The Ös Farm
Then suddenly in the summer of 1950 an opportunity presented itself to Ernst Klopp. An elderly farmer by the short name of Ös decided to retire and leased his farm house and a few parcels of land not more than 6 ha in size to my father on credit. By comparison to the 3,000 ha Ernst had administered in Gutfelde, the total of arable land available for farming was minuscule. The house was adequate and a vast improvement over the upstairs dwelling of the ‘poor house’. It came with a large barn with a hay loft, a sufficient quantity of farm implements, a fair-sized kitchen, the ubiquitous manure pile in front of the kitchen window and an outhouse. The only luxury item that I recall was the large tile stove (Kachelofen in German) providing warmth and a cozy ambience for the entire dwelling. Many of my sweet childhood memories are going back to the Ös farm, as we often irreverently called it.
So here my father Ernst Klopp tried with little prospect of success to pick up his life-long dream again to running a farm under his very own management. Having no capital to spend on much needed supplies, he heavily depended on loans, which created a heavy financial burden. He must have counted on the help from my older siblings for turning the farming operation into a successful venture.
Soon after his high school graduation Karl left home to study economics at the university of Braunschweig. Adolf, my second eldest brother, barely 18 years old found work at the Bizerba Factory in Meßkirch. Since that time in the early 1950s the Bizerba Company GMBH has developed into a world leader in weighing technologies for industry and trade. Adolf had to contribute most of the money he earned in order to keep this fledgling farming operation financially afloat. Three years later, Adolf was getting tired to support what in his opinion was a hopeless enterprise. Together with another refugee son by the name of Waldemar Klein he immigrated to Canada. Soon thereafter, my sister Erika also left home to take up nurses’ training in the City of Hamburg. In 1954, Gerhard managed to get an apprenticeship placement in a prestigious institute of technology in Switzerland.
The Peter and Gertrud Klopp Family 
Hallo Peter, eine interessante Familiengeschichte, bin gespannt wie es weitergeht. Liebe Grüße Wolfgang
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Now we are left to wonder how your father did after your older siblings left home. I hope it worked out and will look forward to your next chapter.
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You guessed it, Amy. Difficult times are coming for the Klopp family.
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Uh oh….
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I thought that refugees were helped to get on their feet again, but it does not seem so. I know from some people who got reimbursed for losses (land, house etc.), but they had to prove that they had owned it. That must have been the problem for many. Who thinks of that when running for one’s life?
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There was no compensation for my father’s losses, because he really did not own anything as an administrator in the Wartheland.
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So the rich landowners got help, the others didn’t, as always …
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Something tells me that we are soon going to read about a boy named Peter growing up on this farm!
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I take it that Adolf’s emigration to Canada was the model for your eventual move there.
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Indeed!
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Your dad must have been a little disappointed when his oldest sons didn’t want to stay and support the farm, but perhaps he was also proud of their ambitions? That can be a complicated issue in families, I’m sure!
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Yes, complications! that is the right way to put it, Ann.
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How did Adolf and Waldemar come to emigrate to Canada?
Did they have relationships there?
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No, they had relatives in Canada. They responded to an invitation to immigrate by the Canadian government advertised in the German newspapers.
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Oh, I didn’t know that.
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