This is the third Part of my September 2017 Memories

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Japanese Drumming? This Van was parked next to our car for several days. So who were these Japanese people who were our neighbours? We never saw anybody going to that cabin next to ours. Why on earth was that van parked there? It was a mystery. Finally a woman appeared on the scene. She came out of the cabin and apparently was getting ready to leave the place. She looked Japanese to me. Eventually, I started talking to her. It turned out, she spoke perfect Australian. She explained that she was about to leave to go to some schools where she would give lessons in Japanese drumming. Yes, she was Japanese. Somehow, when she mentioned her husband, I asked her, whether he was Japanese too. She said, oh no, he’s a Newcastle bloke!

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One morning we went from our holiday park for a short walk to Morrison Park. From there we could go down to the beach.

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Still a bit more to write about what we did in September 2017

And I have still some more September photos that I have not published yet. Sometimes I think it is not right to publish so many photos. Maybe I should restrict myself to selecting only a few photos. Just to select a few photos so as to remember what I would like to remember! So, now here are some more photos from that lookout at Nambucca Heads:

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We were lucky that we were able to buy a bit of wine on a Sunday morning shopping spree.

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This was the place to go to early in the morning. One mother waved to me from the solar heated pool. As soon as I joined her in the pool, she started a very friendly conversation. I turned out she was American but married to an Australian and living with her family in Brisbane. She said she liked New South Wales. Her children were somewhere around the pool too. She said they stayed in a cabin, but during their next holidays she would love to stay in one of the camping places of the park.

I had a look around. The park facilities are indeed great. Besides showers, toilets, laundry, there’s also a well equipped kitchen and barbecue places and playgrounds for the children. Early one morning I went around the park taking lots of pictures of all the facilities. So here I go again with heaps of pictures!

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What did we do in September 2017?

My birthday was one month ago! Only one more month and Baby Carter is going to be one. We are all invited to his first birthday party!

So, what did we do during the month of September this year? I am going to look at the pictures we took. Then it is very likely that I can still remember everything we did do.

Sunday, the 3rd of September, was Fathers’ Day in Australia. Peter had baked these cakes for Fathers’ Day:

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DSCN3158 — Peter watching the Insiders’ Program on Fathers’ Day 2017

DSCN3156 — View from the window of the computer room

In August our son Martin came to see us and he did drive us to Newcastle as well as to Sussex Inlet:

Newcastle and Sussex Inlet (continued)

On the 14th of September I published this:

Big4 Nambucca Beach Holiday Park

And I wrote:

“We booked accommodation for five nights in this holiday park. It says:

Fan – Toilet – Bathroom – Private Entrance – Sofa – Wardrobe/Closet

Leaving tomorrow morning and driving up to the North Coast of New South Wales, we are going to stop for one night at Taree. On the way back home we are going to stop for one night at Newcastle.”

We went along the Pacific Highway to Taree via Newcastle. On the way to Taree, our first stop was at Mooney Mooney:

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WP_20170915_11_53_24_Pro — After having been sitting in the car for a couple of hours a little walk is very welcome!

Soon we unpacked a lot of things for some refreshments. We had a lot of room in our car for taking food and drinks along.

Before we reached Taree, we had another stop at a service centre on the Pacific Highway. Since we stopped there around lunch time. it was difficult to find a parking spot. Peter parked the car on the outskirts of the service centre. From that spot we were able to watch a great number of huge parked trucks. This service centre must be a very popular place for truck drivers who needed a break! We thought some of these trucks looked absolutely beautiful. They looked new, big and shiny. I could not resist to take a few pictures of them.

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We’ve had this Touring Atlas for a very long time. It is a bit outdated. But I still like to look things up in it when we’re travelling.

Peter enjoyed a 5 Dollar lunch at the Service Centre!

DSCN3207 — Late in the afternoon we stopped at this Motel.

We liked this motel straight away and booked a room there for one overnight stay.

