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ARGE Gemütlichkeit in Hamm-Pelkum

It was Alt Heim week at the Selbach Park in Hamm-Pelkum back in . May, when the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Danzig met under the direction of Karl Kniep for an enjoyable gemutlichkeit of Danzig discussions, good food, auction, good beer, and all that goes with it! We had the pleasure of driving from Ronny van Waardhuizen's home in Antwerp with Rick Jacobs, who is a native Danziger, eager to enjoy the postwar reconstruction. It was fortunate that we met Burt Miller, from California, who was able to lend us enough DM's to get out of the hotel and country. You see, we arrived after the banks closed an Friday and left an Sunday. Eddie Krause and son Richard offered to drive us to Hamburg in his 2-1/2 seater, but that didn't work out. Fortunately, the German trains run an VISA's, so we avoided riding the rods, or walking. A remarkable sight was watching Heinz Pauli write checks; believe it or not, nearly every photo shows Heinz writing something, obviously checks, while our Personal Banker Burt Miller looks on. In the lower photo, we assume that Heinz is trying to impress Karl and Ronny with his map of buried treasure. Aside from the eating, drinking and banking, we enjoyed meeting new D.S.G. members Hans Vogels of the Netherlands, Hans-Joachim Düsterwald, & Volker Horak of Germany. Betty and I enjoyed seeing Hilde Kniep and the other wives, too. Burt drove us to the Hauptbahnhof for the next leg to Hamburg and then to our flight destination -Danzig!

There are so many things about modern/ old Gdansk / Danzig to tell about that it is difficult to begin. In later Reports you will hear about the ride to the top of Bischof Berg and the fantastic view. But what is more mysterious is the well kept brick building, with Neptune leaping from the northeast corner, which now houses the Police, formerly known as the Polizei under the communists. It was from this point, commemorated by a plaque, that the Russian general gave the order to begin the campaign against Danzig in 1945. Legend has it that one of the priests at St. Michael's Church offered a case or two of vodka to spare the building from destruction. It must have worked. Another building that was able to escape is the Old Rathaus near the Radunia Canal and the Great Mill, because the Soviets needed headquarters after the siege and decided on this. We failed to look inside the old meeting hall in what is now a Culture Office, but that will wait until next year. It was enough to see the Bischof Berg, the southern bastions and the fine national museum, all in one morning !

 

Arge Danzig, Rundschreiben 153, 14.9.1991, Seite 889.