Oma and her children, early 1945 - Else, Paul, Oma (Greta), Alfred, Anni.

One version of the origins of this photo is that Paul got a week's leave (from the army) because his brother, reported missing after his brigade was captured, had returned home, having made his way back to Gersfeld from Poland after being captured on the Russian frontier. The journey home was quite a story, and Alfred spoke of it only in recent years. When she got the telegram saying "your son is missing in action", Oma emphatically said she knew he was on his way back - and some weeks later he came through the door.