Travel Tales Excerpt – Born in Nuremberg
One evening in late 1963, Michael and his best friend, Eurich, were listening to the radio. The world was on another precipice as Russia and The United States were at odds over missiles in Cuba and Turkey. It was a time when the attitude of “What have we got to lose?” was growing. There was talk of building bomb shelters to survive or taking once-in-a-lifetime chances by staying above ground.
“You know, there are tunnels under the castle,” Michael began one evening as he talked with Eurich. “There is the talk of making them shelters again. Have you been there?”
“No, no one has been there. They are closed.” Eurich responded.
“Well, yeah, but I know a way to get in them. What have we got to lose?” Michael smiled. Eurich considered the idea and then nodded in agreement. They grabbed some bread and cheese, some flashlights, and some canteens of water.
The tunnels’ entrances were sealed and locked, but there were air vents and other ways like cracks in floors and walls, damaged medieval gated sewer drains, and such. Michael went to an air vent system that he thought might work. The vent was lower than the castle, and Michael presumed it would be a straight crawl to the tunnels. They loosened the cover, pried it open, and wormed and wiggled their way into it.
– End Excerpt
My short story, set in Nuremberg, Germany, is a tribute to my tour guide in that city. He was such a good man, and his mannerisms were gentle and kind. He had experienced a tough childhood growing up in post-World War II Nuremberg, and he shared his stories in equal portions as he explained each site our tour group visited.
He had a resilience of spirit that rivaled Nuremberg’s toughness. He was not just a survivor; he achieved a state in life where he knew what was necessary. He loved history and its preservation.
He never told us a story that he had been trapped in the bunkers and tunnels. That was pure fiction on my part. However, I would not be surprised if he had done what I had written. Like the city itself, he had layers and depth to him. He loved his mother, which was evident in how he referred to her. He loved to explore and tell stories, which was easy to experience because he took his listeners through a wide range of emotions but always brought the listener to the same emotional spot. He never glossed over the crimes of the Nazis, yet he was equally critical of the Austrians, the Americans, the British, and anyone or any culture that got too arrogant or too entitled.
The tunnel story is transformational. One enters innocent and exits transformed into a wiser person. It is also a story about survival by wits and personal spirit and not to play the victim. I wish my tour guide well in life.
