Born in Gombin Poland in 1931, Alice Elizabeth was the first child to Olga nee Elgert and Eduard Dreher. Alice's father was a tanner; he had to work hard to support his mother and siblings, because his father had died, and he was the eldest child. Her grandfather was a Russian teacher and a pensioner, and she and her parents lived with him and his wife. They lived on a small farm with 2 horses, 5 cows, several sheep, geese, ducks, chickens, and turkeys.   Alice started school when she was 5 years old. At home she spoke German, but she went to a Polish school. Most of Alice's friends were Polish because there were not many German families around. Alice went to a Lutheran church with a German-speaking minister. Sunday serves, Wednesday Bible studies and confirmation classes were all in German.   One very fond memory Alice recall's was going to church on Christmas. On Christmas Eve, all the children would learn a verse and then they would read it in front of the congregation. This was hard for Alice, she often found herself up in front crying her eyes out. After the service each child got a nice little bag with treats like sweets and nuts and oranges in it. After church Alice would get to go home and see the Christmas tree which she was not allowed to see until that time. Then Alice got to open all her presents and stay up later than usual. Christmas day all the relatives would go over to Alice's house and they would have a goose dinner. Boxing Day was a second Christmas.   A very special person in Alice's life was her grandmother. This also made Christmas special because Alice's grandmothers birthday was on Christmas Eve. Alice's grandmother often took the blame for Alice when she was young.  She remembers one morning when her father called her down for morning devotions, but being only 4 or 5 she couldn't sit through an hour of reading and so she did not listen, instead she decided to run away.  Her father didn't like this and she got her first spanking, but her Oma didn't like that and stood in the way so she wouldn’t get anymore.   Alice's father was often not at home. There were two Tanning factories, but neither of them were near to their home, and so her father often did not come home for months at a time. Alice's Oma taught her a song to sing so whenever he came home she could sing it.   "Kommt ein Vogel geflogen setzt sich nieder auf mein Schoss, hat ein Brieflein in ein Gruss mit und ein Kuss, denn ich kann Dich nicht begleiten, wei/ ich hier bleiben muss. "   When Alice was six years old, there was a new addition to her family.  Her parents had a baby boy and they named him Henrich.  Alice felt very special to be a big sister, it was her job to teach and protect Henrich.  Alice remembers the time the gypsies came through her city.  She remembers all the different stories told about them, and about how they stole little children  Because of these stories Alice never went far from home.   On August 31st, 1939 Alice remembers her father coming home from work in Bromberg. Eearly the next morning Germany declared war on Poland. Alice's Opa and father had to go into hiding. In  the last two weeks before the war was officially declared 58,000 Germans were killed. Alice's father had had a gut feeling that something was wrong and had headed home. Most of the people dead were found in  Bromberg. Alice's father was lucky because he could speak Polish very well, and so they could not identify him. Alice's pastor was  killed on the second day of the war.   On September 11 Alice's gardens were taken over by Polish soldiers. They had their kitchen stationed in her fruit garden, with enough wood and fire, but they were looking for animals to kill for food.  In the meantime, German airplanes flew over and bombarded Alice's house. Three bombs which ripped everything apart were dropped.  One fell right into the house, a second fell on the sidewalk beside Alice's parent's bedroom, and the third went between the house and the barn. The whole time Alice felt as though God was watching over her as she and her family lay quiet and still on their kitchen floor.  No one was injured.   The next two weeks were very hard for Alice's family. Alice's father and grandfather were still in hiding.  Every so often, they would go into the house to eat something, and say hello to the family, but most of the time it was safer to stay in the barn. Every night police came to Alice's house and checked inside for spies. To the Poles, all German-speaking people were spies and were murdered.   One Sunday morning Alice and her family heard a strange noise. Alice's mother went to the window to see what was going on and called back that the German soldiers were there. No one believed her for a moment. Alice's mother broke the glass window and then opened it to get out, and then Alice and her family ran to the German soldiers. The soldiers gave the children chocolates and told the adults that they were free. The soldiers went to Alice's house because they needed some things washed and ironed; this was when Alice learned how to iron and mend socks.   In 1941 Alice was chosen to go to middle school.  Not everyone could go to middle school because of the cost, but Alice's parents saved up enough money so she and Henrich would be able to go. Middle school was actually a boarding school and so Alice only went home on weekends. Alice went to this school for about 3 years. At the end of 1943 the school was turned into a hospital for the injured soldiers.   Alice's father had a friend who worked in the city hall and because of this Alice was offered a job.  She worked with switchboards, which was new to her because she never had a telephone at home.  This job gave her a good excuse to spend more time with her father, and for the short time she worked there she and he became very close.   In 1943 Sunday services were cancelled, as well as baptisms and confirmations.  Rumors flew around that Alice's family, and many other German families would have to leave their homestead.  The wagon was packed with all the belongings they planned on taking and they started on their trek towards the west.  It was not long before they were greeted from above.  An airplane came down and used the road they traveled on as a runway, gunning down anything and everything on it.  Many wagons flew into the ditch, and many people were killed.  The dead and injured had to be left behind because there was no doctor or first aid.  They traveled for two straight days, when again they were attacked from the air, but thankfully no one in Alice's family was hurt. They had to abandon their wagons and take refuge in a forest.  No one realized they wouldn't see their wagons again. The next six days were unbearable, hungry and cold. Alice's family and the others found places to sleep but found no food or heat. Alice's father began to get very sick and he and Alice's mother decided they were going to take their family back home. It was the biggest mistake her family would make. It took six days and nights to reach their city. When they arrived home it was dark, but even with light they would have saw nothing. Their house was still standing but was completely empty. The people still living in the city lived without furniture, clothing or food. Alice's parents went to the police to tell them they had come back home, and the police arrested them. They had to sleep in different cells for the night. Alice's father was hit 175  times with the strap. When she saw him the next morning he was black and blue, but he had to go to work anyway.   Alice's mother knew she and her family had to get out of Poland. She planned with Alice and Henrich as well as her mother and father-in-law and they picked up Alice's father and took the train to the border. When they got to the border they were not allowed over. They stayed in Poland for one more year, working for little money and food. In  February Alice's father was taken away by the Russians who had taken over Poland. In March  Alice and the rest of her family safely made it to Germany.   Alice's life started over in Germany.  She went to high school and then to college to become a tooth technician.  When she finished school she found out she could not become a tooth technician and so she went back to school for business for two years to become a bookkeeper.   In 1952 Alice's family moved to Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.  Alice met and married Ewald Rosenau in 1954. Alice had her first son, Gert William in 1955, her second son, Rolfe Bruno in 1960, and her last child and first daughter: Karin Elizabeth in 1964.   Life in Canada came easier and easier for Alice and her family. Soon enough her children were grown up and making families of their own. Today Alice has seven grandchildren and seven great-grand children.   In December of 2004 Alice and Edward Rosenau had their golden anniversary celebrating 50 years of a happy marriage.  On January 3rd 2006, Alice had her 75th birthday.