Through an unusual, and I believe divinely orchestrated set of circumstances, memories of my early youth were recently brought to my attention. I was born in Bensheim, Germany on February 16, 1933. When the house in which I spent the first 6 years of my life was built is not known. It was the gardener's home of the Wilhelm Euler estate. The Wilhem Euler paper company was located nearby. My parents purchased the home in 1930 or 1931 and added a new wing onto the home. They sold it in 1939 and moved to Bremen. According to the current owners, David and Eva Haendschke, the home was in bad repair when they purchased it in 1976. They invested their resources to make it into a showcase and raised their children there who are now grown up and on their own.

The home was designated a national, historical treasure because of its association with the Wilhelm Euler name. The house is listed under historic buildings in urban heritage conservation. Wilhelm Euler died in 1934 at the age of 87. The paper mill he ran for many years was closed in 2007. The current owners of the home contacted me in 2013 hoping to learn anything of historical interest about prior owners. They sent me a number of pictures and much data that might be of personal interest to me.

And here is what I remember. The pictures tell the story better than written words. The address is: Wilhem-Euler Street 7, Bensheim, Germany. The back of the house faced a dirt road. Across from the dirt road was a stone wall that enclosed the grounds of the Wilhem Euler estate.

Here is the way the house looked when my parents purchased it.

One of my jobs as a little boy was to be on the alert of horse-drawn wagons coming by and then run out to fetch all the horse droppings and bring them into the garden to be used as fertilizer.

The picture at the right shows me as a five-year old boy. It also shows the dirt road with deep wagon wheel ruts. That's where I had to go to fetch the horse droppings.

Here is a memory of deep and painful significance. On the ninth and tenth of November 1938, many Synagogues, Jewish homes and businesses in Germany were torched. Those horrendous two days and nights have been commonly referred to as "Kristall Nacht" - or "Crystal Night." The smoldering hatred towards the Jewish people in Germany erupted. It was fueled by the Hitler regime. I clearly recall walking by the Synagogue and watching it burn. I had no idea at that time that my own life and the life of my family was threatened. Without knowing why, we spent the next seven years in hiding. When I mentioned this to the Haendschkes, they looked for and found two pictures of the synagogue - the top picture is of the memorial built on the original site of the Synagogue. The bottom picture shows the Synagogue after being torched.

Here are a few pictures of our home after being beautifully restored.
These pictures were taken between 2012 and 2014.

Two views - the left hand view shows the wing at the right that my Father added.

The pictures of the inside are a far cry from the way a little boy of five or six remembers the home. I do recall that in place of the pool table, there stood my Mother's Steinway Baby Grand piano. She was an avid and accomplished pianist. She lost the use of her right hand with the exception of one finger during the Second World War. My Father died in 1992 at the age of 91. My Mother died in 1988 at the age of 89. I am the youngest of four siblings.

God orchestrates our lives from start to finish. I know this for sure even though He allows most of us to experience much hatred, rejection and pain. It seems to be the only way we learn hard lessons. I am grateful for memories. I am also grateful for those memories that have been mercifully erased.

I enjoy letting my fingers dance on the keyboard of my computer terminal. Feel free to respond.

Peter Laue (my birth certificate reads: Dieter Laue)