A Determined Journey

By
Rolf D. Schmidt

Author's Profile

Born in March 1940, Rolf-Dieter came to this world as an innocent bystander to political upheavals that would shake it for many years to come. Germany had attacked Poland six months earlier and effectively set into motion the beginning of World War II. 

His mothers family was prominent and affluent, with many well known actresses, opera singers and a famous composer, who would become Dieter's godfather. His real father was a young movie producer who had a stormy affair with Dieter's mother; and they decided to get married shortly after finding out that she was pregnant. The marriage would last just a little over one year.

There was little impact of the war during the first couple of years of Dieter's life. It was not until Germany invaded Russia and the news gradually changed from the constant stream of victories to those of cautiously worded statements of strategic withdrawals or temporary setbacks, that the home front started to worry about the future.

By the end of 1943, the bombing of German cities began to have a powerful impact on the daily lives of the average German.

Most mothers and their young children were evacuated from the cities, Dieter was not, leaving him with his grandfather as one of the few children his age left in Berlin.

It was a period that would be deeply ingrained on the young child; one he would never forget.

It is those memories that would come back to haunt Rolf for the rest of his life. In his later years he decided to investigate and search for information to fill in some of the gaps. He would visit Germany with his wife and start to document some of his feelings. Their first visit to Berlin in 2006 had a powerful emotional impact on Rolf; one that he had not anticipated. Upon his return to the US he felt that he had been shaken to the core. It was the beginning of what is contained in this document.

His search for an identity and success will take him all over the world during a forty year span. When he was asked by his Professor in Business School to set his goals, he already had formulated his plans to leave Germany for the United States and  travel the world. His intense love affair with a beautiful woman he met right after graduation almost derailed those plans, but he could not bring himself to change and the breakup haunted Rolf for many years. It took a long time for him to accomplish his goals, a fact that weighted heavily on him. 

In November 2011 Rolf went to Berlin with his wife to revisit the city of his birth, which now again had become the most popular destination on the continent. They were going to look at some of the things they had missed during their first visit, and fill in the gaps. As it turned out, Rolf fell ill on the plane going to Berlin, spent five days in a hospital; and most of their plans had to be cancelled. 

They returned to Berlin in November 2012 and 2014; and will continue to visit the city on a regular basis.

Rolf lives in Newport, New Hampshire with his wife, Patricia, who has been by his side for over a quarter of a century.