vases or wall plates. Worldwide!

Koziol had become the world's biggest  souvenir factory. The down side was that Father constantly had to come up with new "inventions", new ideas. I still can hear him sigh: 'I wish we would produce Coca Cola, they never have to come up with a new concept.'
To help with inventions of new items he traveled the world far and wide, at least five times a year, Mother in step, to find and come up with new ideas. Somewhere overseas, Father then would sit in his Hotel room and scribble and draw the results of his brainstorms on rolls and rolls of toilet paper - for lack of actual stationery at the time. Each single message was neatly wrapped together and addressed to the according department back home and every other day an impressive package of abducted toilet paper would arrive at the factory in Germany. Father was omnipresent even when he was not physically at the factory and his employees shook their heads in unison, grinned, laughed, took it seriously and got to work.

The return home of my parents was always highly anticipated and a holiday for us kids Father would not only bring suitcases FULL of samples for the company but also gifts for us from the respective countries they had visited.

A most important part was  played  by our "Master" Jakob Müller, an Ivory Carver in his own rights in creating new items by first carving them in wood or resin. For several decades Mr. Müller coined most of Koziol's figurines, from angels and flowers to animals and manger figurines, engraving his distinctive style on them.
The biggest success however was the 'Roaring Hart' (stag), gilded by a vacuum coating of 24K Gold. Mighty silly and immensely beloved by customers. "Greetings from the Black Forest."
Above: Jakob Müller at his work bench

Not that we didn't have a beautiful childhood, but I have only a few recollections of my parents being in it. Our resident Nanny was a certified Kindergarten teacher who resided next door to our "Kinderzimmer" (Children's Rooms).  Her name was Marianne and she played a big role in our upbringing - mine and my younger siblings.
Edith, the first-born and Bernhard Jr., the heir to Father's throne, were not in the equation, as I recall. Honestly, I have no idea where they were and what they did as small kids. I surely was too young.
I know however, that later on Bernhard attended a Jesuit Boarding College for 9 years and Edith was accepted into a French Boarding School in Switzerland and later at one in England.
My memories of both start when I was a teenager when they were actually visiting home only during school breaks.
BIG sister Edith was my Idol!

Our "Fräulein Marianne" played with us, taught us and had to go walk with us, every day.
First we went to get our daily 3 liter of milk directly from the farmer in the next little town. The milk was carried in a big tin can and sometimes part of it was being separated and kept out of the refrigerator to create soured milk. And hmm, this was delicious, ceaten with sugar.
After getting the milk though, Marianne would always take us for a visit to her family to have her afternoon coffee and cake. We played and had fun in their huge backyard on dirt soil, in a shed, in the barn, chasing chickens running around. Of course I did not tell Mother that we did not walk, instead went with Marianne to her parent's house.
The barn in the backyard was huge and had a porch roof reaching over the dirt floor where the family dried laundry in air, wind and sun, just like we all did at the time.
One afternoon, bed linens hung to dry and they were big enough for me to hide behind. To hide my feet exposed beneath the hanging linens I reached up and grabbed a wooden overhead plank to pull myself up. Unfortunately by doing so I jammed a rusty nail into my right hand.
Oh no, I did not scream or cry. I took the nail, ripped it out of my hand and threw it away as far as I could, attempting to make it undone, go away!
I knew, nobody would pity me; to the contrary, I would be slapped on the top my head.
So I went back to Marianne's house, said nothing and hid my hand behind my back all the while trembling with fear about what my punishment would be. One glance to my face and Marianne knew that something was wrong. Her mother being a nurse, bandaged my hand. But Marianne now feared she herself would be the object of retaliation when we finally returned home. After all, it would prove that indeed we were at her home, not on a walk through meadows and woods as Mother had instructed.
Uh, this respect that we all had for Mother and Father. It really was more fear, at least on my part.

As luck had it, the flesh around my wound grew into the bandage, which eventually brought on a case of lovely sepsis. I survived, but was no witness to what poor Marianne had to endure on account of this misfortune.

To be continued! (Read from chapter ONE!!)


Please don't forget to hug your kids tonight! Sadly, I totally missed out on that :(
Hugs and/or showing affection was a no-no in our family.

In the meantime, Please, sign up, become a "fan", follow me? Leave a message? Tweet it, click on +1 ...?? I'd be grateful. Thank you!
 

