Friedrich-Georg Otto Heinrich von Fircks; fourth child and eldest son of Peter Julius Otto von Fircks. Known to his family as Frigo, he was by all accounts a sweet boy and a charming young man. My aunt, the eldest of the children, described Frigo as always happy, always cooperative and
It has been a long and slow process, but I am finally able to trace some of my father’s footsteps through World War II. There are times when I have almost regretted starting this project, and times when I feel I should end it before I learn too much, but
As that virus plays havoc with hospitals and health workers the world over, I am guessing its impact on the world’s economy will be felt long after a vaccine is discovered. I often try to find similarities between current world events and those which took place in the history of
Once again I have found something interesting in my quest to sort through the paperwork and documents I inherited from my parents. The picture above shows the front and back of a small card, around the size of a business card, I found tucked away in some of my father’s
„Gone, gone, the damage done“ are lyrics from a Neil Young song and, while the song is about drug addicts, the words could also describe the feeling my father, and I’m sure other Baltic Germans, felt when their properties were confiscated. I wrote about their estate, Nurmhusen, here and described
Sitting in a church in Germany, unable to understand most of the Sunday morning service, gave me plenty of time to think. I’m in Wiehl, Germany for the weekend, attending a family reunion and looking around at my extended family, I realise just how resilient we all are. The Fircks