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Kiel's Ilse Tulowitzki celebrates an eventful life at the age of 100
Ilse Tulowitzki from Kiel celebrates her 100th birthday and looks back on an eventful life and her escape from East Prussia.
Kiel's Ilse Tulowitzki celebrates an eventful life at the age of 100
The celebrations for Ilse Tulowitzki's 100th birthday are a true testament to her life story and the dramatic events that shaped her. KN Online reports that Ilse was born in East Prussia in 1925. Their path was anything but easy, as their escape from the advancing Red Army in January 1945 was marked by fear and privation.
Like many of her compatriots, Ilse fled with her mother and brother on foot across the freezing lagoon. During this difficult time, when many refugees suffered from difficult conditions - often marked by cold, hunger and exhaustion - she escaped one of the greatest ship accidents in history on January 30, 1945. The “Wilhelm Gustloff” was sunk by a Soviet submarine, and only around 1,200 of the up to 10,000 people on board survived the disaster NDR describes.
A new life in Schleswig-Holstein
The escape took Ilse and her family to a gymnasium in Lunden near Heide, where they lived under the protection of the mayor Cornils after being rejected by various farmers. These adverse circumstances shaped not only their survival, but also the community of refugees gathered in a time of chaos and uncertainty. Over 450,000 people fled between January and April 1945, many of whom were accommodated in Schleswig-Holstein.
After the war, Ilse found her way back to life. She met her future husband Fritz in East Prussia and married him in 1949 at the head of the city council, Cornils - a moment that shone for her in a dress made of parachute silk. They moved to Kiel, where they started a family and Ilse worked as a packer in a supermarket, despite her husband's opposition.
Active in old age
“Family is everything to me,” she says. This is also reflected in her close relationship with her relatives; Only at the age of 97 was she allowed to visit her great-granddaughter in Switzerland. She currently lives in assisted living in the Prof. Peters House in Kiel-Hassee and enjoys an excellent relationship with the staff who support her in everyday life.
Ilse Tulowitzki has been shaped by a century of experience. Her life story is impressive and reflects the fate of many refugees who have lost their original home. The fate of millions of deported and refugee Germans after the Second World War remains an important chapter in German history to this day ZDF impressively described.