Hans Rose’s Life & Legacy

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My dad couldn’t talk or stay awake much the last few months of his life but he was able to muster up the words, “I love you, Tammy” one more time and said, “They’re all waiting for me” before gently passing away in his sleep on October 17, 2018, at 9:30 A.M.  My mother & I knew exactly who he was talking about, his best friends, Jim Mueller, Bill Yellin & his grandfather, Hermann Rose who are already in Heaven.  I can hear them all say with laughter, the party has just begun.

I’ll always remember our last conversation which centered around the many trips my dad took me on, my favorite to this day is Disneyland in California. My dad lit up like a Christmas tree as we reminisced about our days at the Magic Kingdom. While I was excited to experience every ride, my mom shouted in fright while on Space Mountain vowing to never return.  My dad and I always got a good chuckle from that memory.  I was also able to show him through FaceTime one of his favorite travel spots in the Bahamas where my dad scored a bunch of silver statues before we boarded a cruise ship.

While I was afforded the luxury of traveling the world, my dad almost lost his life at a very young age trying to survive the aftermath of World War II.   After almost starving to death in the Traunstein Refugee Camp, his family immigrated to America in 1957.  I’ve always believed it was his humble beginnings that motivated him to make sure everyone else around him was taken care of. He never forgot his German roots and would often fly back to East Germany before the Berlin wall came down to bring his relatives’ basic necessities they couldn’t afford or get on their own.  Hans was like a Santa Claus to so many people taking loved ones on lavish vacations and offering up his home to anyone who needed a place to stay.

Ever since I was a little girl, my dad told me intriguing stories about our German heritage that would not only inspire me to write several books but launch my career as a journalist.  Thank you, Dad, for your love and support and teaching me to keep going no matter how bad things may seem.

Click on the video links below as we say goodbye to the greatest man I knew.

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Back in time with another former Berlitt homeowner

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I was recently contacted by Günter Waschke, whose family received my great-grandparents home in Berlitt, Germany following World War II. It means so much to me that so many people have reached out to me after completing my dad’s documentary. Here’s part of my interview with him from overseas.
 
 
 
 (Tammy Rose) “What can you tell me about my great-grandparents Helene & Richard Pein?
 
Helene & Richard Pein in front of their Berlitt home.
 
(Günter Waschke) “I was 4 years old, so I do not remember much. Helene loved me as little Günter because her son Günther was killed in the war.”
Lt. Günther Pein was killed while guarding a bridge in St. Polten, Austria.

 

Willy Rose & Lt. Günther Pein in their German military uniforms.
 
“From Richard, I have no rememberings other than he was the Mayor of Berlitt and was regarded as a bad Nazi by the upcoming Communists. They forced him to move to Granzow on his second farm.  Pein’s farm in Berlitt was expropriated and divided into small farms distributed to refugees from East Germany like my mother and me. The same process was conducted with the big farm of Earl/Graf Königsmark who had committed suicide before the Russians invaded. His castle was used as a school following the war and is located across the street from the Pein home near the Church of Berlitt.”
 
Earl/Graf Königsmark

 

Church of Berlitt
(Tammy Rose) “Thanks so much for the information. Why did your parents leave the farm? My dad thought our old farm was purchased by a polish couple who worked for my great-grandparents.” 
 
3 boys standing in front of the Pein’s Berlitt, Germany home.
(Günter Waschke)”No polish workers bought the farm. It was expropriated and the farm was divided into small pieces which were given to German refugees. The political idea was “Junkerland in Bauernhand”. If there were polish workers as prisoners of the Nazis they moved back to Poland after the end of the war.”
 
Richard & Erna Pein along with some friends in front of their Berlitt home.

 

(Tammy Rose) “What else can you tell me about that time period and our old house?”

Richard & Günther Pein

Erna, Helene & Liese-Lotte Pein in the backyard of their Berlitt home.

(Günter Waschke) “My mother and I fled from our original home near Poznan, Poland in January 1945 by foot and took only what we could carry. I cried because I forgot my doll called Ria. We lived after the war in the right part of Pein’s house, seen from the street side, until 1950. Then my mother and I left Berlitt because my father who was a prisoner of war was set free and we moved to West Germany. Additionally, it was better to go to the west because Berlitt had become part of the communist German Democratic Republic under the goodwill of Stalin. Last year, I have been in Berlitt visiting my cousin who lives still there.”
 
