Poor internet for a couple of days, probably few pictures.
We’ve had an interesting day, not because all of our days haven’t been interesting, but today we visited Stalag Luft I. Vic was never there, but one of Kriegie Kid’s father was liberated there so we made a stop. Not much left there, but it was good to see the site.
The interesting news for today is the Von Bulows. You may remember Claus Von Bulow and his 1980s U.S. trial for attempting to murder his wife Sonny. Well, his family extended is very well-to-do and lives in Gudow, Germany where a large number of POWs were liberated.
In 2017, Laura, our Kriegie Kid author and her travel partner Ellen made contact with Detliv Von Bulow and shared news of our Kriegie Kid group. He became interested in our mission and invited us to visit if we got to Gudow.
Upon knowing we were making this trip he invited all of us to his home (manor) for dinner and to meet his family. Further, he has planned our time in Gudow to assist us in retracing the steps of our father’s WWII POW histories. The Van Bulow’s could not have been finer hosts and we were treated much better than we expected; they made our Gudow visit very special.
We are staying at the Roschi's Gästehaus in Gudow, a bed and breakfast set in a small and very German neighborhood. Our accommodations are perfect, and Mr. Von Bulow is sending breakfast, and he had us for cocktails and a light dinner last night when we arrived. He planned a busy day for us and another dinner this evening.
I should add that this home is a an 1826 Greek Revival style manor with southern plantation style high porch and columns, beautiful gardens that overlook a lake and complete with really big white swans. I’m guessing the mansion is at least 30k sq.ft. 25 foot ceilings, and our dinner was served on the dining room table that seated the fifteen of our party, including the Von Bulows, their son and daughter-in-law and film crew, with five or six empty seats. Oh, the “light” dinner was by candlelight.
Finally, during the war, the manor was taken over by the British as a command center and the family was moved with a small amount of necessary pieces of furniture to the stables. The house suffered from the occupation but was not destroyed, and after repairs and renovations the house is now in its present very good condition. The family had to re-purchase much of the land of the estate from the new government or from someone I didn’t quite understand. When war is on your land and you are the defeated aggressor, reprisals are appropriate, if appropriate. Jim
No one brought up the other deal.
