The "Ortsgendarm," the local constable, from the nearby town of Hundsbach, appeared on his bicycle with the demand that our father accompany him, presumably on foot, to the 6 miles-distant prison in Kirn.

Not one to accept such indignity without style, Father ordered his usual chauffeur, Heinrich Urban, whose daughter Paula had been our nanny, to drive the three of them to Kirn and to return to Becherbach with the "Ortsgendarm," so that the latter could retrieve his government-issue bicycle.

The food at the Kirn prison being what it was, wives were allowed to bring food after the prison warden had been bribed.

After a few days at the Kirn jailhouse, Father was transferred to Dachau for an incarceration lasting close to one month.

Father, before Dachau
Before Dachau

Father, after Dachau
After Dachau


It is not impossible that the intercession of his many Christian friends may have helped him in gaining his freedom.

Ultimately, however, his release was probably due to his having agreed to turn over his business to a Nazi party sympathizer and, most importantly, having obtained an entry/residence permit for the Grand-Duchy of Luxemburg, thanks to the intervention of his Luxemburger brother-in-law, Hermann Wolf.

Father had become a shadow of his former self and seldom spoke of his ordeal.

Nevertheless, he did have the inner strength to remain the courteous and dignified gentleman he had always been.