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- My Great Grandpa is German and fought against the Americans in World War II. At the end of the war the American soldiers caught him. So they put him in prison. He was an older guy and they called him Pa. They decided to make him be the waiter for the Americans because he spoke a little English. The guys liked him. So one day he asked them, What hand does the American wipe himself with? One of them said, The left hand. Pa said, See, the Germans use paper! One of the soldiers wanted to shoot him. Then another soldier stopped him and said, We are supposed to laugh. So that soldier saved Pa's life!
I met Ur-Opa when I was 3 months old, and again when I was 15 months, 2, and 3 ½ when my family visited Germany. He had a bird named Peter. He liked to whistle and make rhythm noises on the table with his fingers. He worked for Voith (Building Machines) as a machinist and welder. He never had a driver's license because he walked wherever he had to go. He liked woodcarvings. When he died, we got his wood carved crucifix and nativity sets. He was in the German Army during WWII and when my Oma was born she didn't meet him until she was 5 years old.
Michael Pisinger 2006
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1912 - 1999 (87 years)