Scam, kidnap by South African police

Scam, kidnap by South African police

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Scam, kidnap by South African police

Scam, kidnap by South African police

 
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Escape through barbed wire in Germany click here

Latest Top (8) News


Gerhard Richter’s Gifts for a New Museum in Berlin Go on Show
One hundred works by the German artist will be a highlight of a new Berlin museum. But the building’s costs have ballooned, and Richter is taking a cautious approach to handing the pieces over.

Fri, 31 Mar 2023 14:39:52 +0000


In Berlin, King Charles Lauds Germany’s Support for Ukraine
“Together we must be vigilant against threats to our values,” the British monarch said to German lawmakers.

Fri, 31 Mar 2023 08:47:30 +0000


King Charles Visits Germany in First Foreign Trip as Monarch
The King and the queen consort met with Germany’s president to kick off a three-day trip meant to strengthen the connection between the two nations.

Thu, 30 Mar 2023 15:34:13 +0000


King Charles Arrives in Germany for First State Visit as Monarch
Charles and Camilla, the queen consort, visited the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin to start their three-day trip.

Thu, 30 Mar 2023 08:25:02 +0000


King Charles Will Travel to Germany for First Visit as Monarch
Charles is set to begin his trip on Wednesday. He had planned to start the royal tour in France, but that leg was canceled because of the country’s ongoing protests.

Tue, 28 Mar 2023 14:32:48 +0000


Transport Workers Go on Strike in Germany
One of the largest public transportation walkouts in decades was intended to give unions leverage as they seek raises to keep pace with rising inflation.

Tue, 28 Mar 2023 06:17:48 +0000


Your Tuesday Briefing
A delay in Israel’s plan to overhaul the judiciary.

Tue, 28 Mar 2023 04:11:15 +0000


Germany Wants More Chip Makers, but They Won’t Come Cheap
The global competition to attract semiconductor companies is expected to cost Berlin billions. Some wonder if it’s a good use of money.

Mon, 27 Mar 2023 09:00:28 +0000
Where is Lothar Blossfeld Dipl Physik? click here
A Hershey kiss or a blob of paint? The Paint Torch outside the Pennsylvania Academy of Art in Philadelphia click here

Germany

Location of  Germany  (dark green)– in Europe  (green & dark grey)– in the European Union  (green)  –  [Legend]
Freiburg im Breisgau Synagogue, burned to the ground 1938, memorial footprint until now click here
Finding my husband in Freiburg. Twice. SJ Dodgson MJoTA 2014 v8n2 p0831

I took a long time learning to be a good wife. The 3 times I tried were all to professional men with blue eyes, mostly German ancestry and Roman Catholic. My first was an Australian with a German last name, Gavan Schneider MD BS, my second was an American with a Finnish name that migrated to the coalfields of Pennsylvania via Poland, Raymond Pekala MD, which union produced Angus and Miles Dodgson Pekala. My third, whom I married for better or worse in June 1993, is totally German, Lothar Blossfeld Dipl Physik (Heidelberg). We have 2 children, Allister and Patience.

Almost as if I married the same man 3 times. Even more peculiar is that I was born in England in the long shadow of the second world war, and from when I could talk I knew that the Germans had tried to kill us all. Twice. World War I and World War II. And did succeed in killing at least a dozen or so of my close male relatives.


My mother came from 2 contrasting breeds of Belfast Irish: Quakers who tolerate everyone, and Presbyterians who tolerate hardly anyone. She caused quite a fuss when she told her parents she was bringing my father home to Belfast for the wedding: an Englishman named Michael? A name only used in Ireland by Catholics?

Lothar however, is not terribly Catholic. He is a mix of Catholic, Jewish and Lutheran, although when asked to pay the compulsory state tax for churches, he managed to wriggle out of it by saying he did not believe in anything. He always went to Catholic church with me on Christmas with my 2 Pekala sons and, after they appeared, our son and daughter.


I met Lothar in April 1986, in a pub in Freiburg-im-Breisgau and rapidly we moved into a pattern that lasted 12 years, of him visiting me in New Jersey or traveling with me, and me and the children visiting him in Freiburg and his parents in Frankfurt. After 6 years he bought a hotel in Breitnau. In 1998, 6 years after that, I started working as a professional medical writer, with no vacation time, and that was the end of my trips to Germany. In 2008, Lothar sold the hotel, without bothering to send me my possessions, and in 2013 was placed in an old people's home in Freiburg by his landlady. Who blocked all access to his family. My daughter and I found him in August 2014, after no replies from any of his contacts, and after going to the police in Freiburg to file a missing person's report.

Now that Lothar has Parkinson's Disease and needs his family, we were there for him. Doing our best to rescue him from his landlady whom he has said used threats to gain control over his health, residence, assets and block his family. German courts thought perfectly reasonable the concept that a man with dementia, who needs someone to wipe his bottom, could decide to never ever see his only family again. Our ties with Germany are severed.

During my father's trip before he died, he visited me in New Jersey, and then Lothar in Freiberg-im-Breisgau in 1986, to whom he spoke in German. My father learned German, from a German prisoner-of-war working on his parent's farm during World War II, and honed in Australia through a friendship with German refugees.


