Concentration Labor Camp

I chaperoned the sophomore field trip on Friday October 2, 2009. Mrs. Stefan, a history teacher, takes her tenth graders to this place to show them what happened during WWII. Her husband is German and he had family members serve in the Nazi Army. One uncle was even a S.S. Officer. When asked why they served with the Nazi Army, she said that Germany was their country, so they fought for there country. What a good reminder to be aware of what our country is doing and to consider what side we will stand.



The KZ-Gedenkstatte Natzweiler-Struthof in a concentration camp in France that was occupied by Germany during WWII. Many political prisoners were taken here as well as Jewish people. Thousands and thousands of people died here and this was not ever the worst of the camps.

The beauty that surrounds this camp is amazing. From 1900-1936 this was a ski resort that was then turned into a labor camp. The beauty only serves to highlight the ugliness of what was done in this camp to people just like you and me.

The barb wire still stands with a monument to those who died here in the background.

"During the summer, we get up at four o'clock in the morning; during the winter, when days are the shortest, we get up at six. We go to the washrooms where, half naked, we have to wash ourselves with freezing water, we dress, then we receive a pint of infusion or of a beverage they call coffee. Then we go, five abreast, to the roll-call place where the S.S. count the men of each block. The roll-calls often go on four hours, and there we stand still, in the snow during winter, under the rain during summer, without any coat of course.

The roll-call being over, we go to platform I and II for the formation of the work kommandos. This being done, we begin the hard work of the day. At noon, we come back to camp, another roll call is called. Hastily, they give us our miserable two pints of soup in the block. Again we assemble and we leave for our work; at about six o'clock, the work kommandos come back to the camp; at six a roll-call like the morning one, often endless. Then we go to our respective blocks, half naked, we wash ourselves. The poor evening meal is distributed and we have to go to bed in the dormitories."




Here is an example of the bunks. They are 3 across and 2 deep and 2 high. Each bunk usually had between 3-5 people who slept in it. So this set of bunks could have housed up to 60 people.



In the Infirmary, or the place where "doctors" would do horrible experiments on people they would also torcher people. Here Laura, a student teacher from Ceaderville, is demonstrating where they would put people for days on end. The space is so mall that the person could neither sit nor stand. This would eventually cause death. Laura has a small frame. Imagine a large man in this small space.


This is the final resting place for numerous people who died in this place.

Paulene & Elizabeth in Switzerland and Germany

It is wonderful to have family come and see where I live and what I do in Germany. My aunt Paulene (my Dad's sister) and my cousin Elizabeth came to visit. They were on a tour of Switzerland to learn about family heritage and see the beautiful countryside of Switzerland and Germany. I was able to join the tour group as they got a look at BFA. The average of of the tour group was 72, so Paulene, Elizabeth and I were the "spring chickens"!!

We then went to Titisee, Germany. It is a quaint little village that sits on the edge of a large lake.

The German people take great pride in creating beautiful flowers. It is something that I definitely enjoy and I am very joyful that it is not something that I have to do: garden!

We enjoy the beautiful view of the lake as we contemplate taking a boat ride.

The bathroom signs in Europe are a bit more creative than those in the United States!

The Cathedral Dome of St. Blasien was the next stop on the itinerary. Here Paulene is standing next to the door...very impressive.

From the inside of the building the dome itself is very beautiful with windows and a very detailed painting in the very center.
This building is notable from the outside as the second largest dome in Europe.

Here are Leland and Rosalee Flickinger, our tour guides. Leland use to teach music at BFA and Rosalee worked with the finances. The had many wonderful reunions at BFA.

The Rheinfalls! This is the largest waterfall in Europe. Even though it is not high, it is extremely wide and has a huge amount of water constantly flowing through it. I went on a boat to the giant rock in the center of the falls. There I climbed to the top to get a bird's eye view of this magnificent creation.