This is what I am doing now, trying to pay my bills. Maybe you find this very gift you were looking for? :

This is my Store - Offering OLD Ivory and MUCH more

My personal Web Site
And I am selling part of my jewelry HERE

Kindly
Johanna (YooHUNNa)
.... scroll down, there is MUCH more:
You GOT to start at the Beginning: Chapter 1 !

Koziol invented the Dream Globe, taught dish brushes and shoehorns how to stand on their own two feet, and made the world a more colorful, cheerful place. Since 1927, koziol characters have been colonizing households around the globe. And while their shapes and functions may have adapted with the passing years and trends, the underlying philosophy has never changed:

Make your world a better place and yourself a happier person.

Political Trial leads to Trade Mark

11)


1952 was the year that German scientist Dr. Albert Schweitzer was duly honored with the Nobel Peace Prize for his tireless dedication and work at the Jungle Hospital in "Lambaréné", the Capital of Gabon, Moyen-Ogooué District, West Africa.
Humanist Schweitzer was reckoned Germany's idol of the time.
Dr. Albert Schweitzer *1875 †1965




Germany grew and so did our family. My parent's number Five arrived and my older sister and brother NOW could rightfully moan that they had to "share" even more because that's what they already did when I, being number three, arrived. 
Yeah, my jealous older siblings!
(This was conveyed and told by "outside sources"  ;)


I vividly remember one morning standing in front of the big blue sink in our "Kinderzimmer" (children's rooms), my mother braiding my pigtails when I finally noticed that she had pretty well grown out of proportions.
'Mutti, du bist aber dick geworden in letzter Zeit!'
(Which is to say, "Mutti, whew, you are eating more? You became very big lately!"). As it would be an embarrassment, she whispered that "we" are expecting a baby.
Not missing a beat I just answered: 'I hope it's a boy, we are already 3 girls'.
And that was it. I still was a tiny miniature edition of the human species, mind you!

In the middle of the summer the youngest member of our family arrived and YES, it was a boy - our "Goldi-Locks".
Stephan was a pretty baby and even stayed that way throughout his childhood, which, what experience taught me, is not always a given. Everybody loved and adored him and we older ones where - you guessed it - mighty jealous. Five kids were naturally divided by age gaps - it panned out that I was the "big" one of the three youngest. BAD position to be in.


I was not the first born, neither the heir to the throne. I was not "finally a son again" neither sickly as my younger sister who demanded a lot of attention.
I was not pretty (matter of opinion, sure) but a tomboy and healthy to the bone.
I was the "Sandwich Kid". 

And let me tell you THAT was not desirable and no fun. No soul was interested in me.
This was surely no pleasure in our family where always nannies and household helpers were around, living, sleeping and eating with us. That made for a huge family where guests - business and otherwise - were always welcomed too. Sometimes we had a "midday meal" table of 12 or more people. Chatter occurred only when strangers attended; otherwise, as told before, our meals were taken in silence. The parents spoke a little "business" to each other but that was all.
At one point we had a household maid who was a sunny happy-go-lucky young girl. Her name was Gisela. She teased my Father asking him to smile for a change. Father looked mighty irritated at her and produced a wry smile. After dinner she asked him:

'So, Mr. Koziol, tell me what you just ate'. This question made my eyes bug out, stunned as I was by her sassiness.
No, Father could not tell. Gisela had noticed what was daily reality for us. Father was always totally absent, his thoughts away on business and politics. Naturally, Mother felt miffed and gave the girl the evil eye. How dare she expose this!
Mother had pottered about in the kitchen all morning and her husband wasn't even aware what he had swallowed.


Father's company kept growing and being the character he was, he also took care of his people. Once a year all company employees received a "lunch bag" (a little bigger than that) that even included a small bottle of wine and were invited to a day-long excursion either by train or by ship, cruising the Rhine River, always ending at a nice restaurant where all their hungry bellies were filled. Having fun was mandatory, and these events became the year's highlights.
Come Christmas, Father arranged for a Christmas Party right under the roof of our factory in our so-called "Festsaal", Festival Room that even had a stage with lighting and a curtain. Today we would say a Party Room, right?
Carnival Societies held their festivities there and Koziol produced the needed Carnival fraternity honor medals.


These pictures are similar to the honor medals we made









Now we had a church and a festival room for many societies to hold their festivities there and in case you are wondering: yes, use was always free for everybody who would behave properly.

