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My wife was born outside of Dresden in 1939. She and my mother-in-law were still living in the area in 1945. On the night of February 12-13, 1945, my mother-in-law decided that it would be best to flee the family farm rather than face the oncoming communists. My mother-in-law wisely, or perhaps presciently decided that Dresden was too dangerous for her and her young daughter. Instead, they walked south of the city avoiding the air raides of the next two nights. They and thousands of other refugees made it west and ended up in the American Occupation Zone. By sheer chance and good fortune, my mother-in-law caught the eye of a US Army officer from Key West, Florida. He ultimately married my mother-in-law and moved her and her daughter to Florida.
Forty-six years after she last saw her childhood home, my wife was able to return. We found the old farm where she spent the first five years of her life. We met the people who then lived in her house. It was still a farm. My wife elected to waive her claim to the property. We spent some great summers visiting Dresden and the surrounding area. People there were always gracious hosts. Before her passing, my wife wanted to see some of the sites we had seen when we were younger and she wanted to return to Germany for her last days.
We went to Argentina, South Africa, Kenya, Kuwait City and finally Dresden. Much has changed since 1945, but Dresden and the surrounding countryside remain one of our favorite places. It is in the small church where she was baptised that also held her funeral. We scattered her ashes in the creek that runs through her old farm. The new owners were quite gracious in permitting her ashes to be scattered there. They are good people, I believe.
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