I recently purchased a book which I recommend to anyone who is planning a research trip to Germany. The authors, two of them, are both experienced at this. The book's title is " Researching in Germany ", and it is written by Roger P. Minert and Shirley J. Riemer. The book is crammed with information, and the price is very reasonable.
It is published by:
Lorelie Press
P.O. Box 221356
Sacramento, CA 95822-8356.
(Email Address: Lorelei@softcom.net .
Some of the pleasures of the book are the sidebars where anecdotes of the authors' own experiences are given. One author relates that on a trip to the Czech Republic he needed safety pins, for which he went to a department store. It took him three languages and five employees before he got the safety pins. But the story is passed along to show what can be done with determination.
This reminded me of another safety pin story. Hubert Deri, a former co-worker of mine, came to American in the 1930's without the benefit of much preparation. His family was already in Los Angeles, but he had remained in Germany, hoping to complete his education. It became obvious that he could not wait much longer so he set out for America without any knowledge of English. After landing in New York City, he had a hotel room while waiting for his transportation to Los Angeles.
He needed safety pins and he set out from his hotel, with paper and pencil, to draw a map of his route. After a few blocks he encountered a store where it appeared they might sell safety pins. Using his German to English pocket dictionary, the best he could come up with was "security needles". As they say, this did not cut the ice. With some difficulty, he finally made himself clear and he obtained the safety pins.
Using his map, he left the store to retrace his steps according to the map he had drawn. After a bit, he realized that things were not going right. (Somewhat later, he realized that he had entered the store on the east side, and he had left on the south side.) When he was really lost and wondering what he was going to do, he found aid from a policeman who spoke German. Thus, he got back to his hotel.
He had another venture in New York. When he off the boat, he fell to talking to a man who asked a few questions about his plans, and Hubert said he was going to take a bus to Los Angeles. The man said that was not a good thing to do. It would be much better to take the train. After a few questions by Hubert, the man said, "Wait here. I will go buy your train ticket. Let me have your money."
As Hubert told me this, I was cringing at what the outcome was going to be. Well, Hubert waited a little bit and the man returned with the train tickets and the change. There were still some decent people in the world.
(14 Jan 02)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.