Father's business had nothing to do with Ivory anymore although he had become an avid collector of all things Ivory and more over a collector of all objects of beauty and artistry. Those would consist of figurines and unusual mirrors, elaborate antique or just elegant chairs, illustrious chandeliers and lamps, Persian rugs, crystal, wood carvings as well as artistically aesthetic jewelry for my mother. The most beautiful (and expensive) porcelain was used daily. He wanted to see and enjoy it, not look at it stashed away behind glass.

The firm's hallmark had changed too and and in an unexpected way:
It all started with Father's involvement in politics, and a trial.
Father was fully engaged in politics and therefore it was inevitable that he had to clash with some big shots. He was never shy to speak his mind. He fought for what was right - even with the help of full page ads in the area's big newspapers. He was "THE Koziol" - not Mr. Koziol anymore.
I even had the honor to "be seated" on a knee of Germany's Chancellor Konrad Adenauer in our famous Gentlemen's sitting room during one of his visits to our home.
Father was engaged in such a big fight with one of his political foes that it ended up in court. It was a two weeks trial but one day when I returned home from school, I found the house flooded with flowers.
For me that just meant that the trial was over. Finally! There had been no subject other than the trial spoken about at home. It was dreadful and soooo boring for me.
All the flowers though, were the sure sign that Father had won.

During the trial this important member of the Parliament was so lost after all, that he did not know what kind of "kitchen sink" to throw at my Father after all else had been attempted. So, he resorted to an insult, by bringing up Father's unusual name.
'Your honor, do you even know what the name "Koziol" means when translated? It is Polish and means Billy Goat.'
The entire court room went into a laughing fit for such an "ingenious" defense.
Father himself had not known this and, needless to say, used it to his advantage.
  

Our new Hallmark was born

Later on, the "Mr. Impo-tant" who challenged Father even had the nerve to ask for compensation for his "invention." Politicians!

To be continued! (Read from chapter ONE!!)

Please don't forget to hug your kids tonight! Sadly, I totally missed out on that :(
Hugs and/or showing affection was a no-no in our family.

In the meantime, Please, sign up, become a "fan", follow me? Leave a message? Tweet it, click on +1 ...?? I'd be grateful. Thank you!
 

This is what I am doing now, trying to pay my bills. Maybe you find this very gift you were looking for? :

This is my Store - Offering OLD Ivory and MUCH more

My personal Web Site
And I am selling part of my jewelry HERE

Kindly

Johanna (YooHUNNa) .... scroll down, there is MUCH more:
You GOT to start at the Beginning: Chapter 1 !

koziol invented the Dream Globe, taught dish brushes and shoehorns how to stand on their own two feet, and made the world a more colorful, cheerful place. Since 1927, koziol characters have been colonizing households around the globe. And while their shapes and functions may have adapted with the passing years and trends, the underlying philosophy has never changed:
Make your world a better place and yourself a happier person.

American Officers sent Father to Prison

10)

Time: Must have been around 1945-46 after American Officers occupied part of "our" factory.

At some point, after the occupying forces moved in (and as I said, thank God it was the Americans in our part of the country, Hessen, South of Frankfurt!) they wondered why Father was not a soldier, was not drawn to the war front. They figured "He must have been a good Nazi" with lots of strings pulled for him. Consequentially they threw him in jail. There was little Father could do to prove that they could not be farther from the truth.

Officers combed his offices, files, and papers.
What they found was no sign of any Nazi membership, but rather found a letter from Father addressed to one of the dreaded Party Croesi, suggesting just the opposite. 
In this letter he excused himself from a Sunday's Nazi mass "cheering" because "he had received a lorry full of coal by train which he had to unload to keep the factory going, his people working and making sure the military-related items would be delivered on time".

 In a BINGO moment, the stunned American officers had change of heart.
 "If this man does such straineous and dirty work himself, all alone, on a Sunday - and has 100s of workers under his command, THEN he did not WANT to go to this meeting."

It was true. Father pulled many similar stunts - besides, he never did shy away from dirty work. He DID empty this entire train wagon on that "oh-so-important-for-the-Party" Sunday.
After two weeks in jail Father was released immediately upon discovery of the truth about his allegiance. But during his brief incarceration, he observed the dire conditions of the prison, and returned with a troupe of his own workers to paint the entire jail inside and out.
"End of story" ... so to speak. That was once again just soooo my Father.

