Peter Kusel was 4 years old when WWII started in Europe and 10 years old when it ended.
His family had survived the destruction caused by the Nazi Socialist Party, Adolf Hitler, and then when Soviet troops moved in from the East at the end of the war.
Right after the war ended the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) started its censorship, indoctrination, occupation and control of Eastern European countries including the eastern half of Germany, which split the city of Berlin in two.

Now the Kusel family had a new and just as evil regime to live under - the GDR (German Democratic Republic) which sounds benign because of "Democratic" and "Republic" but the country and people were under dictatorial, Socialist/Communist rule...
I don't know exactly when the Kusel family fled East Germany but one night they summoned the courage to leave their farm and flee to West Germany.

The Kusels were farmers and owned several farms - Peter would have been in his early to mid 20s when they left everything they knew, loved, and owned for generations and fled for freedom in the West.

Before they fled they thought about the consequences of their actions...How long before they could return? If/when they return will they be able to prove they owned their land?
Here is the amazing answer to that part of their life-altering past...

This appears to be a home, but it was originally the Kusel barn.
After the Kusels fled their farms the new occupiers, under the socialist ditatorial GDR government rule, converted it into a home, while others occupied the Kusel home.

Jürgen & Peter Kusel show us the inside of the house/barn

Before the Kusels fled to West Germany, they gathered documents that proved they owned the land, along with valuables and linen aprons and put them in cream cans and buried them in a corner of the barn.

They knew that if they were stopped during their flight and they had valuables and documents, then the military and police would know they were trying to escape.

As I said, I don't know exactly when they fled or where they initially fled to but Peter would have been around his mid-20s.

Hole they chopped in the concrete floor of the "now" house which was previously their barn.

Now remember that they left official documents in the cream cans so they could prove they owned the land once they returned, BUT realize that for the previous 20 years, there were new occupants and owners of the buildings and land.
Once they returned, the Kusels had to wait a while until they could get the occupants out of the house/barn, before they could dig up the cream cans which would help them prove the ownership of all their land.

Peter told me that they would make the trek to the Elbe tributary each winter (so the leaves were off the trees) and look across the river and could watch the new occupants of their farm and home walk around...I cannot imagine the anger and frustration it must have been for the Kusels to watch those people on their land.

Then think of the anger and frustration when these "occupiers" had to leave what they thought was now their homes and land...for a while it really tore apart the peoples of what was once East & West Germany to become a whole Germany again.

Peter Kusel telling the story about the cans.

Linens stored in the cans.

Peter Kusel displaying the apron.