The sun shone brightly. No fog obstructed the view so my wife and I decided to travel again to the Summit and Slocan Lakes, which are part of the West Kootenays where we live. Our spontaneous decision did not disappoint us. What a change in the landscape we noticed within such a short time! As photographers we have often experienced how a scene can alter its appearance within just few minutes. When a cloud blocks the sun, it even happens at the blink of the eye. Enjoy.
In the next section of his narrative poem, he addresses in a satirical fashion liberally sprinkled with sarcasm all housewives in general and his wife Elisabeth in particular. To wash clothes is easy, he says, when you have buckets, detergent, water, and means of bringing it to a boil. With those things readily available, every man could do the same, he claims. Then he begins to enumerate all the difficulties of doing the laundry in a POW camp. In wartime, people have to line up for butter and bread. Similarly, the prisoners first had to stand in line to receive some water, then sneak into the packed laundry house. To wash your clothes anywhere else was strictly forbidden. For the entire cleansing exercise, the camp rules allowed per company only twenty minutes, during which time the POWs could wash their face and body. Papa bemoaned the resulting failure of keeping body and attire clean.
I placed a quarter on the tiny paper that Papa had written his POW notes. It gives you a sense of how tiny the paper was he used.
Dust also was a big problem when they were beating their blankets in the morning or frantically tried to sweep off the dusty dirt floors. Following the vigorous action of multiple brooms in action, fine particles remained floating in the air for a long time and eventually settled exactly in nooks and crannies in a never-ending cycle, which would make German housewives boil over in anger and frustration. Papa would have written many more verses on dirt and dust in the camp. Alas, for lack of paper and pencil, he was unable to jot them down. When finally he traded in a good chunk of chocolate for those most precious writing utensils, he had forgotten them all. And indeed, there were more important things to report.
Kinzig-Remagen POW Camp Spring 1945 – U.S. Army Archives
Food or rather its dwindling rations became once again the number one topic at the camp. And the chicaneries resumed. The POWs complained that the kitchen staff had maltreated them at a recent call to a non-existing breakfast. In a sadistic response to the justified complaint, the German kitchen personnel collaborated with their American supervisors and devised another sinister plan to make life more miserable for the prisoners. What they came up with was to serve breakfast between four and five. That would take care of the complaint of being called for breakfast and not getting one. Breakfast consisted from now on of watery vegetable soup. Add to this the long wait for lunch, which made their suffering even worse. When finally they received coffee or tea with one slice of wheat bread, it became evident they were set on a starvation diet. The word circulated from company to company that they should do as little physical activity as possible to conserve precious calories. Their survival was at stake.
Last week we were blessed with three days of perfect early fall weather that is typically described as Indian summer. The air was crisp. When the morning fog lifted from the valley, the sun brilliantly illuminated the landscape and the sky was finally blue, which we had been missing so much during the wildfires. We followed the lower Arrow Lake to the picturesque town of Nakusp, then turned south past Box Lake and stopped at the beautiful Summit Lake. Then we moved on to New Denver where we took in the sights of the the Slocan Lake with its Valhalla Mountains presenting a magnificent backdrop. Here is a small sample of our trip. Enjoy.
Last week, I presented five photos of spectacular sunsets that I captured during the forest fires we had experienced repeatedly during the past five years. Red skies and fiery clouds were the hallmark during these frightening summers. Today, I will show a few more sunsets that are a bit less dramatic but give you the feeling of peace and serenity. After a few more rainy days with cooler temperatures, the air is clear now and the sky is finally changing from toxic-gray to the brilliant blue we have been missing all summer long. Enjoy.
We all heard about the devastating effects forest fires can have on wildlife and humans. The destruction of homes and entire communities was horrific especially this summer. It also appears that the fires become more frequent and more destructive with each new year. However, it is easy to forget that there is a positive side to nature’s rebellion against humanity. The wildfires are also a form of cleansing creating new feeding grounds and much needed habitats for wildlife, and getting rid of pests and diseases from ailing forests. For the photographer, wildfires are also the cause of spectacular sunsets. Here are a few examples from the past few years from my archives. Enjoy.
Finally, on May 7, the weather showed signs of improvement, and on the following day, the sun broke through the cloud cover, bringing much-needed warmth for body and soul. However, Papa’s feet and toes were numb; he felt a tingling sensation throughout his lower limbs and could barely walk. His heart began to give him trouble. He knew that he would not have lasted much longer. But now, as he was feeling better and his feet were no longer bothering him and after he was finally able to clear himself of all the dirt on his body, wash his shirt and socks, a sense of new optimism was surging through his entire being. Rumours were also circulating through the camp that the POWs would get permission to go home. The war was over now. Why would the Americans want to keep them any longer? Would it not be cheaper to make them go home and save the expense of looking after, feeding and guarding 80,000 men? But just as Papa was looking in vain for blue patches in the leaden sky, so all his hopes for early dismissal vanished into thin air. Camp life went on with its daily routines. The camp guards became rather more severe as days dragged into weeks and weeks into months. They meted out ruthless punishments after some POWs in constant search for firewood had ripped off some of the toilet seats from the camp latrines.
It is truly amazing how much information Papa Panknin could cram onto a small piece of paper.
Papa was not the type who would not want to idle away the time by just sitting around in the sunshine or play cards for endless hours, even if it was his favourite card game, ‘Skat’. He wrote his notes now on slightly larger paper but continued with the same microcosmic handwriting. Of course, Papa knew that it was strictly forbidden to record his experiences at the camp and therefore was extremely careful not to let anyone see him write. I guess the reason for these rules was that nothing should ever go out to the outside world that might tarnish the image of the Americans.
The Peter and Gertrud Klopp Family 