Evening star., 1950-05-21

fE0tLOTS NOte. Marion WGde
Doyle Campbell, daughter of DR..
and Mrs. Henry GrGttan Doyle
tDaS reporter on The Star for
sir years until her marriage in
July, 1916. She has liued in
Germany Uith her husband,
Charles Campbell, since then.
Mr.. Campbell is director of
Amerikd Hdus, a State Depart
ntent cultural center in Heidel-
buroJ
BY Marion Doyle CompbelI
HEIDELBURG, Germany by
MaiD Il have lived in Germany
as an American housewife for
nearly four years now. Our three
children were born here. A good
number of our friends are German.
Like other housewives around
the world, spend a lot of time on
the daily trivia. Drying the dia-
pers, what to have for lunch and
fixing the shower before the week
end guests come-these problems
have to be met here just as any,
where else. often they are more
complicated than they would be
In America.
But sometimes an incident jerks
me abruptly from my world of
gritty lettuce and cracked baby
bottles. 1t makes me see clearly
just how far the Germans have
managed to recover.
A few days ago I went to my
chicken woman for two fryers. To
a Washingtonian born and bred,
the European system of little sep
arated shops for the eggs, the
meat. the vegetables and the
bread at first seemed laborious.
I like it now.
Food Tastes Better.
Shopping Is a long process,
slowed further by the consider
able number of "guten tags,"I
"danke schoens" and "aufweider-
sohns" required in any German
business transaction. But some
how the food tastes better than
when got it all in one big eff
cient Connecticut avenue market.
A German hausfrau turned in
the dimly lighted shop to look at
me. Once an American woman
buying in her neighborhood store
would have been both a curiosity
and an insult. Now she merely
waits for me to speak to see how
good my German is.
mo sauerkraut today" the
bustling storekeeper told her. I'll
stopped making 1t since times got
better"
Neither woman looked at me.
But there was something of both
relief and pride in their express
sions as they carried on a pleasant
conversation, the storekeeper in
no hurry to wait on the "Ameri-
kanerin".
Cabbages Rolled Into River.
The "Amerikanerin" knew what
the storekeeper meant about the
sauerkraut. In the biting cold and |
hungry winter of 1916, I joined
some German friends in a cab
bage rolling party. During the
war and the grim days after it,
cabbages were the most numerous
food around. Every German got
two inches of fat and perhaps so
inches of bread a month, but he
could get hold of dozens and
dozens of cabbages.
Some young Germans decided
they would laugh at hunger. They
bundled themselves in the torn
sweaters and odd vests they had
left from the bombings. Then they
went down to the Main River in
Frankfort. where I met them ac-
as they rolled cabbages
Historically into the river.
I invited the group to our apart
ment for Army shipped coffee and
cake. the only food I had in the
kitchen. That coffee and cake
taught me a lesson about starva-
ton. One of the girls became Ill
In the bathroom.
"She can't take the frosting,"
her friend explained. THE fat
and sugar is too much after her
stomach got used to none at ALL"
Mothers Were Heroic.
In 1946 things were so bad here
that no matter how many rela-
tives and friends had been lost
in this devastated land. still
could find sympathy for the wom-
en- and children. The mothers of
Germany were an heroic and pitt
full sight. going without their tiny
WiInu kee.iIe Aaxo.~n