Germany. SJ Dodgson MJoTA 2013 v7n2 p1216

Today is December 16, Beethoven's birthday. I know that because I grew up reading a newspaper comic, Peanuts, for whom Beethoven's birthday was extremely important. The comic's creator, Charles Schultz, had a German name, as do a lot of Americans. America is very German: in the early 1900s more immigrants came from Germany than anywhere else and they influenced the foods we eat like pretzels.

News feed from Der Spiegel

Latest Top (10) News


Dubious Alliance: How Present Is the Far Right in Germany's New Peace Movement?
Putin’s war in Ukraine is unsettling many in Germany. A new peace movement is forming in the country, but it is stirring up the ghosts of German history – and has an open flank to the extreme right.

Tue, 28 Feb 2023 18:57:59 +0100


A Life in Exile: Ukrainian Refugees in Germany, One Year Later
Just over a year ago, Vladimir Putin sent his army into Ukraine, forcing millions of Ukrainians into flight. Hundreds of thousands ended up in Germany. We checked in with some of them to find out how they have adjusted to their new lives.

Fri, 17 Feb 2023 17:40:04 +0100


The Bad News Bundeswehr: An Examination of the Truly Dire State of Germany's Military
Last February, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that the country was going to invest substantially in its military. But not much has happened since then. And now Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht has been replaced. DER SPIEGEL takes a closer look at what is ailing the Bundeswehr.

Tue, 17 Jan 2023 12:48:08 +0100


German Economy Minister Robert Habeck: "We Have Gained Control Over the Crisis"
Last year, it looked like Russia's war in Ukraine was going to plunge Germany and Europe into a deep recession and a winter of gas shortages. Things have turned out differently, says Economy Minister Robert Habeck. But major progress is still needed on climate protection.

Fri, 13 Jan 2023 18:32:20 +0100


Forty Marders for Kyiv: Germany Moves Forward with Deliveries to Ukraine
For months, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz resisted sending German infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine. Now the country is to get them after all – and further deliveries are already being discussed.

Fri, 6 Jan 2023 14:39:47 +0100


The Weapons Dilemma: Germany Takes a Critical Look at Arms Exports
One of the main policy goals of Germany's current coalition government had been imposing stricter controls on arms imports. But now it's becoming apparent that the status quo will likely remain in place – at least for now.

Fri, 6 Jan 2023 14:25:37 +0100


The Motley Crew that Wanted To Topple the German Government
An obscure German blue blood is reportedly at the center of a strange plan to topple the German government foiled this week by the country's security services. Observers are describing the development as a dangerous escalation of the Reichsbürger movement, whose followers want to overthrow Germany's leaders.

Sat, 10 Dec 2022 13:36:27 +0100


A Year with Angela Merkel: "You're Done with Power Politics"
After 16 years as Germany's political leader, she realized that it was time for someone new. But one year after leaving office, Angela Merkel has yet to find closure – particularly as her legacy continues to look worse and worse. DER SPIEGEL visited her to learn more about her present and her plans for the future.

Thu, 1 Dec 2022 16:14:24 +0100


High Society: High Hurdles Face Germany's Cannabis Legalization Plans
The German government is moving towards legalizing marijuana, creating an entirely new industry in the country. But the effort faces significant challenges, including European law.

Tue, 22 Nov 2022 17:13:13 +0100


The Long Arm of the Mullahs: Hamburg Mosque Reportedly a Hotbed for Iranian Propaganda
The Hamburg Islamic Center is considered the most important outpost of the Iranian regime in Germany. But since it is also reportedly used to spread the mullahs’ propaganda across Europe, calls are growing for its work to be restricted.

Tue, 25 Oct 2022 15:39:47 +0200
Lufthansa Plane Lost in Switzerland SJ Dodgson MJoTA 2015 v9n1p0322

Is this tragic crash of a German plane flying from Barcelona, Spain to Duesseldorf, Germany, a metaphor for Germany losing control over European Union? The press conference given by the CEO of Lufthansa insisted that the pilots passed all medical and technical tests and no red flags were raised. I believe them. An airline has no upside in a crash, none at all, and ethical airline companies do everything possible to avert these crashes.

But I also believe that in Germany, rules are made for efficiency, not for humans.

I went to Germany in 1986 to learn some surgical techniques. I was a research assistant professor at an American Ivy League university (University of Pennsylvania) As the mother of 2 American adults whose father is a German scientist imprisoned in a hospital in Germany, I affirm their rules were not made for humans.

Picture below: Brilliant engineering, taking risks and doing everything they can to lower greenhouse gas output and water usage. Germany is leading the way, and US police need to be arresting parents whose children have access to guns, rather than parents who leave their kids outside a store, with the whole world watching them, so they can nip in and buy a loaf of bread.

These young people were enjoying the afternoon breezes on the arches of a footbridge, near the University of Freiburg and the main train station in Freiburg-im-Breisgau.
Where I took the background picture in July 2015.