I don't know if this is going to interest anyone here, but I heard a wonderful story today - or rather just the bones of one. I thought it might interest some Catters because of Kevin McGrath's comments on that thread about the tradition where he said that listeners have to fill in the gaps of the story in their heads.
Of all people to give you a memorable story, it was a fifty odd year old banking executive. He told me that his father had served in the Wehrmacht in the war and had become a prisoner of the Russians at the end. A Russian officer had got him papers which enabled him to leave Russia and then make his way into Poland. He was taken in on a Polish farm. They fed him while he worked there, slowly regaining his strength for six months until he was able to cross the border back into Germany. He got back in 1946 and lived in Wüppertal. He married, had children and is now 94 and well.
To put into proportion just how extraordinary this story is, it is worth mentioning that at Stalingrad alone, 91,000 Germans went into captivity. 6,000 returned. In view of the bitterness and the atrocities committed by both sides, it is incredible to think of a Russian officer risking his life to help one of the hated "Fascists" (as all Germans were referred to at that time).
I can only use my imagination to fill in the gaps of this story, much as I would love to hear the details. Just fancy getting material like that falling into your lap when you are teaching a middle aged German banker!
Where did you hear marvellous stories unexpectedly?