Paulene, Elizabeth and I had the unexpected surprise of visiting Marthalen, Switzerland. This is the villiage where the Spallinger family originated from. Last year I visited two distant cousin (9 generations) named Manfred and Regula (Bischel) Spalinger. In the church's cemetery we came across the grave of a Paul Spalinger. We all found this very interesting since my grandfather's name was Samuel Paul Spallinger.

We also had lunch at a charming restaurant in Marthalen. There we found the Spalinger family crest!

The beautiful flowers of Marthalen! The Swiss are also wonderful gardeners who love bright colors. I had a wonderful 2 days with Paulene and Elizabeth as we found out a bit more about our heritage.

the Hedgehog!

Today some fellow RAs and I went into Lorrach to have lunch and we came across this sign..... Amanda and I are both entertained by the idea that you could Rent-A-Man! Pretty funny!

Here I am enjoying the wonderful and creative ways of advertising in Germany.

Today....during study hours "H" found this little hedgehog! She wanted to keep it as a pet, but due to it's nasty smell we decided that might not be a wise idea. That and the fact that we don't have a place to keep a hedgehog.

Luke, the Dorm Dad, was a little shocked to have an animal in the dorm that was not a dog!

The wildlife in Germany: a hedgehog! Not to big....but very interesting and the cause of many screams in Haus Palmgarten.

Greetings after a long time without a Word!

I do indeed exist and have been busy. I am sorry that I have not updated you better on my life. I know the last time I blogged I told you about my Spring break trip to Romania. Since then I said goodbye to the 2008-2009 Palmgarten girls

.....and I watched the 2009 seniors graduate from BFA! It was a moment to celebrate and a moment to say goodbye to some of my girls I may not see again.

Then I spent almost 2 weeks of painting white on white in the lower floor of the "now" Palmgarten. The lower hallway use to be offices for Janz Team and now are dorm rooms. After that I flew to Ohio where I helped my Grandparents, Bob & Leola Stemen, celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary. And since the who family was together we all went to Kalahari, a water park. So there were 8 adults and 2 toddlers all sleeping in one suite! It was a great time. We also celebrated Eli, my nephew's second birthday. Not long after that I traveled up north to Juneau. There I spoke at my church, Auke Bay Bible Church, and connected with friends. Here Crystal Ross and I are hiking on Perseverance Trail. This is my favorite Juneau trail!

My time in Alaska would not be complete unless I was able to go out to Echo Ranch Bible Camp. I had a great time there during Sr. High week. Some of the seniors I had known since they were 7 years old. I also got to dabble in some programing and plan Mission Impossible with a former camper, then counselor, and now she is engaged! Here I am with Denise and Erin and I also hung out with Brynden-my single camp ladies!

As I said goodbye to my Juneau friends, I said hello to my Anchorage friends. I got to see Becca and her new baby, Ephraim.

I also got to meet Nate, the fiancee of my good friend Annie. They get married on Sept. 19!

Hanging out with my former roommate LeAnn was also a blast. Since she works at the airlines, she helped me finally get a flight! We had great times up north and even had a moose poking around in the front yard! Alaska!

Then I traveled back to Ohio after getting stuck in Anchorage for a few extra days. I made friend,Penny, in the Anchorage airport as we waited, and waited for a flight. We were denied 8 different flights until finally we both got on the same flight. I was the last person on the plane. I got back during Ebenezer Mennonite Church's annual family camping weekend. So I had a great time with friends and family there.

Then I was back to Black Forest Academy to complete my second year as an RA in Palmgarten. We have new dorm parents, Luke and Stephanie Welbourn. Lizzy Schult are both 2nd year RAS. This year we only have 19 girls, but we also have a boys dorm on the top two floors. It has made for some fun experiences.

Our eleven seniors marched proudly into the BFA auditorium with their flags on opening ceremony. BFA has also had the "Fall Party" with the theme of opposites. I went with a fellow RA, Anna, as Coke and Pepsi.