All of this of course was one of many reasons why he and the Americans got along and why he was well respected. The officers listened to him and helped out where they could. Father never had to beg in vain for sugar, flour or milk powder and then again: this infamous grease (please see chapter 8). He fed many, many people.

Father was a God fearing man, yet absolutely down to earth. While he was no hypocrite, he sometimes made a "deal with the devil," to achieve a greater good.
He trusted in God without many words and most of all without trying to convince others. He just did what he deemed was right and he did not ask anyone. We did our prayers in the morning, before and after meals, at night, went faithfully to church but there was never any talk about God. It just wasn't necessary.

He was successful - to me it seems today - with everything he touched and started.

On Sundays, after our collective breakfast, the complete family sported their best attire and marched to church, attending 10am mass. My Mother had a very good singing voice and was heard throughout and by everyone.
"Oh, Mrs. Koziol is in the house"... people would say.
(I laugh about this now, but at the time I was morbidly embarrased.)

In the early 20th century Catholics were in the minority in our part of Europe but with all the refugees from Eastern Countries the Catholic population grew by leaps and bounds. We had no Catholic Church. Father though had more than enough room in his factory and thus provided space that was converted into something like a church hall. I think it held up to 250 parishioners. He had artists decorating the walls with relief carvings, the seats were chairs, there were no church pews.

After church and dutiful "meetings and greetings" we marched home again, Father worked through his mountains of business mail and we waited for "Dinner".
Our "Dinner" naturally taking place at 1pm was called "Mittagessen" - "midday meal". This was our main meal. The family had to be there; every single day our table was decked in white linen, white napkins and silver flatware. We used our linen napkins for a week and recognized our own napkin, because the napkin rings, of silver or Plexiglass, were engraved with our names.
Only Father was allowed to have a drink with his meal. Usually it was milk.
(Having no drink with a meal is unthinkable today. And honestly, I still do not drink anything during a meal, if it is not wine ;-)
We were not allowed to speak. "One does not talk while eating." Children may be seen but never heard.

Every day after our midday meal Father would rest, take a 30 minute nap during which each and every present soul had to be silent and sneak quietly through the house, if necessary.

I always had the dubious honor to be seated at Father's left during our meals and cannot number the countless times he pulled my right ear up, up toward the ceiling.
My other siblings were seated either far away from him or not even present in later years. They attended boarding schools... until it was time for me to suffer the same fate.

MUCH more to come.

This is my birth town, Michelstadt, dubbed "The Pearl of Odenwald". Enjoy my little Video presentation ;)

Please don't forget to hug your kids tonight! I totally missed out on that :(
Hugs and/or showing affection was a no-no in our family.

In the meantime, Please, sign up, become a "fan", follow me? Leave a message? Tweet it, click on +1 ...?? I'd be grateful. Thank you!
 

This is what I am doing now, trying to pay my bills. Maybe you find this very gift you were looking for?  :

This is my Store - Offering OLD Ivory and MUCH more

My personal Web Site

And I am selling part of my jewelry HERE

Kindly

Johanna (YooHUNNa) .... scroll down, there is MUCH more: the beginning!

Phoenix from the Ashes

9)
1949 - 1951
American tanks still rumbled through our town, ruining the blue stones of centuries old cobble pavements. Boy was I scared.
They were so terribly LOUD and huge. I was hor-ri-fied. I remember being at the opposite side of our house and needed to cross the street to go home. I did not dare to run between two tanks. Frozen with fear as I was the soldiers were sitting on top of the tanks having a blast throwing chocoloate bars and introducing chewing gum to the old world.
"Shawing Goom" is what we read on the Wrigley wrappings and that's what the kids were screaming for. "Shawing Goom, Shawing Goom"
(Owing to my extreme youth, I don't know how I even remember any of this. But I surely do, even now I still see myself looking in horror at these tanks and sticking my fingers into my ears.)
My parents hated this "shawing goom" and forbade us to chew in their presence and actually all together. "One can not imagine that any one with good manners would CHEW and throw that stuff around in their mouths all day long and in front of other people"!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now two new states were born. Germany was divided into the German Democratic Republic (DDR) and the BRD, the West.
The East first was fed by Russia, just as the West was supported by the Allies. The Soviet Union could not let the population starve because after all they wanted to take over, thus had to pretend to be friendly.
Sadly however, the Russians dissembled entire productive facilities, complete industries, even the tracks of railroads because Russia had nothing left either.
I can not even start to imagine how chaotic life must have been in the east sector. They were totally isolated - there was no in or out. (Which of course got worse in August of 1963 when the wall was built to halt a mass exodus and keep 'brains' in the eastern part of the country.)

