More on the castle

After finding the castle in the bushes, Jean and I chatted with the elderly lady whose name was Erena. She showed us old pictures of Schosdorf in German times. She had lived in the village since 1953. She said her son had written a book about the village but the publishers rejected the manuscript. Erena said many old Germans who had worked in the castle occasionally visited. She also said, to my surprise, that it was not destroyed in the war, but afterwards. She said a conflict emerged involving the Russians, but I don’t know anything about this. Erena showed us an old cupboard inside her house. She said it had come from inside the castle post-Second World War. I was intrigued by all of this. I’d been aware that a piggery had existed in Schosdorf during the war. Erena revealed her house had been a piggery in the war! (with 30 pigs).

We swapped addresses, and I now have Erena’s son’s address. I’ll contact him to learn more. I’d not thought to ask Erena whether the castle played any role during the war, something I’d like to know. I asked Erena to organise copies of all the photos for me, and I gave her 20 Zlotys as payment. She said it was too much money, and I said it didn’t matter. I then gave her 20 more Zlotys as a present because I thought she deserved it. She said at 80 years old, it’s no life being on your own.

Later, I waded through the bush to the castle for one last look. It is disappointing that some locals have dumped lots of rubbish on the floor of the tower. I couldn’t enter. And the rubbish actually sounded a little like it was alive. And empty beer bottles here and there. I’d thought I’d left a map on the castle’s front step…but no.