Born Into Turmoil
by
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Dad Goes to War
The war brought some changes I did not like. My dad received a letter called Stellungsbefehl, from the Wehrmacht, ordering him into the military. Mom cried when she read the letter and dad was not far from shedding a few tears himself. I did not want him to go war. Regardless of our feelings, the day would soon come when he had to leave us.
This was not a happy day for the Lange family. Mom had packed dad’s suitcase. He carried it to the door and put it on the floor to say goodbye to his family. Mom cried; dad tried to console her with reassuring whispers. Mom hugged him as though he would leave forever and she would never see him again.
I tried to be brave, sitting on the floor pedal of our Singer sewing machine, which was my refuge, pretending everything was normal. I looked at the pictures in a storybook but I could hardly see them, tears blurred my vision. Trying not to be a crybaby, I did not sob, yet the tears came anyway. Feeling so incredibly sad and frustrated, I tried to divert my thinking to something unrelated but this did not change the reality. There was nothing I could do to make things normal and stop dad from leaving us.
Dad was still standing near the door, hugging and kissing mom which was embarrassing to me. I peeked through my fingers watching them. After saying his final goodbyes to mom, he came over to me, took my hands in his and pulled me from under the sewing machine. He lifted me into his arms and hugged me really tight. I looked at his face, there were tears rolling down his cheeks. I had never seen dad cry before, his sadness made me cry even harder. In a controlled calm, reassuring voice, he told me that he loved me and, while he was away, he asked me to take good care of mom until he came back. I acknowledged his request with a tearful nod.
Still crying, I had my arms around his neck, squeezing him as hard as possible, kissing and begging him not to go. He said he had to go but soon I could visit him in the Kaserne, the boot camp in Euskirchen where he trained to become a soldier. The town was not too far from Düsseldorf. It helped a bit to ease my pain, yet, I felt so frustrated not being able to prevent his leaving.
One last hug and kiss, dad picked up his suitcase and slowly walked down the stairs to go to war.
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About the Book
Born into Turmoil
Bruno grew up in Düsseldorf, a city targeted for destruction by the enemy. To escape the merciless bombardments, his family moved to Zichenau, Ciechanow, near Warsaw, Poland. The Hitler Youth movement introduced him to Anti-Semitism through the NAZI propaganda book Der Giftpilz that raised considerable doubt in his mind about Jews being depicted as evil people. He knew two Jews, Katja, an orphaned Jewish girl, his parents harbored, and the Goldfarb family, his neighbors in Düsseldorf. They were his friends and did not resemble the terrible cartoons and stories of the NAZI propaganda book. His Christian upbringing and the morality instilled by his parents ultimately prevailed. When the Russians invaded Poland his family hastily fled to Germany where they lived with his aunt Paula in Harsewinkel. When the war ended his young mind could not comprehend why Germans welcomed the Allies with open arms. Didn’t the enemy demolish his country and kill millions of innocent people?
Surviving the postwar era presented the biggest challenge of his life. His family was starving and almost froze to death. As an imaginative teenager he tackled any problem that presented itself. He found solutions, some not so legal, by stealing coal from guarded freight trains destined to France. He earned money on the thriving black market, started small businesses, and traded items for food with farmers. Adventurous at heart, these extracurricular activities were dangerous and exciting. Living on the edge was thrilling and became a way of life. Although he had a few close calls, he and his family survived.
Bruno became obsessed with American movies. He was stage-struck and became enamored with the glamour and lifestyle of the rich and famous in America. While in high school he took ballroom dance lessons that opened a new world for him. For the first time in his young life he was exposed to the glamour of competing in elegant dance tournaments. He met Olga, the beautiful young daughter of Bruno and Melitta von Kayser who owned the dance studio, which he represented in tournaments. Olga became his first girlfriend. A tender, platonic love affair ensued. When his regular competition dance partner, Helga Thieme, moved to Frankfurt, Bruno and Olga were trained to perform Exhibition dances. Their youthful enthusiasm and skillful performances were heralded by the press as masterful. During one of their exhibitions a television producer discovered Olga and offered her the lead role in an upcoming television play. She excelled in this new medium but could not pursue a career in television because her parents sent her to a finishing school in Lausanne, Switzerland, for two years. Missing his girlfriend he was lonely and lost. Bruno decided to see the world and contracted to go to Canada for two years.
Bruno W. Lange’s Born into Turmoil spans the periods of prewar Germany, W.W.II, and the postwar era. His heart-warming stories are emotional and laced with humor. They invite the reader to experience the war from the other side through the eyes of boy.
About the Author
Bruno W. Lange was born and educated in Düsseldorf, Germany, while W.W.II devastated his beloved country. In 1956, at the age of 21, he immigrated to Canada. Survival became a thrilling game that tested his innate ingenuity to survive in an unfamiliar environment. Being in a new country, barely speaking the English language, nobody wanted to hire him in what he knew best, selling Men’s Fashions. Bruno found his first job in Kitimat, BC, as a laborer with ALCAN, an aluminum smelter in northern British Columbia. After saving some money and learning the English language he returned to Vancouver BC and became a dance instructor for Arthur Murray Dance Studios. One of his students encouraged him to enter the real estate field. He excelled in his new profession and became one of the top Realtors® in Vancouver BC. The National Association of Realtors® published his highly acclaimed article: "Dream for Fun and Profit," encouraging sales people to use their imagination to achieve their dreams. In 1966 he immigrated to the United States and joined Henry Broderick Inc., the oldest and most prestigious real estate company in Seattle, WA. He climbed the corporate ladder and within 18 months was promoted from sales associate to Vice President and Branch Manager. His leadership skills and innovative marketing techniques earned him the recognition of Manager of the Year in 1970. His firm merged with Coldwell Banker and he became Vice President and Northwest Regional Manager. In 1975 he opened his own real estate office, Bruno W. Lange Inc. The company catered to his affluent clientele. He branched out into a new venture, building one of a kind luxury homes on Mercer Island, WA. After a successful career he retired from real estate in 1995 to fulfill his life long ambition of becoming a writer. Bruno and his lovely wife Yvonne, a retired skater and Corps de Ballet Captain with the Ice Capades, have happily been married for 33 years. They have one son Kirk and Brian and Brenda from a previous marriage.