1949 West Germany conducted it's first free and democratic election:

A Catholic Attorney and former Mayor of the City of Cologne,
Konrad Adenauer became the first post war Chancellor, after a while affectionately called:
"Der Alte" (The Old one)
Adenauer shaped the politics of West Germany for more than 14 years
and managed to raise Germany's reputation in the world again.

********

German soldiers were still imprisoned in Siberia, Russia in 1958 !!!
and Adenauer was the one who traveled, negotiated, and begged
the Russian Government to finally free them.
He was successful, but not many were able to come home.
Most of our POWs had starved to death.

********

Surely you have heard of the world famous International Frankfurt Fair - a fair for all kinds of goods and the biggest in the world of it's kind. (It could be though, that Shanghai in China might be bigger now)
Father attended the International Frankfurt Fair since the first one in 1948 (Twice a year the Koziol company is present to this day).

This was one of the first if not THE first display ever at Frankfurt Fair,
presenting Ivory and the new "imitations" (1948) Today Koziol is represented at over 40 international fairs every year.

The only thing Germans were longing for now was working and living in peace. They were busy as bees rebuilding their country.

My Father though came up with an ingenious idea. And naturally there is also a story to it.

T'was winter 1950 when a man drove through the forest surrounding his home town and became stuck in a snow drift. Looking back out of the window of his VW Beetle he saw in front of tall firs two deer  that were probably as stunned as he was.
Snow was falling softly and because this man was my Father he immediately saw a "story". It was the birth of the world renown Snow Globe, right there in the middle of a dreamy snow covered forest.

Yup, Bernhard Koziol sr. invented and produced the first Snow Globe ever. An item that I think everybody owned at one point and has fond memories of.
Being a child and wanting an allowance I always had to earn it. I painted figurines or the back "sky" onto the clear globes. I glued scenes together or - later on - had to clean those LOUD, big, greasy injection machines or work benches. This work was carried on after school or on Saturdays and during school vacations.
I earned a dime and then later a quarter per hour and although I didn't like it, I learned some discipline. I had to write an invoice before I got paid and I remember at one point Father handing me a letter saying that he is only paying me if I "promise not to waste the money and spend it on things that are harmful to the body". Yes, I am serious!
Yet today I think he had a good reason to ask for responsibility because I was a bad tomboy, always fervently wishing to be a boy. Yes, I had dolls, but the more welcome gifts were cars big enough for me to sit in and race around. No tree was too high for me, I never ever had "clean" knees. We were not allowed to leave our vast backyard and visiting kids from the neighborhood were almost hand picked. I always was the "leader" but looking back we were not aware then how much our parents had isolated us.
In hindsight - THAT was NOT a good thing for me.

MUCH more to come.

Please don't forget to hug your kids tonight! I missed out on that :(

In the meantime, Please , sign up, become a "fan", follow me? Leave a message? Tweet it, click on +1 ...?? I'd be grateful. Thank you!

And this is what I am doing now, trying to pay my bills :

This is my Store - Offering OLD Ivory and MUCH more

My personal Web Site

And I am selling part of my jewelry HERE

Kindly

Johanna (YooHUNNa)

USA to the Rescue

8)

1945 - 1948

Following the defeat of Germany after the World War, the country was divided into two states: The Federal Republic of Germany (BRD, West Germany) was founded on democratic institutions, and the German Democratic Republic (DDR, East Germany) a totalitarian Stalinist Dictatorship which became a client of the Soviet Union.
Berlin, located in East Germany, was also sub-divided into four sectors. The ostensible purpose was both administrative and diplomatic. On one hand, the Potsdam Agreement among the allies implemented the post war German borders and areas of allied control, while the Morgenthau Plan laid the foundation for a new economy, stripped of military and industrial capacity. On the other hand, Potsdam and Morgenthau placated the Soviets, who were determined to completely swallow up as much of Germany as possible.

The eventual outcome was a reborn West Germany which rapidly became the most productive and richest economy in Europe, and an impoverished East Germany where living conditions and industrial production were a sad reflection of a failing Soviet economy.

