The life of the German farmer Friedrich Steinbaum initially predicted no miracles. Having inherited from his father in 1923 a plot of land of 4 hectares, Friedrich continued to cultivate it, as he did all his life before. By 1925 he married successfully and had children.
The parish in the 33rd year of Hitler's coming to power did not greatly affect the way of life of the "true Arian" and his children. He still worked hard on his plot and would probably do it all his life. The war made its adjustments to the measured rural life. Frederick's two eldest sons went to the front. One was killed in 40m during the British bombing, the second - in 42m near Moscow.
The remaining three children grew up and promised to be good assistants to the father in the household. The war broke out and ended, 4 km from the lands of Friedrich, the border between the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany was established. Frederick was in the territory of the German Federation and was pleased with it.
And then it turned out that outside Friedrich's land, the village of Warta also fell on the territory of the German Federation, which was on the border itself. And the only road from Warta to Eisenach was through the Verra River and through the territory of the newly formed GDR. The bridge was destroyed during the war and the village was actually cut off from the rest of the country. To restore the road to another, now, no one wanted the state. Between the village and the rest of Germany lay the land of Friedrich and an impenetrable mud in the pit of the river.
The mayor of the local community came to Frederick with an offer to buy out part of the land for the construction of the road to the lost village. Friedrich pretended: the time was tense, 4 km away, on that bank of the river Soviet troops stood. To sell the land meant to sell the means of subsistence, and whether he could save the money received in the event of a new conflict - there was no certainty. And Friedrich did something unheard of by the standards of Germany: he refused the Motherland when it appealed to him for help. About six months have passed since the mayor’s appointment. There were local elections on the nose and the mayor wanted to build a road, thus getting the votes of the village. Six months later, a court officer came to Friedrich and invited him to a court hearing on the question of the forced sale of part of his land in favor of the state in connection with the state necessity. The whole village of Varta and half of the entire community came to court. Frederick had to hear a lot of "good" words in his address, until the word came to him. Frederick was little spoken. He only got the Code of Laws of the Third Reich from the 35th year.
The NSDAP was primarily a socialist party and cared for the workers before the war. In the code black on white it was written that the farm has the right to guaranteed ownership of land at the rate of 0.75 hectares per person. The court was 1950, during the post-war reforms, the laws did not change in a hurry and before this law, the turn has not yet arrived. Frederick's family consisted of five people: three children and Frederick with his wife. Thus, Frederick was guaranteed to own 3.75 hectares of the four. After this, Friedrich demonstrated the Führer's decree of 1944, which mentioned the seizure of agricultural land for the needs of the front. The exception was only families who lost 2 or more members on the homeland fronts. It would seem: not the case. However, the resolution was written in the spirit of wartime and contained the wording "lifetime". Of course, after the war, the decree of the Führer did not come to the mind to cancel.
The judge spent four hours in the meeting room. His decision was unambiguous: Friedrich's land was not forced to be sold. The whole community argued with Frederick. Friends turned away from him, stopped greeting him, the inhabitants of the cut-off village of Warta when meeting him demonstrably turned away and turned from the other side.
Six months later, Frederick came to the mayor himself. His proposal was simple: he did not want to sell his land, but offered to lease it to the community. There was no special exit from the mayor and the land lease agreement for 100 years was signed.
The road was built, the village was connected to the rest of the country, and the mayor was re-elected. Little by little, the quarrel with Frederick was forgotten and his life went like before.
Today, Friedrich Steinbaum rests in a grave on a family cemetery, and his children are the richest landowners in Germany. There are approximately 125 million euros on their accounts. Who in 1950 could know that the land leased under a contract for 100 years in 50 years will grow in price in 500 times. Every year, the state pays the heirs of Friedrich about 2 million euros for the lease of land under the road. As the heirs themselves say, the greatest happiness in life is to live in a country where the laws are always observed.