We did not feel like going out for dinner that night. We still had sufficient food with us that we could eat. And of course we had tea and coffee making facilities in our motel room. So we went to bed early and were early the next morning on our way again. Our motel was a little bit outside of Taree. We knew that there was an ALDI Shopping Centre in Taree. We were planning on going there after breakfast. First of all we had to find a nice place where to have breakfast. It was not difficult to find the main shopping street in Taree. We chose a cafe called “Raw Sugar” for our breakfast. And we enjoyed a little walk along the main street in the early morning sun. We decided that Taree was quite a pleasant place. We do have the pictures to prove it!

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I still liked my little cup to use for coffee in the car. The friendly motel manager had handed us a little map to show us how to find the ALDI store. The motel was at Manning River Drive on the South side of Taree just before the bridge that crosses the Manning River. Crossing the bridge and going further up Commerce Street there was ALDI at a corner opposite the hospital. It was a huge, huge store. We got there everything we wanted to buy for our stay at Nambucca Heads. Except for wine. There were no alcoholic beverages available at that ALDI store. Alas, we had no map how to get out of Taree and onto the Pacific Highway. We could have just gone back across the bridge and found our way to the Highway from there. Instead we thought that there must be a way out to the Highway on the Northern end of town. Only somehow we missed the right turn off and ended up in a more westerly direction. Before we knew it, we were in Wingham where we did not want to be at all. So we just turned all the back and eventually did find the Pacific Highway to continue our trip towards Nambucca Heads.

WP_20170921_12_20_42_Pro — This is the Manning River with the bridge in the background.

We stayed at the BIG4 Nambucca Beach Holiday Park for five nights. We arrived on a Saturday night. To find the Park turned out to be a bit problematic. But we actually did find the place before it got dark!

On Sunday we went shopping for fresh bread and some wine. Before we went to the main shopping street (a lot of shops were closed on that Sunday), we did stop at two different lookouts that had a lovely view towards the sea. But first here are a few pictures we took on Saturday soon after our arrival at the Holiday Park:

And now some pictures we took at the lookouts:

To be continued

Jewish Voice from Germany

https://www.lbi.org/events/jewish-voice-from-germany/

“At a time when Germany boasts the fastest growing Jewish community in the world, Jewish Voice from Germany focuses on the long, complex, and sensitive connection between the country and its Jewish citizens who were “Germans” until the Nuremberg Laws of 1935 turned them into “Jews.” Today, there is a vibrant revival of Jewish life, diversity of Jewish opinion, and revitalization of an indissoluble link between Germany and Jews around the world. Rafael Seligmann captures the excitement, the pride, and the concerns of a new generation in the pages of Jewish Voice from Germany, which he founded nearly one year ago.

Please join Leo Baeck Institute for the American debut of this very important journalistic initiative that has received widespread acclaim from diplomats, policymakers, historians, and readers around the world. German Consul General in New York Busso von Alvensleben will also make remarks.

Dr. Rafael Seligmann, Publisher Jewish Voice from Germany

Rafael Seligmann is the author of numerous novels that deal with the Jewish experience in post-war Germany as well as non-fiction books about German history and Israeli security policy. Since 1978, he has contributed commentary to leading German magazines and newspapers including Spiegel, Bild, Die Welt, and taz. Born 1947 in Tel Aviv, he moved to Germany with his family at the age of 10. He founded Jewish Voice from Germany in 2012.”

Love of Nature

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Every time I pass this magnificent plant I am amazed about the beauty of nature. I am sure nobody planted this palm tree. It grew up all on its own in the middle of the bush.

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This plant grows in a front garden of the neighbourhood. It very much caught my eye. This is why I took this picture.

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And this is a recent picture from Lakelands Park with one of the soccer fields. I love walking along there, especially in the morning when the sun has just come up.

