Occupied by the Russians (before the division of Berlin among the Allies), life was normal to such an extent that one could take the S-Bahn from Berlin to Potsdam without controls. The company Permutit, for which our father worked and treated water, had been commissioned by a schnapps distillery in Potsdam – I’m not quite sure – to renew, repair or expand the facilities. The schnapps distillery was located in Potsdam near the city canal. I don’t know how we were paid – at least part of the payment went to our father in the form of schnapps deliveries. These were exchanged for food.
And that’s where I came in. Several times, I had to go to Potsdam to pick up schnapps bottles with my backpack. I only remember finding the owner and the Russian officers every time drunk. And then, one day, a truck parked in front of our home in Berlin and several crates of green firefly schnapps were unloaded. For a long time, those were stacked in our parents’ bedroom to pay for food.