Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" RVFD On-Line Store It’s an experience you will never forget Learn More PO Box 1547, Rockville, MD 20849 · Phone 301.424.0310 · Fax 301.294.4721 rvfd@rvfd.org MD 20849 Phone 301.424.0310 Fax 301.294.4721 RVFD does not host birthday parties at any RVFD station. Try Cabin John Park Volunteer Fire Department in Bethesda (c) 2025 Rockville Volunteer Fire Department A Tale of Three Cities: Rockville’s Sister Cities Many of us have spent a warm summer evening sampling Rockville Town Square’s various eats or tossing a football at Woodley Gardens Park full of diverse cultural touches and flavors you might find someone who speaks a different language or perhaps a new local restaurant that has opened up to share another unique iteration of the countless cuisines that are already represented in the area It only makes sense that such a heterogenous city has cast its eyes beyond its city limits to see how it can share the bonds of friendship and cooperation with others Rockville has sought to establish unique partnerships with cities abroad to engage in cultural exchange Taiwan are Rockville’s two sister cities Sister cities are affiliations between cities that are created in order to develop meaningful instances of cultural exchange and understanding While Rockville is the only incorporated city in Montgomery County to have these uniquely codified relationships with other cities Montgomery County has similar relationships with Morazan (El Salvador) Germany is located in the state of Schleswig-Holstein Rockville’s sisterhood with Pinneberg dates back to 1957 when Rockville’s Mayor and Council approved a resolution on October 13 You may have noticed a “Pinneberg Avenue” in the Twinbrook area — this is why and exchange groups having crossed the Atlantic Boasting a population of just under 45,000 Pinneberg is known in the region for its castle that dates back to the 14th century — unfortunately the castle is no longer as intact as it once as Pinneberg is a charming city  that is fairly densely populated for its size It’s also home to plenty of wonderful local cuisine in the backdrop of a lovely countryside Taiwan is a much newer member of Rockville’s family having had their sisterhood cemented on July 17 2019 when the Yilan Sister City agreement was signed Yilan has a population of just under 96,000; the city is known for its proximity to Guishan Island which is a volcanic island off of the east coast of Taiwan Rockville recently hosted a delegation from Taiwan for the 2019 Bubble Tea Festival that happened last year in Rockville Town Square Richard Montgomery High School’s Jazz Ensemble performed in Yilan as student ambassadors in October of 2019 Did you know that you can suggest future sister cities for Montgomery County visit https://montgomerysistercities.org/future-cities/ Featured image courtesy of the Yilan Museum of Art Essential digital access to quality FT journalism on any device Complete digital access to quality FT journalism with expert analysis from industry leaders Complete digital access to quality analysis and expert insights complemented with our award-winning Weekend Print edition Terms & Conditions apply Discover all the plans currently available in your country See why over a million readers pay to read the Financial Times New white paper explores how QMC technology addresses critical SWaP challenges in embedded computing January 2025 -- The VITA 93 (QMC) standard is transforming embedded computing design in defense A new white paper authored by experts at TEWS Technologies provides system architects and design engineers with crucial insights into how the mezzanine standard addresses modern bandwidth To download the white paper, click here The VITA 93 (QMC) standard was built on lessons learned from previous standards blending their best features with new capabilities for the future it became apparent we really needed small mezzanine cards – much smaller than on VNX,” explains Dean Holman “The primary driver was being able to get something small enough to fit one or two on these really small form factor boards.” The white paper examines how VITA 93 (QMC) overcomes size and power (SWaP) limitations while maintaining compatibility with existing systems " VITA 93 (QMC) represents a groundbreaking advancement in mezzanine card technology "With its well-thought-out cooling concept it sets a new standard for embedded systems across industries." Key topics covered in the white paper include: The document explores VITA 93's (QMC’s) scalability from single QMC configurations measuring just 26mm x 78.25mm and 40 I/Os to quad implementations supporting up to 160 I/Os and PCIe Gen6 x16 It details how the standard's innovative approach to thermal management and variable stacking heights enables optimal space utilization while maintaining robust cooling capabilities The white paper represents a collaborative effort involving insights from more than 40 companies that participated in the VITA 93 standard's development It serves as an essential resource for understanding how this technology will shape the future of embedded computing across aerospace To download this white paper, click here For more information, visit www.tews.com Get our updates: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tewstechnologies #VITA #VITA93 #QMC #OpenStandards #Embedded Systems TEWS Technologies is a privately held company with over 50 years of experience in designing and building turnkey The company provides OEM and large government customers with an industry-leading range of internal expertise including complete engineering and manufacturing services as well as software support for leading real-time operating systems Pinneberg epitomises the Germany of record consumer confidence booming exports and a bulging federal budget surplus Here commuters stream off trains from Hamburg (local unemployment is 4.9%) climb into big cars and zip home to neat houses with solar panels on the roof This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “The Germany that doesn’t work” Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents George Simion will face Nicusor Dan, a mainstream candidate, in a run-off There are five luxuries it can no longer feasibly afford Friedrich Merz’s career is one of unforced errors and puzzling missteps. But he is serious about Europe Both Donald Trump and Ukraine’s diplomats will consider it a success Hamburg City Hall Image by wikimedia commons — The Reform congregation in the German city of Hamburg has dedicated its first Jewish cemetery who also heads the Liberal congregation in Bad Pyrmont inaugurated the community’s section of the Ohlsdorf cemetery which was supported with a gift of $3,280 for plantings at the site from the Hamburg-West/Südholstein parish church and $1,090 from the Holy Ghost Community in Pinneberg the community has used the main Jewish cemetery in Hamburg-Altona vice president of the Pinneberg community’s synod and a frequent guest at the Liberal congregation’s services called the donation “a sign of reconciliation and peace,” according to the September newsletter of the European Union for Progressive Judaism The Hamburg Liberal Jewish Community was officially established in 2004 and is a member of the Union of Progressive Jews in Germany plus a circle of about 200 supporters and friends The community’s website says its next aim is to open its own synagogue According to the Central Council of Jews in Germany there are currently 2,445 registered members of the Jewish community in Hamburg the city of Hamburg is planning to submit in December an application to UNESCO the United Nations organizations responsible for education and heritage sites for recognition of its main Jewish cemetery — the Jüdische Friedhof Altona — as a World Heritage Site A decision would not be made until mid-2018 Covering about 4.6 acres and holding some 8,100 graves the cemetery — known for its grave designs — was established in 1611 by a Sephardic community originating in Portugal An Ashkenazi section was added a few years later and most of those buried there were Ashkenazi Among the famous personages buried there are the father of the German poet Heinrich Heine It has been an official German cultural landmark since 1960 Jewish cemeteries in Germany are sometimes targeted by vandals police in Strasburg reported that unknown perpetrators had knocked down a heavy gravestone in the city’s Jewish cemetery They have asked the public for assistance in identifying the culprits I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward American Jews need independent news they can trust At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S rising antisemitism and polarized discourse This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up Copyright © 2025 The Forward Association This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Germany's very own Marco Kutscher and the 10-year-old Aventador S (Armitage x Charming Boy) won Sunday's CSI4* 1.60m Grand Prix of Holstein presented by Grand Prix Club Hof Waterkant in Pinneberg With a time of 40.95 seconds, Kutscher and Aventador S were the quickest pair in the jump-off between four horse-and-rider-combinations – delivering one of only two double clear rounds in the class “I have to say it's been a little while since I've won a Grand Prix at this level,” said the winner in a press release from CSI Hof Waterkant “and one of the things I have learned is that you have to take your time to enjoy it and that's what I will do now." who had a challenging week due to the weather conditions “Those were difficult days because of the weather and anyone who knows what a show like this takes also knows how much work goes into it This has been done tirelessly here – therefore to our hosts and to everyone who helped; respect!” Christian Kukuk (GER) and Checker 47 (Comme Il Faut x Come On) delivered the second double clear of the Grand Prix taking the runner-up spot with a time of 42.22 Gerben Morsink (NED) and Navarone Z (Nabab de Reve x Amor) placed third with a fence down in 41.82 followed by Markus Renzel (GER) aboard Canmore 4 (Casall x Contender) in fourth with four faults in 45.26 With two time penalties in the first round Jens Baackmann (GER) and Caja 35 (Clarimo x Coriano 4) finished fifth.  © 2025 World of Showjumping - All rights reserved Powered by Artionet - Generated with IceCube2.Net 51 men gathered to discuss the establishment of a volunteer fire department The meeting was called following a devastating fire at a store that could have spread to the entire town center if not for the assistance provided by the District of Columbia Fire Department Representatives from the group met with Rockville’s mayor and council who approved the plans to organize the department along with other members of the community raised money to purchase a fire engine and further organize the department The new Rockville Volunteer Fire Department was incorporated in December 1923 RVFD members celebrated this significant milestone, along with visiting firefighters from the Freiwillige Feuerwehr Pinneberg in Germany (volunteer fire brigade) (Pinneberg is a Rockville Sister City) at an event held at the Bolger Center in Potomac awards were presented to members for their own milestones or achievements attained in 2015 the chief of the Pinneberg fire department then the chief of RVFD and proposed an exchange of visits as Rockville and Pinneberg were sister cities The RVFD voted in May 1991 to officially establish a relationship A group of Rockville members visited Pinneberg in May 1992 and a group of Pinneberg members visited Rockville in October 1992 thus formalizing a relationship that is now 25 years old current Pinneberg Brandmeister (Chief) Claus Köster spoke about the importance of the relationship and presented a large plaque to commemorate the occasion RVFD members achieving milestones or receiving awards were: ·      Justin Mills10 Years·      Rueben Bajaj ·      Patrick Shen15 Years – Life Membership·      Jonathan Berry ·      Juan Roman20 Years·      Herbert Leusch ·      Joe Neary25 Years·      Gregory Good30 Years·      Thomas O’Connor35 Years·      Mark Deputy40 Years·      Karl Marlzolf RVFD members contributed to their community by standing by at the station for a total of 119,366 hours In addition to their weekly standby requirements The members with the most standby hours divided between live-in members and non-live-in members in 2015 were: Charles Ogles – 1877Non-Live-In MembersScott Emmons – 2648 things our members do while spending all that time at the station is to respond on emergency calls The top five call runners in each category are: The Shift Member of the Year award is nominated by each duty shift officer and awarded to the shift member who has contributed above and beyond expectations to the shift’s operations This year’s recipients of the Shift Member of the Year awards are: Probationer of the Year – Eric Klein Officer of the Year – Deputy Chief Craig Lazar EMS Member of the Year – Brenda Mannix Firefighter of the Year – Scott Cushing Fire Chief’s Award – Alex Cederbaum Special Fire Chief’s Recognition -Lori Rieckelman Staff Therapist with the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service President’s Award – Danielle Thomas Distinguished Service Award – The Department’s highest honor – Peggy Miller renowned for its expertise in designing and building turnkey the TXMC897 Switched Mezzanine Card (XMC)-compatible module The TXMC897 is an innovative addition to the company's portfolio offering high-speed Ethernet connectivity for a variety of applications The TXMC897 is available in two variants: "This new product exemplifies our commitment to innovation and quality," said Tim Tews "The TXMC897 is designed to meet the demanding requirements of high-speed data communication providing our clients with unparalleled flexibility and performance." This module supports a range of Ethernet standards and speeds making it suitable for diverse applications including the defense The TXMC897 provides dual-channel 10GBase-T Ethernet and dual-channel SFP+ 10 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces and supports multiple Ethernet speeds and standards including 100Base-TX Its compatibility with various transceiver modules The product also boasts an impressive MTBF [Mean Time Between Failures] underscoring TEWS Technologies' focus on durability and quality The TXMC897 supports Intel's X710-TM4/AT2 10 Gigabit Ethernet controller and includes a 64 Mbit Serial Flash for PXE and iSCSI boot Software support for the controller is available at Intel's official website and TEWS Technologies provides additional support for other operating systems The XMC-Connector P15 provides access to the Intel X710-TM4/AT2 quad/dual port 10GbE controller via an x8/x4 PCIe 3.0 link Two Ethernet interfaces support 100 Mbit/s The two SFP+ Cages accept various SFP and SFP+ transceiver modules These two SFP+ hosts are connected to the Ethernet controller's SFI Interfaces Tews’ latest module conforms to ANSI/VITA 42.0 standard with a compact form factor of 124 mm x 74 mm and supports the Precision Time Protocol (PTP) per IEEE 1588/802.1AS standards For more details about the TXMC897 and other TEWS Technologies products, visit www.tews.com/products/xmc/txmc897 or www.tews.com  or contact [email protected] - You are cordially invited to join Military + Aerospace Electronics and experts from Acromag will explore how the QMC (VITA 93) standard revolutionizes rugged embedded computing with its compact design and powerful I/O solutions The evolution of rugged embedded computing demands increasingly sophisticated I/O solutions that can withstand harsh environments while delivering exceptional performance QMC (VITA 93) has emerged as a groundbreaking small form factor I/O mezzanine standard developed within the VITA Standards Organization engineered to enhance modern rugged computing platforms We'll examine the technical requirements that drove QMC's