My Breakfast

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On Monday I had a hard boiled egg with curry on a piece of bread. I also had some of the home grown strawberries. Today I took some pictures of that little patch where the strawberries grow.

We also have some tiny wild strawberries growing

This one is just starting to flower. It is called ‘White Princess’

I just had a look at the post from Peter’s birthday:

https://auntyuta.com/2017/05/16/utas-diary-16th-may-2017/

This was the day when we had in Wollongong this lovely cheese board.

This is what I said towards the end of the post:

Sunday Brunch in our Backyard, 15th of October 2017

We had our brunch in that part of our backyard that looks a bit like we’re in the midst of the bush. There were six of us sitting down at the outside table. The younger people were busy preparing everything in the kitchen and then carrying it out. Caroline and Matthew had brought delicious food along from some of Sydney’s delicatessen shops as well as some Champagne. The food and drink was loved by all. Most of the pictures were taken by Caroline.

I looked up this post:

https://auntyuta.com/2016/03/12/utas-diary-two-weeks-before-easter-2016/

So in March 2016 I published this picture with some comments:

I like to sit outside in the morning sun. This simple garden furniture from their porch/terrace in Waverly (Sydney), which C and M had painted themselves many years ago, they wanted to throw out. But I told them I love it. So it is now installed at the north side of our house. There are a lot of trees, but the morning sun gets through a bit, and we love to sit there with our morning tea.

The following I copied from something that I published at Easter 2016.

https://auntyuta.com/2016/03/28/utas-diary-easter-2016/

Lucas looked around in our backyard and called it a “forest”. He loved running from the side gate on the south side of the house back to the table on the north side. He kept running, and running, and running with little Alexander always following him. That was after they had been looking for Easter eggs. Alexander was happy, when he found just one little egg. He did eat it straight away and let his big brother look for all the other eggs!

Our Granddaughter Natasha, the boys’ Aunty, took some pictures of her Nephews while sitting at the table with them.

I watched a few videos about North Korea

My Paternal Grandparents in Lodz, visiting Lodz on a joined Passport!

Above the house of Josef and Hulda Spickermann in Lodz during the years before the end of World War Two.

Josef Alexander and Hulda celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary in November 1943. All their children with all their spouses and most of the grandchildren were present. Josef and Hulda had three daughters and three sons: Olga, Jenny, Elisabeth (Lies) and Edmund (E), Alexander (Oleg) and Ludwig (Luttek). I have a picture of the Golden Wedding with everyone in it. Here it is:

Golden Wedding (2)

This is a picture of Dad's sisters from 1927 in Lodz. — 1927 in Lodz: This is a picture of Dad’s sisters Olga, Jenny and Elisabeth.

My father was the second son of Josef and Hulda. He married my mother, Irma Charlotte Summerer, on the 30th of September 1930. My mother was only nineteen at the time. Four years later, on the 21st of September 1934, I was born. In June of 1935 my parents travelled with me to Lodz (Poland) to visit Dad’s family there. My mother and I, we did not have our own passports. We were included in Dad’s passport as can be seen in the following picture.

As far as I know we stayed in Lodz with Tante Lies (Elisabeth) and Onkel Alfred. I have several pictures that show me with their son Horst who was born on the 7th of February 1935. Tante Lies was about the same age as my mother. Whereas Onkel Alred was twenty years older than his wife. He owned huge properties. We always thought they were rich.

In the above picture I am in the pram with my cousin Horst. There are also cousins George and Gerd, the sons of Tante Olga as well as cousin Ursula, the daughter of Tante Jenny. (Olga and Jenny were of course the older sisters of my father.) The picture is taken in the park of the Häuslers, Horst’s parents.

When I was six weeks old the grandparents, Hulda and Josef, came to Berlin for a visit, where they saw me for the first time. They were proud to have a grandchild by one of their sons. (Their other two sons did not have any children yet at the time). I think my twenty-three year old mother looks very pretty in that picture.

