Further Media
They decided to flee in January 1953. Soon after witnessing a government action, during which neighboring families were expelled from the village and livestock were confiscated from surrounding farms, Hans and Christel Nieske started making preparations to leave. They discreetly packed up as many household goods and clothes as they could and brought them to relatives for safekeeping – hoping to collect as much of it as possible at a later time.
Christel Nieske remembers:
“Of course, we also received mail from Mecklenburg, and when our mother-in-law visited, she was especially helpful in smuggling things for us that we had secretly brought to her and my sister-in-law in Bützow before we fled.”
These objects from their old home meant a lot to the family; they were always used in connection with the phrase: “That's from home.”
Among these items was a single cufflink which had no practical use, but still held special sentimental value. Its counterpart was lost with one of the many parcels that never arrived in the West.
Have we sparked your curiosity?
There are many more stories and original objects to discover at the Marienfelde Refugee Center Museum, such as this margarine box, which was sent back and forth between Bützow and Wülfrath in special east and west parcels.