 
This was the last family picture of the Peins taken at Christmas before thier youngest son, Lt. Günther Pein was killed on October 18, 1944.
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Our ‘Buried Treasure & Family Secrets’ revealed 73 years later.

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Growing up my dad told me an intriguing story about my great-grandfather Richard Pein who was at one time the Mayor of Berlitt. A well-respected member of the community, Pein allegedly buried gold coins worth millions of dollars beneath his pig barn shortly before the Russians invaded his small community at the end of World War II. Now, 73 years later I’ve finished a journey my ancestors couldn’t make and return to the home of where the treasure was allegedly buried.  Click on the link above to see how the story unfolds.

This was the last family picture of the Peins taken at Christmas before thier youngest son, Lt. Günther Pein was killed on October 18, 1944.
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73 years later I’m finishing a journey my ancestors couldn’t make.

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Growing up my dad told me an intriguing story about my great-grandfather Richard Pein. A well-respected member of the community and head of the local bank, Pein allegedly buried gold coins worth millions of dollars beneath his pig barn shortly before the Russians invaded his small community at the end of World War II. Now, 73 years later I’m finishing a journey my ancestors couldn’t make, to go back to the house and see if our buried treasure is still there.

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‘Scandal in a Small Town’

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It was a scandal that rocked the small town of Plymouth.  Eight kids brutally murdered, the motive too shocking to comprehend. A crime FBI agent Katie Walker once thought she solved.  However; a new series of murders have resurfaced and has the agent wondering if the killer is really dead.

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I had just finished my intense 16-week training at Quantico, Virginia and was given my first assignment as an official FBI agent. Oddly it would be the very town I grew up in, an assignment rarely given to a new agent. In fact, your hometown was the one place you could guarantee not going to, for fear of not blending in if needed to be on an undercover assignment. It was shortly after graduating from Plymouth High School when I realized what I wanted to do with my life, protect people. I had lost the one thing dear to me, my best friend Michele Saunders to a serial killer our senior year. I had thought the murders were all behind me, neatly tucked away in the past. However, a recent “accident” at Plymouth High School seemed all too real and the feds thought we may have another killer on our hands. What didn’t make sense to me was the fact that the feds thought it might be related to earlier killings in the late 1980’s. The murders were of young high school kids, made to look like accidents. But that killer was dead, I thought. I killed him. Or Didn’t I?

Available Christmas 2021

 

About the Author

Scandal in a Small Town is Tammy Rose’s third novel, and she is currently working on her fourth, Tudy. Rose grew up in the small town of Plymouth, Wisconsin. After graduating from Plymouth High School in 1988, Rose received her Bachelor of Science degree in Broadcast Journalism from Northern Arizona University in 1990. Rose, the owner of Chopper Rose Productions, is a Freelance Reporter for multiple radio & tv stations across the country. Tammy got her start at WXVT-TV 15 as a Weather Anchor in Greenville, MS.  She also worked at WISN-TV 12 in Milwaukee, WI & KPNX-TV 12 in Phoenix, AZ as a Ground/Helicopter Reporter.  When she’s not reporting, she’s busy hammering away at the computer working on another book or out finding that next compelling story.

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Dealing with Dementia

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My life feels like the perfect storm with winds blowing in all directions. However, my faith has always carried me through and it will again this time. The ending to my documentary about my dad is not what I thought it would be but I think it’s important to share in hopes of helping other families struggling with the same type of heartbreak. My mom and I are full-time caretakers of my dad who was diagnosed with Dementia and suffers from other major health issues. Once again, our house swarmed with firefighters & paramedics on a warm Wisconsin Friday night.

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Your news on your time.

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I have a passion for storytelling & love investigating crime stories. In a world where you constantly need to reinvent yourself, I’ve worn many hats over the years. From weather, sports & news anchoring to reporting on the ground & in the air via helicopter, I’ve been blessed with a career that’s lasted over 25 years.

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Making memories that'll last a lifetime!