development and how its architecture works with existing open system standards We'll use practical examples to demonstrate how QMC's features address engineering challenges in demanding applications while enabling next-generation embedded system designs We will show how QMC integrates with leading open standards architectures Hosting QMC modules on various carrier card platforms mounting configurations and field I/O connector options will also be discussed This compact standard measures 26mm x 78.25mm—comparable to an M.2 1228 card—and introduces key innovations including dual-connector architecture and comprehensive thermal management for both air- and conduction-cooled applications Whether you're designing rugged embedded systems this webinar will equip you with essential knowledge about this emerging standard that bridges the gap between compact size and advanced I/O capabilities in demanding environments business development manager for Acromag in Wixom director of systems products for Elma Electronic; and Jan Zimmerman general manager for TEWS Technologies in Pinneberg Please click here to learn more and to register for this FREE event: https://www.militaryaerospace.com/webinars/webinar/55263120/understanding-the-future-of-small-form-factor-i-o-deep-dive-into-the-qmc-vita-93-standard.  please click the box below to let us know you're not a robot Get the most important global markets news at your fingertips with a Bloomberg.com subscription Johannes Pinneberg calls on his colleague while his wife is in labour and winds up at a nudist swimming bath Visitors to St Catharine’s College during Pink Week might have sympathised with the baffled Pinneberg as they encountered a flock of colourful crochet breasts turning gently in the breeze The display preceded an auction in collaboration with Catz Yarn Society to raise money for breast cancer charities I copped (wink) a sparkly pink number with a dappled areola by Romy Copley Years of watching Antiques Road Trip and Flog It “Naked art uncloaks its audience and cries: “You must change your life”” The last line of Rilke’s “Archaic Torso of Apollo” (translated by Stephen Mitchell) startles as though the poet had suddenly untied his coat or fired a gun: “You must change your life.” Yes Naked art uncloaks its audience and cries: “You must change your life.” I half-remember reading an article positing that moral fiction keeps its foot off the pedal and its finger off the key I like this idea enough to feel frustrated that I can’t locate the original piece This does not mean art should be “objective” or politically-spayed (an impossibility) nor any of the excuses tried on to justify failures of imagination Morality isn’t a system of social regulation or a bludgeon to shut people out with but an interest in opening up and refusing the easy line I can almost come around to dogma (I take the maybe unevolved view that if you commit to something you ought to go the whole hog; I am dogmatic about the dignity of people and against the death penalty I also think changing your mind is one of the most important things you can do.) Still something insists the artistic project should never sacrifice sight – if not clear How far can we rescue a term like morality Christopher Isherwood’s Mr Norris Changes Trains (1935) and Goodbye to Berlin (1939) used to appeal to me precisely because their treatment of the Weimar Republic sidesteps absolutes Isherwood denounced both novels later in life ‘A moment of peace’: Gallerie V’s Autumn exhibition Composing my own photographs of the crochet boob was a great lark. It’s probably time to apologise to everybody I subjected to these photos and whom I am re-subjecting to them here. For the past couple of weeks, I have been bustling around so much I forgot how gargantuan the world is. Then I glimpsed the soft, round, flushed thing on the windowsill and remembered Rilke: “You must change your life.” I don’t know if he is right. I can’t promise I will agree with this article by the time it is published. Maybe that is OK. It is, whatever else, moral. Varsity is the independent newspaper for the University of Cambridge, established in its current form in 1947. In order to maintain our editorial independence, our print newspaper and news website receives no funding from the University of Cambridge or its constituent Colleges. We are therefore almost entirely reliant on advertising for funding and we expect to have a tough few months and years ahead. In spite of this situation, we are going to look at inventive ways to look at serving our readership with digital content and of course in print too! Therefore we are asking our readers, if they wish, to make a donation from as little as £1, to help with our running costs. Many thanks, we hope you can help! First published in 1947, Varsity is the independent student newspaper for the University of Cambridge. All content © 1996-2025 Varsity Publications Ltd. News & Analysis on Chocolate, Candy and Cocoa 13-Dec-2018 Last updated on 13-Dec-2018 at 13:52 GMT The announcement was made in the midst of the company’s restructure following its self-administered insolvency proceedings, owing to a high rise in energy costs and procurement prices for raw materials.  According to Heiner Kayser, MD, Feldmuehle, by discontinuing the production of graphic papers its paper machine 2 will be shut down and there will be job cuts from 400 to 180 staff.  “The management presented the overall concept on December 7, 2018, as part of an employee meeting with simultaneous commencement of the negotiation of the social plan with the works council,” the company said in a statement.  On November 19, 2018, Feldmuehle filed for an application with the competent local court in Pinneberg to open insolvency proceedings under its own administration pursuant to Sections 270, 270 a para. 1 InsO (German Insolvency Act).  During the year management had tried to implement measures to increase operating profitability but despite these efforts, ‘the latently rising variable costs could not be offset by implemented price increases, partly due to the company's lower-than-expected revenues in September and October 2018’. Following the management's application, the Pinneberg Local Court ordered the provisional self-administration on the same day. (71 IN 238/18). Dr. Dietmar Penzlin of Schmidt- Jortzig Petersen Penzlin Insolvenzverwaltung Partnerschaft von Rechtsanwälten, Hamburg, was appointed as provisional administrator. The provisional administrator shall examine the economic situation and supervise the management. However, the company's management retains power of disposition. Restructuring within the framework of self-administration gives the company's management the opportunity to undertake and respectively implement all necessary measures to improve profitability and to take measures towards the company's sustainable competitiveness. At the same time, an application to the Pinneberg Local Court has been filed that future deliveries and services ordered by Feldmuehle shall be paid as mass liabilities. Business operations will be continued.   Feldmuehle develops and manufactures white coated label papers and packaging papers for the German and international market.  In these two business areas, the company offers a product portfolio for the label and packaging industry, printing houses, brand owners and converters.  Since June 15, 2018, the company is part of a subsidiary of the Berlin-based Beteiligungsgesellschaft Kairos Industries.  ECOM's proposed deal to acquire German cocoa grinder Euromar will help protect it from cocoa price fluctuations, says a commodities consultant. The US unit of cocoa trading and supplying company Transmar Group has filed for bankruptcy protection in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York after the parent company experienced insolvency in Europe.  Making a meaningful impact through ethical and sustainable cocoa productionPaid for and content provided by Fludor Ghana Ltd European-quality chocolates reshape the market with local production and competitive pricingPaid for and content provided by IRCA Group The sweet spot: 100% indulgence with cost-effective natural confectionery ingredientsPaid for and content provided by Avebe The CSI4* Grand Prix of Pinneberg in Germany attracted forty horse and rider combinations to the start Local combinations had the upper hand in this final competition with a victory for Marco Kutscher on home soil.  Only four combinations managed to leave the 1.60m high obstacles untouched in the first round relying on the jumping ability and carefulness of Navarone Z (by Nabab de Reve) Morsink guided the fourteen-year-old stallion to a time of 41.80 seconds in the jump-off but incurred four penalty points Marco Kutscher (GER) proved to be the best The German rider piloted Aventador S (by Armitage) to the fastest time of 40.95 seconds in the jump-off with the ten-year-old stallion leaving all the poles untouched Christian Kukuk (GER) had to settle for second place once more His faultless round on Checker 47 (by Comme il Faut) was timed at 42.22 seconds Full results I stood outside the front door of a grand house near Hamburg with my father The house had been his home for five years between 1946 and 1951 and the stage for an extraordinary time in his life The owner had agreed to let us see the house and sensitive to the significance of this visit My father paused to take in the scene: the variegated floor of the hall was bathed in coloured light from the Art Deco windows up in the minstrel’s gallery For a moment he was that eight-year old boy again Colonel Walter Brook – had stood in this same hall and made an unusual decision; one that would have powerful implications for more than his immediate family Walter Brook was governor of the Kreis (county) district of Pinneberg, immediately to the west of Hamburg, and responsible for its reconstruction and the feeding, rehousing and de-Nazification of thousands of displaced people. Germany had been divided into four zones and the British zone was by far the most devastated If the Americans got the view and the French the wine More bombs were dropped on Hamburg in a weekend than on London during the entire second world war Walter needed a house for his family – my grandmother Anthony – who were about to arrive by ship at Cuxhaven A shortage of housing led the British to requisition a large number of the buildings that remained standing and the resident Germans were put into billets When my grandfather went to requisition a house on the Elbe River it was occupied by a wealthy merchant family: Herr Ladiges my grandfather turned to Herr Ladiges and said he didn’t have to leave: the house was big enough for the two families to share The house The present owners allowed Anthony to look round and memories of his boyhood flooded back.This was an unusual – possibly unique – arrangement Europe was still raw with a desire for revenge and Germans were seen as guilty and deserving of punishment Some of my grandfather’s Control Commission for Germany (CCG) colleagues thought he was soft-pedalling while my grandmother who had adopted Atlee’s directive to maintain “a cold and dignified aloofness towards Germans at all times” worried about the repercussions of “living with the enemy” things were polite but cool between the two families Everyone stuck to the demarcation lines within the house ate their meals separately and occasionally were allowed to play the piano in the “Brook zone” Meals for both families were prepared in the extensive basement with its large kitchen; the Ladiges’ maid carried their meals up to the upper floor while the Brooks received theirs via the dumb-waiter lift to the splendid dining room on the ground floor While the adults maintained this apartheid especially my father and his German counterpart playing games in the garden and learning each other’s language My father and Heike become friends and during the summer of 1947 Heike accompanied the Brook family on trips to the seaside at Scharbeutz Anthony Brook and Heike Ladige playing in the snow the mood shifted decisively when the two families shared the celebrations and sang carols in German and English around the piano the dynamics in the house changed from that of occupier and occupied to that of equals I was only vaguely aware of this episode in my family history I didn’t live with my father and was consequently less exposed to the Brook side of my background I had also never met my grandfather; he died when my father was 18 So when my father told me in 2001 what had happened in Hamburg I thought: I wish I’d met my grandfather … and what a brilliant story There was my grandmother’s reaction to being asked to share a house with Germans; the awkwardness of being reunited in such strange surroundings with my grandfather (after long periods of not seeing him due to the war) and the children ignoring protocol And there were bigger questions: what happens when former enemies end up living together and how you rebuild family life as well as a country From left: Rhidian’s grandfather I began to interview my father and my uncle Colin encouraging both to set their memories down on paper This motivated my father to re-remember that time for himself and to think again about his own father whom he admitted to not knowing very well because of the war and his premature death in 1956 These memories became part of a bigger journey: my father and I were getting to know Walter but also getting to know each other in the process When I decided to make a trip to see the house and meet its original occupants his memories leapt out of the fittings and fixtures: “There’s the dumb waiter This fireplace is where we played cards in that dreadful winter of 1947 Standing on the back balcony over- looking the Elbe he showed me where he once played in the snow with Heike – we were going to meet up with her later He was uncharacteristically anxious about these coming encounters he wondered if he’d romanticised the memories Perhaps Theo and Heike’s memories of that time wouldn’t be so benign – perhaps they had really resented the Brook presence in their house and been polite because it was in their interests Colonel Walter Brook father of Anthony and grandfather of Rhidian Photograph: PRWe met Theo and his wife for dinner near the Alster Theo was a little older than my father and the two boys had not played together all those years ago He was polite and formal but any fears my father had about long held resentments evaporated in the greeting They were soon reminiscing in German (my father still reasonably fluent thanks to that childhood foundation) and it was clear Theo had an admiration for him and Theo admitted that he and Heike had a nickname for my father: Die Eisbrecher – the Icebreaker – which made my father smile Despite a whole life lived since their last encounter She recalled the day trip to Scharbeutz that my father had described She said that “to be driving with the Brook family to the seaside and be accepted as equal” was a treasured memory Heike then admitted that our visit held a little awkwardness for her and her brother as they were not speaking to each other after falling out ironically over a dispute involving the house she said that perhaps our reunion would effect a rapprochement it’s what my father’s father would have wanted I asked what influence Walter’s action had had on Dad’s own life. He liked to think he’d inherited his father’s tendency to question “the expected patterns of behaviour” and that he’d continued his “always open door” policy in his own home. But the most telling legacy for him was to be found in Theo’s and Heike’s responses. He’d always had an idea of what his father was like but their memories made him more real. In German our surname, Brook, sounds like Brück – bridge. The novel inspired by these events, The Aftermath by Rhidian Brook, is published by Penguin, £7.99. A film of the story is in development with Ridley Scott and Scott Free London Your Ads Privacy ChoicesIMDb