The German House

Part 1: We lived in the house on the curve outside the village before we moved into the village. I remember a lot of things that happened there, even though I was four years old for most of the time we lived there. I suppose most of my memories could be faulty but I think they're pretty accurate, as from a 4-year-old's perspective. No one ever discussed much with us, but I listened whenever I could. We had no electricity, so no radio even. The owner was Mrs. Schreib or maybe Schribe. I never saw her, but it seems her house was on a hill which we could see from our house. Rumor was that when the blackout siren blew, and everyone was to put out all lights and/or cover their windows, that she would leave her lights on, thereby letting the German airplanes know where to drop their bombs. They never did, though, but I remember being very scared hearing those sirens in the night. I seem to recall some of us hiding in a closet during those dreaded Blackouts. Daddy served a term as a "Warden" as it seems every man had to or was expected to do. He used to cut a piece of cardboard to place over his headlights so the light beam was directed downward and then do his duty of driving around to see if people were complying with the blackout rules. He took that responsibility very seriously, though now it seems so absurd that any foreign bomber planes would target as sparsely a populated area as we lived in. I also remember his rolling up pieces of tinfoil but I didn't know why, maybe to drop off at collection center.