On the 9th of June 1938 my brother Bodo Alexander was born. He was born at home in our apartment in Berlin, Bozener Strasse. Here in this picture he is only a few hours old. I was thrilled to have a baby brother! I believed the ‘Klapperstorch’ had brought him. Mum’s sister Ilse was very excited about this addition to the family as well. Later on I always heard stories about how this home delivery took place. And I did sleep through all of it. When I woke up in the morning, Tante Ilse led me to the cot in the parent’s bedroom. And surprise, surprise, der Klapperstorch had brought a beautiful baby boy. There he was lying in the cot!

Here I am with Opa Spickermann at the ‘Reichssportfeld’ in June 1938 soon after the birth of brother Bodo. It was a time when Mum still had to stay in bed. Tante Ilse and her husband Adolf Schlinke owned a ‘Wanderer’ car. In that they drove Dad, Opa and me to the Reichssportfeld for an outing. Probably so Opa could see a bit of Berlin. Presumably he had come all the way from Lodz to Berlin to see his first born grandson by the name of Spickermann.

Dad, Granddad, Tante Ilse and little Uta,
(I guess, Onkel Addi took the picture.)

What Mum wrote in the Book “UNSER KIND – OUR CHILD” and some of my Toddler and early Childhood Photos and Photos of my Parents and Family

UNSER KIND’ – OUR CHILD , this is the title of a book Mum used for recording notes about my development. Here are some of the notes:

“Uta was born on Friday, 21st September 1934, at 19 hrs and 55 min. in Berlin-Schöneberg. Her birth weight was 3200 g, she was 51 cm in length.

Friday, 5th October 1934, Uta 14 days old. This is the day when she was outside for the first time. She had her first solid food on the 23rd December. She enjoyed eating biscuit with orange juice. On 2nd April 1935 she drank out of a small cup all by herself.

On 27th February 1935, Tante Ilse’s birthday, she wore a dress for the first time. She congratulated Aunty with some violets in her hand. When Uta was four months old she raised herself up into a sitting position for the first time. She could already stand quite well when she was six months. She was ten months and two days old when she took the first two steps all by herself. She could climb one step by herself at twelve months without holding onto anything.

Her first tooth appeared when she wasn’t quite seven months old yet. At twelve months she had six teeth at the top and two at the bottom. These teeth appeared one after another without any problems. On the 20th of March Uta wore ‘Schuhchen’ (little shoes) for the first time.

On the 24th of March 1935, a Sunday, she was baptised in the ‘Kirche zum Heilbronn’ by Pfarrer Wiligmann. Uta’s first words were “wau, wau”. Later she said “Mama” and then “Papa” and “Buh”. With “Buh” she meant ball.

She had three small pox vaccinations, because the first two weren’t successful. (Unsuccessful on 12.5.36 and 24.10.36. Successful vaccination on 13.4.37.)”

Here now is what Mum wrote on the 26th of September 1935: “Uta likes children a real lot. She wants to play with every one. She loves to play in the sand. – When I take her out she always likes to stand up in her pram and she smiles at every one. People always take notice of her. When Uta was ten months old I took her on a bike-tour. She was placed in a basket-seat which was fastened to my handle-bar. We went along the Promenade of Münster. It started raining a bit. Because of this she ended up with a bit of a cold.

She was eleven months when she was for the first time in an outside water, the Aasee of Münster. The temperature was 24 degrees (Celsius). Uta went across the German border into Poland when she was nine months. This was her first major trip. Destination Lodz.

For Uta’s first birthday we were still in Münster. Sissi and Teo were our guests. Uta loved all the presents. All day long she played with her toys.”

And there’s a list of all the presents I received, from Aunty in Berlin, from Grandma in Leipzig and also from the grandparents in Lodz.

These are pictures from Lodz in June 1935. I’m in the pictures with my cousin Horst who was born in February 1935.

