Erika Klopp (née Kegler) (1899 – 1994)


Südfrankreich 1965 Gerhard Margit Günther Lucie Erika Johanna Mieze

Happy Holidays at the Mediterranean – Erika on the Left

Brief Curriculum Vitae

Born on March 24, 1899, in Grünewald, Pomerania, Germany

1905 – 1909 Elementary School Grünewald

1910 – 1914 Girls’ High School in Neustettin, Pomerania

1915 – 1918  Employed in the parental home in Grünewald

in house, yard and garden

my-mother-and-grandson-wayne-klopp-in-medicine-hat

Erika on a visit to her son Gerhard in Canada with grandson Wayne 1963

1919 – 1927 Employed in various households, in Berlin, Lauenburg (Pomerania), and Danzig (West Prussia) among other places, payment was given by way of room and board and a small allowance. The working conditions were generally challenging, but rewarding especially when little children were involved.

1928 married the farming estate manager Ernst Klopp

1930 – 1940 Running the household at the Floshof and the affiliated apprenticeship home

1940 -1945 in Oberhof, Silberberg and Gutfelde near Dietfurt (Znin) in charge of the three estate households

January 1945 Flight from the approaching Red Army all the way to Arnswalde, Pomerania, found temporary refuge with her family in a forestry building, her husband (Peter’s father) was deported to the Soviet Union where he had to work in a coal mine, after the forestry building had burned down she received permission from the Russian commander to travel to Belgrade, where she hoped to find the other children Karl and Adolf, who attended a boarding school. There she found out that the eldest sons had already taken off on an adventurous and dangerous journey through several battle zones.

1946 Boarded refugee transport train with her two youngest sons Gerhard and Peter and landed in Holstein, whence she was relocated to Rohrdorf, a small village in Southern Germany

1954 – 1962 in Wesel where she was in charge of the household at her sister’s apartment and where Peter attended high school

Mother2

1958 Officially retired with a small senior’s pension

1962 – 1974 Moved with her sister Maria to Watzenborn-Steinberg (Pohlheim) into the rental house, where Günther and his wife Lucie lived

Fall of 1974 Moved to a Seniors’ Home (Haus Abendfrieden) to Bad Ems

19

Mother

1980 Moved with her sister Maria to Gladenbach into a Home run by the provincial welfare department.

Died on March 25th, 1994 at the age of 95.