Karola M. Schuette - Journey Between Two Worlds

Praise for Journey Between Two Worlds

Journey Between Two Worlds is a moving chronicle of hardship, hope, and renewal. Karola Schuette recounts her remarkable experiences with vivid details, engaging humor, and, above all, unflagging courage.

Christopher Porterfield , Retired Executive Editor, TIME Magazine

A delicate mosaic of daily-life detail... gives us humble insight into... world-historical events.... From these modest, private writings comes a masterful picture of the twentieth century.... An impressively moving read.

Professor Marcia Pally , NYU, Humboldt University-Berlin, Author of From This Broken Hill I Sing to You: God, Sex, and Politics in the Work of Leonard Cohen

Journey Between Two Worlds is a charming, evocative story illustrating the experiences faced by a brave, young German woman.... Karolas voice is loud and clear, and her passionate devotion to her husband, family, and new country is vividly illuminated.

Cynde Bloom Lahey , Director of Library Information Services, Norwalk Public Library, CT

During this dark period... between two world wars and the midst of the Great Depression... the authors understanding and compassion remain undimmed by the brutal hardships and losses she endures.... An inspiring memoir.

Madeleine Scott , Professor Emerita of Dance, Ohio University

Couched in plain, unvarnished language, laced with a charmingly wry humor... [this is] an engrossing memoir of life transitions, both physical and personally transformative... an evocative recording of a way of life long disappeared... [and] a labor of love and a moving tribute by editor and commentator, daughter Margaret Schuette, to her author mother.

Magda Saleh , PhD, NYU School of Education; Founding Director of the New Cairo Opera House National Cultural Center; Order of Merit Recipient, President Gamal Abdel Nasser; Former Guest Artist with the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow and the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad

Journey Between Two Worlds

by Karola M. Schuette

Copyright 2021 Karola M. Schuette

ISBN 978-1-64663-352-4

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior written permission of the author.

Published by

3705 Shore Drive

Virginia Beach, VA 23455

- - 4811

www.koehlerbooks.com

To My Love, Bill,

who changed my life forever.

INTRODUCTION

FOR YEARS WE CHILDREN WOULD hear our mother, Karola, recount bits and pieces of her upbringing during the Great Depression and war years in Germany. How otherworldly and remote much of it sounded to our innocent American ears. As we grew older and learned more about life, it became clear that her memories should be preserved in a lasting form instead of relying on our own recollections. The drama in her experiences could not be made up or disputed; her memories were of personal and historic significance and deserved to be passed on. That was how Journey Between Two Worlds began.

Though writing was not foreign to Karola, this was different. She launched into her memoir during the years following our father Bills passing in 1986. His absence reminded her that she could no longer ask her deceased German relatives the curious, burning questions about them that surfaced in her mind. She wanted to spare us that burden. Gathering her thoughts, feelings, and remembrances in written form would serve to convey her inner life and engender a sense of intimate connection. We would not be left wondering what Karola thought or felt.

Her writing process for Journey Between Two Worlds was by no means linear. Karola would produce a series of individual topic pages in fits and starts over the course of about ten years, originating on a word processor. At the completion of each rough draft, she sent copies to all her children, soliciting a response and commentary.

Encouraged by her family and close friends, Karola submitted further pages when she could muster the emotional fortitude to relive a particular memory. She would refer to the developing work as her saga , my story , or the book , with the intention of creating a legacy for her loved ones.

Along with the text, Karola augmented her story with copies of an extensive cache of saved documents and photos. How amazing that she still had so many of those! Ultimately each of her children and two grandchildren received a three-ring binder containing her unedited words, related images and documents, and any additional information specific to each of us. The result was what could more accurately be described as a memoir scrapbook. Organization was Karolas middle name.

Normally, this could well have culminated the endeavor. But no. With increasing encouragement from her close circle, Karola wanted to press further toward publishing. She longed to see her story between two real covers. After much contemplation she arrived at the title Journey Between Two Worlds. She visualized the cover and developed a more ordered structureall before a hint of any publishing resource was in sight. As health issues began to intervene, Karola became restless about time. She had hoped that all would be completed by her ninetieth birthday in December 2012. But not yet, so onward she trekked. Karola succumbed to illness in June of 2013, though not before she was promised that her publication dream would be fulfilled.

And now, after eight additional years, Journey Between Two Worlds has expanded from the private domain of our three-ring binders to the distinctive public embrace of two real covers.

My process of editing Journey Between Two Worlds has been akin to a continuing visit with my mother. Each time I read her words I hear her voice and feel the warmth of our conversational exchanges. It is reassuring and uplifting. With all the hardship she lived through, it is inspiring how optimistic she remained. Her fearless attitude and generosity of spirit, combined with her unwavering love, serve as a guiding light. It is an honor to make Karolas Journey Between Two Worlds available to a wider audience of readers so that they, too, may have the opportunity to share a visit with her. For those who take the journey, Karola and her story are a perpetual gift.

Margaret Schuette

Editor

CHAPTER 1

My Inspiration

I WOULD NOT HAVE MUCH of a story to tell if it were not for the arrival in Germany of a German-born American soldier named William Hermann Schuette. Up until then I did not feel my life had been of interest to anybody. World War II, with all its tyranny, had come to an end but destruction, desolation, and hunger, combined with hopelessness, was all around. In early October 1946, William Schuette entered the scene.

He wrote this account in his diary:

In the spring of 1946, I looked forward with anxiety to being discharged from the army, not because I had any complaints about my work or conditions, but rather the desire for a change. My work in the service was highly educational and interesting to me. The great majority of the boys were quite intellectual and generally good company and the recreational facilities unlimited. I shall never forget the wonderful times I had in Washington, DC on the Potomac River and at Jiggs. I left the army on April 28. At that time, I had an agreement with the Contingency Program Management Office to work in Frankfurt, Germany for Colonel Wentworth within three weeks. Due to circumstances this fell through; several weeks passed, however, before I found out about it. During the five summer months of leisure, I did paintings, read the classics, played accordion, cards, and chess; most days were spent on the beach. I was very happy to hear I was to leave the States on September 26 aboard the SS George Washington for Bremerhaven, Germany to accept a job at the Civil Censorship Division (CCD) in Frankfurt, Germany. This was an opportunity to see Germany again and at the same time save a little money while employed as a War Department Employee (WDE) in the American occupied zone.