These are pictures of me from July 1935 in Münster/Westphalia

These are two more pictures from September 1935

Mum wrote I loved to play with sand. Here I’m sitting at one of the sand-boxes (Buddelkasten) with my ‘boy-friend’. I think I was fond of boys at a young age!

The last two pictures are taken in my ‘Kinderzimmer’. I have great fun sitting in the little bed which is for dolls and teddies. There’s one of the chairs which was a gift all the way from Lodz for my first birthday.

I have here a few more pictures Mum took of me as a toddler. Apparently I wanted to try out whatever other children had, be it a toy car, a doll’s pram or a big tricycle. I didn’t own any of these things, but gee I was keen on trying them out!

How on earth did Mum convince the children to let me try out their things so she could take these photos?

On my fourth birthday Tante Ilse gave me a ‘Puppenwagen’, a pram for my
dolls.

Mum kept a big photo album with pictures of me. Growing up, I always liked to look at all these pictures. However, I remember distinctly that the following pictures annoyed me quite a bit. I felt awful that the pictures showed me being so very plump! When I was told I looked ‘cute’ I tended not to believe it. I was self conscious at an early age and mostly didn’t feel ‘cute’ at all. I still often don’t like my picture taken because I think I might look awful! The adults in the pictures are my Mum, Tante Ilse and Onkel Addi. I wonder who took the pictures with all three adults in it. Was it perhaps my father? Pussi was Tante Ilse’s dog. Apparently I loved carrying this dog.

For good measure I want to include here another blog with my father and mother in it and some of the extended family.

My father, Alexander Spickermann, was born in Lodz on the 13th of May 1904. The following picture of him was taken in about 1916. This is the earliest picture I have of him.

Alexander’s brother Edmund Spickermann, was born in 1902. Both brothers studied in Leipzig, Germany. The following pictures are from 1925 in the city of Leipzig. There is first Alexander and then Edmund. Both brothers are in their student outfits. And then there is a picture of both of them in front of the Völkerschlacht-Denkmal in Leipzig.

Alexander and Charlotte are my parents. They were married on the 25th of September 1930. Earlier that year, that is in 1930, Alexander promoted to Dr. phil and Edmund, I think, to Dr. rer.pol. The above picture is from 1925 when Alexander and Edmund first met Charlotte and Ilse. Charlotte was only fourteen years old at the time. Her sister Ilse was eighteen. Below is my parents’ wedding photo from the 25th of September 1930. (Charlotte was born on the 23rd of March 1911 and Ilse on the 27th of February 1907).

Above is another photo of Dad from 1930. The next photo was taken around Easter of 1935.

Dad is holding me. I had been born on the 21st of September 1934. So I am about six months in that picture.

In the above picture Dad is probably not quite forty yet. And then there is the photo of the Grandparents’ Golden Wedding Anniversary in Litzmannstadt (Lodz) in November of 1943. On the left is my sixteen year old cousin Ursula; next are Dad and Mum and I am in front beside Grossmutter (Grandma). I am nine years old.

Below now is the picture that was taken in June of 1938 soon after the home-birth of my brother Bodo. Since February of 1930 Ilse had been married to Adolf Schlinke (Onkel Addi). They owned this beautiful car, called ‘Wanderer’.
Grossvater Josef Spickermann (Granddad) was in Berlin for a visit. Presumably to see Bodo, his new grandson. The Schlinkes took Granddad, Dad and me for an outing in their car. The picture was taken in Berlin at the Reichssportfeld. Dad is in the picture on the left.

The next picture is taken at the Baltic seaside resort of Graal/Müritz in 1940. In the ‘Strandkorb’ are Mum and Tante Ilse, Dad is standing next to them.

I copied three more photos, probably all from the 1950s. The first one is Dad in his office, the two others are party photos with Dad and his family. In the last photo are Dad and his three sisters and two brothers. They were probably celebrating someone’s birthday. The Spickermanns liked to come together as a family.