大象传媒

During the Second World War there was a German prisoner of war camp in a village just outside Bury St Edmunds, and the prisoners were allowed to come into Bury St Edmunds at the weekends. I cannot remember the year we met but sometime around 1943/44 I became friends with one of the prisoners. His name was Helmut Mader.He was born in Czechoslovakia and when his country was invaded he was made to join the German Army. He was eventually captured, and bought to England as aP.O.W.to the camp near Bury St Edmunds.
We would go to the cinema together, or walk in the Abbey Gardens, but I cannot remember much of what we talked about, but he spoke very good English. After the war he eventually went home to Czechoslovakia, and we began writing to each other. Some years later he and his family moved to Greiz in East Germany so that their son could go to Leipzig University, and that was where they settled. His son Wolfgang studied languages and went on to become an officer in the military working as an interpreter.
In 1974 my wife and I, together with our youngest daughter, visited them in Greiz, staying for two weeks. At that time the 'wall' was still up and the only way to get there was by train, a journey taking roughly 26 hours, and crossing the border was quite an experience. When the train reached the eastern side, all the carriage doors were locked from the outside, and then a group of armed guards with a dog got on and proceeded to check every compartment, and especially passports and visas.However, we eventually arrived in Greiz where I had an emotional reunion with Helmut. Travelling around at that time was very restricted, so we did not get to see much of East Germany other than the immediate area in which they lived.However, Helmut and I had lots of catching up to do, and his wife Ruth was an excellent cook, and as there did not seem to be any shortage of food we ate very well.However, anything classed as 'luxury goods' were extremely expensive and hard to get. Entertaining at that time was mainly done at home, or in friends homes, and everyone we met made us very welcome. The first weekend we were there Wolfgang and his girlfriend, whom he later went on to marry, came home to meet us and we were taken to meet her family during our stay.
The second time my wife and I went on a visit to them was in May 1993, by which time the 'wall' had come down. We were going for three weeks this time, and we were able to fly from Heathrow to Leipzig, where we were met by Helmut and a friend of his whom now had the luxury of a car, on this visit travelling around was a lot easier, and we managed to get to visit many places of interest. Wolfgang and Gudrun, with their son Felix, came to visit for a few days from theist home is Rostock and as it was Ruth's birthday while they were visiting there was a large party for family and lots of friends.
The second week of our visit Helmut and Ruth took us by train to Czechoslovakia, where we stayed with their very good friends Millie and Josef in a town named Sokolov,and whilst there we met several members of their family, and many more of their friends, who all made us very welcome and entertained us extremely well. We also got to visit some of the famous spa towns such as Magdeburg and Karlovy Vary.
A few years later Helmut and Ruth moved to Rostock.Wolfgang and Gudren had bought a plot of land just outside Rostok on the Baltic Sea, where a house was built for each family, together with a small clinic for Gudren, that was when we learnt that she was a surgeon, and this was to be her private practice. She also worked at the local hospital.
Although we hoped that Helmut and Ruth would eventually get to visit us here in Ipswich so we could repay their hospitality, unfortunately he became ill, and sadly passed away in April 1999.
We have, however, continued to keep in touch with Ruth and exchange birthday and Christmas cards with her and the family, also with their friends in Czechoslovakia.
I have kept every letter and card that they have sent to us over these many years of our friendship.

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