Almost sixty years separate many of us: We live at differing parts of the globe. Yet something binds us together and that something binds us with that sleepy hollow called Geislingen.

Two years ago I felt certain intrepidity when I first approached our expatriate Estonian papers with the hope of finding a way to revisit that past: To travel through the time warp and meet again those people who had become a fantasy of a different world which we were not old enough to farewell all those years ago. I wondered whether I somehow had fallen out of step with time while the others of my cohort had marched on into the twenty first century.

How relieved I was to learn that I was not alone: That dispersed around the world were many others who too wanted to recapture and better comprehend that early chapter of their book of life. There were some who were comfortable sharing that which they remembered in a book of memoirs, but there were many more that pined to make those memoirs more complete.

The journey to effect the reunion has been an exciting one for those of us who have travelled it. Along it we have learned much which we did not know and been nudged into remembering that which we thought we had forgotten. Not only do we have events, we have names of people and photos of those people and times: a CD album of about 300 photos.

And the reunion? It dates from 10th -13th September 2008. The final agenda is not concrete but will be composed of lots of talk at a cocktail evening, formal dinner, and lunches at old haunts from the past and greeting the dawn with a picnic breakfast at the old Helfenstein ruins. They look magnificent surrounded by the glow of brightly coloured autumn leaves and dreamy through the morning mist.

Among the highlights of the sightseeing will be a return to visit the old school. Its current principal has generously arranged that, and pointed out that we too are part of the history of that school. He has invited those us who have the opportunity, to join in the school’s centenary celebrations in June this year. And of course we will get heaps of exercise as we explore that of our past which time and our young age denied us all those decades ago.

There will also be some optional touring outside the DP camp precincts if there is a wish for that, and the option to stay on for a few days and explore nearby Estonian DP camp towns while our luggage remains ensconced in our hotel rooms.

You may ask how we could put so much together in two short years given that we began with only a handful of names. The answer is definitely we not I: everyone as they joined the ‘gang’, as Tiit Telmet calls it chipped in where ever they could. Without Aarne and Priit Vesilind’s insightful reflections, Liivi Jõe’s ability to keep morale afloat and Tiit’s organizational skill with the photos, the collating of such an event would have become quite daunting. And of course there was an inexhaustible supply of well wishers from both Geislingen and other once Estonian youth. Thank you one and all!

Lastly and very importantly, without the unbounded help from the Gümnaasium cohort I doubt that our dream could ever have become a reality. Thanks Arved Plaks, Ülo Randpalu and Rein Lints: Whenever a quandary arose they came to the rescue. I wonder how many quandaries they prevented.

Did you miss out on the previous publicity? It is not too late to join in! If you need more information please contact me by

E-mail:

Or by snail mail:
Mai Maddisson
North Mitcham Clinic
188 Mitcham Rd
Mitcham. 3132
Victoria
Australia.

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