European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 29, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Monday june 29, 1967 the stars and stripes Page 3 by Tim Laivin is or Zeier and hts Rife the come for the vol Smarch that takes them to the site of his former Home Silber Hof. The town is commemorated in the vol Smarch medal. Coming Home to a Home Long gone German remembers town Shaf was Bureau Home is Vert out Piatt Stom. As he grow Alder the world becomes stranger tilt pattern Mart complicated of dead adj living. Not Ike it Triue moment is Baal it i to before and after Bui a lifetime burning in tiny moment Adan Otthat lifetime of oat Man Only but Fooht Tonti that cannot be deciphered. w1ldflecken, Germany Isidor a Cir was Hack Home Back where he took his first Steps into the Long journey of life. Home was Silber Hof inc year 1937. Isidor Zeier had the distinction of coming of age at a time when Adolf Hitler was coming into his own. I was a distinction that would alter the rest of his life. Silber Hof a town of 30 buildings and 200 people most of them Farmers woodcutters or quarries had another distinction. That of being smack dab in the Middle of where the German army wanted to build what would become the training area. Thai would also alter the rest of Zeier s life. The Silber Hof farm was in my family for four generations. I am also a Farmer. My parents were give enough Money to buy Xvi hectares 16 acres near bad Neustadt. And had to move there. Others moved to Offenbach Hanau and Frankfurt bul Gol out of quarrying woodcutting and farming. They went into in Zeier 72, said after going on s annual vol Smarch saturday. The Days of the vol Smarch arc Lac Only Days each year hat former inhabitants of towns in the training area can go Home again. Organizers say they draw 2,500 people to inc Rhoen mountains each year forthe walk and Many of them Are natives of the former towns in he raining area. Some of the natives even have town meetings More in the vein of parties Al the Siles where their towns once stood. There is a cleansing feeling 10 the mood of Tuhcic people. They have been waifs of War. They have Heen wanderers of a hungering postwar world bul now they Are Back Home. Thomas Wolfe was wrong you can go Home again. But As Isidor Zeier realizes the Only warmth of Home you May find once you gel there is in your mind and in your heart. Nothing else be left. The Lanks on Cherange saw to that. They blasted away everything else thai Wassil byerhof. There arc Only the Trees some grass and stones now where Silber Hof was Eicr said. That s All. Every year i realize More Anil More How important in is to come on he vol Smarch. When they relocated the townspeople it was due in inc changing limes you Ca n t be a angry with the m i i i tary about two of Zeier s Brothers perished in the fighting in Russia. Zeier does not know the fates of i Host he Gre up with. If they were Between 14 and 18 around 1937, they were drafted and slayed in the army until the War was Over. Or until they were killed. A Cir survived. Survived being Shol four limes sur Vived the wounds that lore up his Hack and affect his walking survived being captured in france1, survived the extreme heal in Africa where he Laboured As a prisoner of War. All Hal survived of Silb Crof was the treeline stones and some grass. From Hep Cabot these linkup Pel Stone dome a couple of Kilometres away one can Sec where Silb Crof would have in Silva like a baby in the Cradle on the Side Ufa Valley. It was there in the warmth of Hal Rural town with the Waier lowing thai the i Burgh Genera imn Farmer s son would be swept away to something i did t really understand. Etc Ryling was so vague Back in 1937," the old infantry soul said. The anti semitic sentiment was not Clear until Hitler had solidified his Power. We would hear things on the radio read reports in the newspaper bul in was difficult to understand How far in Ings were go but Ihnn Zeier was sent to Russia to fight sent m France to fight. He was fighting he finally under stood. In did t All crystallize until the War got rolling. And when in got rolling in jus kind of snowballed. Everything got oui of the intense moments for Zeier come once a year now when he does in Home to Silb Crof. Although his wife Thea goes with him the emotions arc isolated in his heart. When i was a Tow 1 thought maybe we would gel our land Back Zeier said. But when the War was Over the americans look in Over. We did t get in Back. So 1 a Cal 10 bad Neustadt to farm where my parents still a Cir is thankful for that Day each year he docs there Are Only the Trees some grass and stones nov where Silber Hof was. That s All Isidor Zeier get to come Home. He says he harbours no ill will to Ward the German or american armies bul looks longingly Al the Lush Green where Silb Crof stood 50 years ago. I was Mill Able to be a Farmer which is what i to be bul there is no comparison Between bad Neustadt and Here. In is much nicer Here. The Meadows inc pasture they Are much Heller Zeier said Wenli the experience of a Man who has been a Dairy Farmer Ull of his postwar life. It is hard to decipher the old stones that Are the rubble of Isidor Zeier s old Hometown. He laps Iris walking Cane twice and the somber mood passes he chuckles looks again at where Silber Hof was knows he is Home again. He can feel it. He likes in. I m Al peace Willi myself