However, in the years immediately following the end of hostilities, misery intensified by magnitudes in ALL of Germany's occupied zones and among all its people. West Berlin in particular was at high risk. Completely blocked and encapsulated by the Russians on the ground, the only access to West Berlin was by air. Care packages of food, coal, medicine and other necessities were brought in by a massive, round the clock airlift, an "air bridge" whose planes became affectionately nick-named "Rosinenbomber." "Rosinenbomber" translates to "Raisin Bombers" and that's exactly what they were, especially for Berlin. In addition to the tonnage of raw materials, the planes dropped candies, treats, and yes, raisins, launched from the open cargo doors and cockpit windows of the "Sky Train" which was Berlin's only life line in those days. Many of these confections were actually attached to their own little parachutes.
"Raisins" sailed from the skies.
The Allies saved thousands and thousands of lives.

Additon - I personally JUST learned today:
There is a cute story to the "Rosinenbomber", perhaps apocryphal, about how the whole raisin bombardment thingy started. Evidently, it was an individual pilot in the airlift who tossed some candies out one day, but the idea caught on and was eventually supplied by donations from US citizens. The military supported the effort completely, because, in addition to the nutritional value, it helped Germans understand that Americans were not monsters or oppressors, and it helped US citizens understand that the German PEOPLE were not their enemy.

As I mentioned before, we were lucky not to fall in Russian hands. US soldiers and officers confiscated parts of Father's company facilities. Not without a fight though - the officers demanded too much space and Father stood up and sternly said "no".
'We need space to continue working and space for refugees too.'
He got his way; the officers wisely agreed and we worked together.

Even so, the American officers also came to our home and took (or "borrowed?") a lot of our silver (meaning our flatware - silverware).

In time, the American officers, enlisted men and my family all got along pretty well. (Although we did not get our "silver" back.)
The officers watched my Father carefully and he watched them.
At one point Father's observations of the American's cooking and eating habits drove him up the wall. 'These guys are THROWING stuff and FAT and OIL away!!' he exclaimed. 
He was outraged.
So, he finally confronted them
'Hey guys, you are throwing fat and oil to the ground and my people are starving to death!'
He mainly communicated in gestures, with his hands and feet, because of the language barrier. And in truth, from then on, he received everything that was left over; sugar, flour and of course the infamous fat they didn't want.

 Production at Father's factory, controlled by the Morgenthau Plan, turned to consumer products like combs, buttons and especially those buttons for "Lederhosen Hosenträger" (buttons for the renowned suspenders of Bavarian leather pants).

MANY, many years later it dawned on me what Father witnessed and was talking about back then, when he confronted the American officers about food waste. It was the grease from cooked bacon that is thrown away by the tons to this very day! Yeah, sad.
Father collected every little left over crumb and gave it to the women whose husbands still didn't come home and who had to feed an entire family, including all Omas (Grandmother), Opas (Grandfather) and Enkel (Grandkids); and many aunts and uncles, too.
MY Oma though, my Father's Mother, was a tough cookie in her own right. She went into the forests, collected mushrooms, the fruits of beech trees ("Buchegger" is a kind of a nut), blueberries, hazelnuts and brought them home. She gathered "factory second" Koziol-made buttons and combs, took them to the farmers and exchanged them for eggs or even a chicken now and then!!

My Oma! She DID have a strong mind of her own!
When my Father married his wife, Oma was mightily upset that the bride did not bring a sewing machine into the marriage! Yup! Customs were more rigid back then.
By the way, this Oma was the very one who wore wide skirts so she could pee directly on the ground - and she was my Godmother! We shared the same first and last name. And I am VERY proud of it. (Although she didn't like me too much... I think!) She always preferred my cousin Ute, [R.I.P., my dear and best Friend] the daughter of HER daughter Lucie.
This Oma, though, had a wicked sense of humor of which, sadly, my Father had only a slim inheritance.
At one point, "unsere Amis - our Americans" how Father called them, drove my Mother and her big belly in a Jeep to the hospital to have her third child. They were excited to no end. "Frau hat baby", which translates to "Woman has baby, woman has baby!!" they shouted in their broken German. Well, this baby happened to be me and "our soldiers" helped bring me into this world. Mother had problems and they HELPED, literally. Yup, there was a doctor too among them. They also gave soap and powdered milk to my Mother who in return donated it all to the hospital.

