Mother's brother and cousin Hansie

Mother had a brother who lived directly by the Rhein and we had some great times there. They had two children called Maria and Hans. I remember one late evening when Mother called me out of Bed and in the dark we wandered through the fields. Mother often looked back…she must have thought Father was following us. We arrived at my uncles house and they still had visitors. We had a lovely evening with them. I had to sleep in Hansie’s bed, I must have been around 5 or 6 years old because Anneliese was not yet born. When we were in bed, Hansie instructed me not to get up before him in the morning. When I woked up the next morning, I tried to get up and he said: “just as I thought” …using his garters he had tied me to his leg. Hansie was conscripted to military service when he was 18 and sent to the front in Poland as a foot soldier. He was not keen on joining up and after 3 weeks he was dead. My aunt later told me that he had a premonition about his death. Contrary to my own brother who volunteered to join as a submarine sailor when he was only 17 years old.