You didn’t want or couldn’t live on this earth. I learned that when I was a little girl. If you only approached the topic in our family, an oppressive atmosphere always spread. As an inquisitive, open-minded child, I wanted to find out more about it. But our parents said nothing.

I felt that our mother dragged around an oppressive subduedness, which she also spread. Before her marriage she had been a fun-loving, sociable, energetic and open-minded young woman who performed songs in public and accompanied them on the zither. But as long as I could remember, this gracefully curved instrument lay untouched and silent in the wooden case.

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