That is one incident among many that made me feel very fond of America and all things American. Who would have thought that I would even end up living there one day?
Nuh, surely not I.
The only thing I always "had" was this "wanderlust". I wanted to see the world. I NEEDED to learn about different cultures and today I feel like I have lived MANY lives before. Indian, Japanese, Chinese, American, African but mostly and strongly Asian, actually. Is this possible? I believe so.
You know who was my very first "love" - music-wise? No, not the Beatles or Rolling Stones or any band like that.
It was Harry Belafonte, Fats Domino and the like and their music, lyrics and style. The ONLY live concerts I have ever been to in my life (besides classicals, of course) was to see Harry Belafonte - twice in Germany!
Crazy yeah.
But, well, I am getting ahead of myself now again. I am, after all, still a baby at this point in my story.

PLEASE, don't forget to hug your kids and tell them - they are doing GREAT!

MUCH more to come.

This is my birth town, Michelstadt, dubbed "The Pearl of Odenwald". Enjoy my little Video presentation ;)

Thank you JS Geare for correcting my sometimes very "personal" English ;)

In the meantime, Please, sign up, become a "fan"? Leave a message? Click on +1 ...?? I'd be grateful. Thank you!

And this is what I am doing now, trying to pay my bills:

This is my Store - Offering OLD Ivory and MUCH more

My personal Web Site

And I am selling part of my jewelry HERE

Kindly
Johanna (YooHUNNa)

Dreadful Times (not only for Europe)

7)

1943
The Western Allies intensified their air strikes. Numerous German Cities were bombed to rubble and ashes.
The greatest loss in my opinion was the near total destruction of Dresden on February 13, 1945. Just THREE months before the end of the war in Europe.

Dubbed "The Elbflorenz" (Florence on the Elbe) and esteemed as "Europe's Capital of the Arts", the city is located east of Berlin in Saxony and was home to countless works of art and antiquities, housed in famed and ancient museums, cathedrals, schools and institutions. Hundreds of planes bombed the city for 3 days and the resutling firestorm leveled 15 square miles. The death toll has been variously estimated between 25 and 100 thousand civilians.
Yes, yes, many people say the Germans had it coming. I agree - but Dresden represented nothing but art, churches, cathedrals and museums. For these to go up in flames was soooo senseless.

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Telling you the truth:

Growing up I surely did not feel comfortable about being German. As a child I thought I had to be "ashamed" to be German. I was totally consumed by this collective "sense of guilt" and was not able to shake this feeling far into my 40s.
While visiting foreign countries I always tried HARD to hide that I am German. (But no, not anymore!)
Why? I'm not sure. Maybe because I saw so much of the hardship that Nazi Germany had caused. We always had people and refugees around who lost everything. Father constantly plundered Mother's closets and cabinets for bed linens, towels, clothes, blankets even tooth brushes. And she complained and scolded him but he just laughed. That was just so my Father.
As for me, personally, my Father molded me. Today, I wish I had only half of what I have given away over my life.
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Dresden later was part of the Soviet zone, thus, we were not able to visit. The East German Government (DDR) did little or nothing to reconstruct the once bustling and gorgeous city.
I visited in 1990, a year after the Berlin Wall came down, and was literally in tears. I was overwhelmed by seeing what an abundance of beauty and art has been destroyed there. Irreplaceable treasures... paintings, buildings, bridges, art, art, and more art. Dresden was, and still is, being rebuilt after Germany's reunification - for the most part using the original stones or what was left of them.
Today, I'd send everybody who wants to see "Germany" to... no, NOT Heidelberg! Dresden it is!! Dresden is a must see for every visitor.

 -> on the right: The reconstructed world famous "Frauenkirche" (Church Of Our Lady)

Then, just think of the incredible Semperoper (Semper Opera). It too was reduced to rubble. See picture -->

The East German Government restored it though. It was a matter of prestige.

OK, enough distraction for now - the above was my heartfelt info / opinion about this incredible City of Dresden.




1944
The Allies landed on the Normandy shores. Germany lost on all war fronts. An end of WWII was in sight.

For some reasons that are unknown to me, Father managed to stay away from the Nazi Party. And for some more mysterious reasons he knew from the very beginning that this Party would become deadly. He KNEW it was bad. And he always said 'it will not last'. Whenever possible he would hide or work even on Sundays to have excuses not to attend Party meetings. He hated the whole "mishegas" (Yiddish for insanity or craziness).

