Helmets and Bonnets ― The Blending of Two Cultures

Two families lived in different countries with different social and political cultures. Both lived through hard times and happy times. Their experiences prepared them to meet at a later time in the United States. Erik Neumann left home at fourteen years of age and finished his apprenticeship as a baker, but couldn’t find a job. So he signed up for a twelve year stint in the German Army. While stationed in Dresden, he met Helga Schmidt, a prankish, sociable and cunning young lady who worked for an officer's family. He married her the year Hitler came to power. They had two children, Rosina and Rolf. Erik left the service in 1936 and was called back in 1939 when WWII started, leaving Helga to run the household. After the war, in 1945, he was captured as a prisoner of war by the Czechs and kept for a year and a half. Helga had to provide for the family. She worked small jobs, stole food, and remained strong for her children. While Erik was in Czechoslovakia, she had to evacuate with the children for two weeks because the Russian soldiers were marching through their town. When Erik returned home, he was very ill and couldn’t work for two years. While Helga worked, he looked after Rosina and Rolf. He refused to join the Communist Party and was forbidden to work for the government. He had to settle for menial jobs. After getting his education in textiles, Rolf, at seventeen, escaped to West Berlin. He got a job in the west and waited for his family to join him. As soon as his father was reinstated to his trained profession as a tax agent, Rolf went to the United States where he met Lizzy. Larry Hayder, grew up in southern Indiana. At the age of twenty-two, he met Mary Jo McGinley. She had had a traumatic childhood, leaving home at thirteen. She married at sixteen and was a widow four months later. Two years after her husband died, she married Larry and had five children. Lizzy was next to the oldest. Lizzy was fifteen when she met Rolf four months after he arrived in the States. They had a few dates and didn't see one another again for three years. They met again before Lizzy joined the Navy. After communicating through letters, Rolf married Lizzy on boot camp leave. She was honorably discharged a few months later because she became pregnant. They began their life together in an apartment rented to them by a holocaust survivor. They lived in the middle of an Orthodox Jewish community and were accepted as family even though Rolf was German. Lizzy’s faith in God was made stronger when He blessed her with a good man. Rolf's life was blessed with a freedom that made everything right.

Annis spent thirty-eight years in California and has had a rich background raising children, owning a business with her husband, and traveling. Her dream had always been to write about the history of both sides of the family. She had written the first chapter and soon after that, the person she was interviewing passed away. Ten years later, she found a folder of documents reaching back to 1820.She organized them and drew a time line, inserting historical facts about the other family involved. Finally, she could finish her book. She laughed as well as cried while writing and celebrates the legacy that is left with all who remain.