Some of the best times in the dorm are just hanging out with the girls. I love having them come into my room to study or talk or just be around. It is a great being an RA at Palmgarten.

Romania...Day 6

The English classes continued to go well. Often the BFA students found themselves subbing for the regular teachers. That evening we had a prayer meeting and were asked to sing with the girls from the attic a song in Romanian and English. Below, Pinky lead this song, she is on the far right.

We enjoyed praying with the Romanians. When they pray, the pastor will sort of guide their prayers to pray for our spiritual relationship, the church, or the sick. When it was time to pray each person would stand or kneel and pray out loud. The Romanians are very passionate and it is clear that they truly love the Lord.

Romania...Day 5

(Here is my short disclaimer as to why the rest of the trip is finally being put on the blog: Life has been very busy in the dorm with all of the girls back and when I have time, I usually want to sleep...so sorry about the late entries.)

The day was very similar to they days before with the students teaching English. We teacher types were working on the presentation that the 12th grade English class and our BFA students were going to present on Thursday to the entire school. The presentation was called “What is Your Heart Like?” The students would sing and then tell the school about they different kinds of hearts people can have. Both BFA and Filadelphia took a survey and the students were remarkably similar in the kinds of hearts they had. Both schools had many happy or joyful hearts and not very many thankful heart.

That evening we had all of the girls in the attic come for a Bible Study. I presented the “Paper Cross Story” which tells of the Christ’s death on the cross and how He rose again. Emma, a Romanian student, translated what I said into Romanian. That was very difficult for me to have to stop after every sentence but I made it through.

One of the 12th grade girls, Pinky, asked me to teach her how to fold the paper cross so she could teach it to her Sunday School class. Pinky and I became good friends. Later she invited me to her room to meet her 3 roommates and to see how she had decorated the whole room in pink. She also shared about her life, her love for God, and how she had an aunt who lives in California. I even got her email so we can stay in contact.

Romania...Day 4

The students spend another day in the classrooms teaching English. After school our BFA team would meet together in one of the classrooms. Here we would discuss ideas for English classes, games to play in the evenings, and then we would pray for the Romanian students.

Cathy and I found that we have a similar love for Diet Coke or Coca Cola Light as it is known in Europe.

After our meetings it would be time for dinner. Here is a picture of one our means. We had bread at every meal. This meal is mostly of potatoes with a slice of cheese and the bottle is what they call yogurt. But it is not like the yogurt that Americans or Germans know. It is more similar to sour cream. The students would drink this entire bottle. Needless to say it was a bit too different for us Americans and Koreans to really enjoy it, but it was a fun experience.

This evening there was a parent meeting at the school and the parking lot was so filled up we had to play our games inside. Here I am playing “Shuffle your Buns.” We then played “Apple, Apple, Banana” and then ended the night with “Honey if You Love Me Will You Please, Please Smile.” They were all a big hit!

Romania...Day 3

Teaching English the the students.

It was a wonderful day…even if it began with rain. The BFA students spent the day in the classrooms teaching English. Many of them picked up quite a bit of Romanian as well. Here you can see Josh learning basic Romanian phrases from some of the students. By the end of the week he and Katelyn could say the “Lord’s Prayer” in Romanian and I am still trying to master “thank you.”
This was our first day of games with students who lived in the “attic.” With the middle school and high school students we played “football” or in American terms soccer. With the elementary students we had some rousing games of “Duck, Duck, Goose.” This was a new game to them, but they loved it!
We were also able to celebrate “H’s” 18th birthday. We sang to her and gave her chocolate! Then that evening the girls in the attic found out it was “H’s” birthday and they all sang the Romanian version of “Happy Birthday” and then the English version. “H” was overwhelmed at these girls kindness and generosity as they gave her hugs and gifts.

The Romanian Birthday Song!

Happy Birthday Hugs!

After the birthday songs all of the girls gathered in the hallway for a couple of games of “Mafia.” This seems to be a very international game! What a fun end to a great day.