Father had not been drafted because his factory produced military-related necessities. Alas, his employees were wives of soldiers bleeding out in Siberia or elsewhere on war fronts. They were mad and bugged him about why he was still at home.
One day they had him worn down - he jumped on a train and left for Berlin to go to the war front. His train was underway for maybe 2 hours when my Mother found out.
Now SHE jumped! Into a car, that is, and raced to catch the train. Yes, she caught up, found him, dragged him out and drove back home.

1945
The 'Deutsche Reich' (yuk, how this sounds to me)  surrendered unconditionally on May 7, 1945. In August of that same year, the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Japan and forced them to surrender. Germany was living off food stamps, stamps for ONE egg, for milk, and potatoes. We ate them even when they had sprouted; nobody suffered food poisoning.
The Koziol company survived with no damage to the facilities.

AND then the Americans came. (We were lucky not to be "sold" to the Russians.)
Father "took them on". He made them help, you better believe that.


1946
Hunger reigned and droves of refugees appeared everywhere. The Nuremberg Trials started in Bavaria late November of 1945. Koziol provided work for many war refugees - they were all displaced and coming from the East. Most of the women wore head scarfs and long, wide skirts. (You are wondering now who they were? Well, about 90% were Catholics). They had their scarfs tied under their chin.

I remember Gypsies too. A lot of them. They came in their wagons "parked" on the side of roads and lived there. We had none close to our family though and we children feared them like the devil because we were told horror stories about them. Sad, huh?
 Tell you what - my Oma (grandmother) wore those wide skirts too. She got MAD when we stole an apple from the trees in our own garden. She had counted them all (seriously)! But one day she stood there and peed on the ground. We kids screamed and giggled - she just laughed. These wide long skirts were pretty convenient... you get my drift  ?

Oh my Lord, so much history, so many memories in my head, all told by my Father.

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Please don't forget to hug your kids (I never received one)

 ... to be continued.
Thank you JS Geare for correcting my sometimes "very personal English" ;)

In the meantime, please leave a message? Click on +1 ...?? I'd be grateful. Thank you!

And this is what I am doing now, trying to pay my bills:

This is my Store - Offering OLD Ivory and MUCH more

My personal Web Site

And I am selling part of my jewelry HERE

Kindly
Johanna (YooHUNNa)

Moving on to New Pastures

6)

1938

Hugely successful were all kinds of animals;
it's light hearted during difficult times

These are all original photographs from back then

Father's business was outgrowing his workshop. Almost 100 people were crowded into the available space to work the coveted jobs. But the Boss had already planned ahead. Was it a coincidence that ground was broken for a new, larger building on the very same day that his first child, Edith, was born? May 5, 1938

1939

The finished building had more likeness to a Sanatorium than a factory

Creating our own steel moulds

Injection moulding section

Ladies scraping the seams off and hand painting many items

1939 - 1940

By the time the new factory was ready, the old shop was bursting at the seams with a work force of over 150. Yet, the optimistic expansion of the business occurred in step with darker political and military developments of the nation. Despite the attempts of Western Allied Powers to appease Hitler's own designs for expansion, Poland, Denmark, Norway, The Netherlands, Belgium and then France all succumbed to the blitzkrieg as the Reich swept through western Europe.

Honestly, I am cringing here ... I know the entire history but it hurts me to put all this into writing - AGAIN.
Understandably the political changes had huge impacts on Father and his company though.

Inevitably, the rapid expansion of the German frontier beyond its borders prompted greater control of resources within them. Father had just finished a major order for a national social relief organization when the order came.
His business was to cease fabrication of jewelry and vanity items and turn to production of war and survival materials, instead.

1942 - 1943
The company suffered the same fate as so many others did. Parts for tanks, radios, and ignition devices had to be produced from now on. There was no "beauty", no more Ivory.
The male work force count went down to 40 employees; women had to take over the brunt, 20 of "our" soldiers did not come home anymore.

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Please don't forget to hug your kids ... to be continued.
Thank you JS Geare for correcting my sometimes "very personal English" ;)

In the meantime, please leave a message? Click on +1 ...?? I'd be grateful. Thank you!

 

This is my birth town, Michelstadt, dubbed "The Pearl of Odenwald". Enjoy my little Video presentation ;)

And this is what I am doing now, trying to pay my bills:

This is my Store - Offering OLD Ivory and MUCH more

My personal Web Site

And I am selling part of my jewelry HERE

Kindly
Johanna (YooHUNNa)