Gertrude Eckert (*1919) erinnert sich :
Our living together in the house was based on trust.
I am a Catholic, but in our home it didn’t matter whether one was Jewish, Protestant
or Catholic, we just didn’t care. My father was a very liberal man, and Joseph was
a very good friend of his. It was just a very trusting relationship between our
families. I still remember that Mrs. Strauss once said something like, ”did you
realize that there was a burglar in your kitchen last night? I needed some bread
since the guys wanted to leave by four o’ clock, and so got some bread from your
kitchen.” The guys traveled to the villages to buy blueberries. Mrs. Strauss knew
that we only bought “Rhinaer bread” from the Jewish baker, and that we stored it in
the bread bin.
I still remember exactly - I wasn’t attending school yet - when Lilly Strauss came to
Huenfeld. She had blond hair, trimmed at the forehead - bobbed hair was just about
the latest style -, and she wore it in a bun. I often went over and watched her doing
her hair. This was quite interesting for me as a little girl.
My parents did not have a good marriage, sometimes they would quarrel terribly,
especially nights. Until I was ten years old I had to sleep in their bedroom. And
what did I do? I should have yelled that they would quit, but I just closed my eyes
and pretended to sleep. Then I got out of bed, out of the bedroom, over to the
bedroom of the Strauss’ - at two or three o’ clock am - got into bed with them fell
asleep immediately. My parents didn’t even realize it!