Wars repeatedly create refugees. Refugees can’t bring many belongings with them. But one thing they can take are their traditions. This field note is about one such tradition a family of refugees brought and passed on to their children. I wrote this post from the perspective of one such child (now an adult) so that you can hear his voice through this story.
My grandparents grew up in a city that is now known as Wrocław, Poland. Back then the city was called Breslau, and it was in a region that Germans called Schlesien. When World War II ended, Germans had to flee the city, leaving everything behind. My grandparents left everything as well but brought their traditions with them. They settled near the Polish border within the new German borders.
One of these traditions that we keep is our Christmas Eve dinner. It’s called Pfefferkuchen-Soße. Pfefferkuchen-Soße is a very delicious meal - a sweet sauce served with Wieners, knackwursts, smoked pork chops, potatoes and, of course, sauerkraut.
The meal is only prepared and eaten on Christmas Eve. Many people in Germany eat potato salad with sausages on Christmas Eve. In my opinion, this is hardly special because you could have that any day. Pfefferkuchen-Soße in the middle of the year is strictly forbidden!
