Flat Stanley's Page

Follow Flat Stanley as he Tours Stalag Luft III & Other World War II Sites

Flat Stanley arrives in Germany	Flat Stanley, Jan. 2009	Flat Stanley emails home
Flat Stanley shopping: decisions, decisions...	Flat Stanley is excited to discover that he may have some relatives in Germany! Mr. Bean???	Flat Stanley is approached by the Pigeon Polizei, because Mrs. Maurer didn't read the ramp sign that said "Down Only" (Stanley was so embarrassed!).
Flat Stanley climbs to the "Goon," or guard tower.	Flat Stanley & his new friend, Evelyn, ride the cart in the Tunnel Harry display.	Flat Stanley helps Mrs. Maurer stay calm in the claustrophobic tunnel.
Flat Stanley at the site of Ed Bender's West Compound Barracks, #158, at Stalag Luft III. The barracks are no longer standing. After the evacuation of the camp in 1945, the local people took what they could from the camp to help them make it through a very hard time, and then the Russians took over the site and used it as a military base. The West Compound area was used by them for athletic fields, so less evidence of the prison camp remains here than in any of the other compounds. Stanley is leaning against a brick from the supports for barracks 158.	Flat Stanley and Jacek, the Stalag Luft III museum curator who has been a wonderful guide for us during our march and the visits to SLIII and other sites. Flat Stanley wanted his picture taken with the American flag and his WWII uniform. He insisted on wearing captain's bars on his hat. Ed Bender was promoted to Captain when his plane went down. Since he didn't have any captain's bars, he made some out of a tin can from the Red Cross parcels.	Here's Flat Stanley and our bus driver, Valdi, who is a lot of fun. Flat Stanley hears the jokes through Mrs. Maurer's sister, Miriam, because Valdi is Polish and speaks German but not English. Miriam is trying hard to remember her German from school. When she doesn't remember the simple German words, Valdi laughingly says, "Oh ja, Professor!" (Valdi thinks it's funny that Dr. Larson can't remember the easy words!)
Flat Stanley was SO excited when we got to visit a Polish school in Ilowa, Poland! Here he is showing off in a model the children had in one of the elementary classrooms. The teachers and children were wonderful at the school. They served us coffee and pastries and the children sang a few songs for us.	Flat Stanley got to eat lunch with some of the children at the Ilowa school. He was a little worried about falling into the soup bowl, though.	Flat Stanley enjoyed all the attention he received at the school in Ilowa and Mrs. Maurer had a hard time getting him to leave. (He also made a bit of a pig of himself, eating all the wonderful pastries that they served us. He kept claiming that he needed them for "energy for the march." He ignored our reminder that he sat in the bus during the march!)
The day after we visited the school in Ilowa, we got to go to another school (both elementary and secondary) in Priebus, Poland. Flat Stanley was beside himself to find that they celebrate Valentine's Day in Poland, too. He wants all the students at Trinity to know that he loves them and misses them (although he's jealous that he's missing all the snow days in Missouri!).	Flat Stanley at the Spremberg Hotel children's table. He enjoys coloring Rainbow Fish while he waits for his dinner, but the story is in German!	Flat Stanley with Hans Burkhardt and Evelyn at the old Spremberg train station. He was honored to meet Hans, a man who remembered feeding the POWs soup when he was 11 years old.
Flat Stanley visits Dresden. He found a three- dimensional friend in Dresden.	Flat Stanley in the cupola of the Frauen Kirche in Dresden. Once at the top of the church, Stanley did enjoy the beautiful view of Dresden. He had to hang on tightly so he didn't blow over the edge!	Flat Stanley and the Dresden view of the Elbe River from the Frauen Kirche. Stanley wishes it wasn't so cold so he could go on a boat ride on the Elbe River.
Flat Stanley in the spiral staircase in the Frauen Kirche. Wooooo! He isn't sure he likes the winding steps leading to the top of the Lutheran Church in Dresden. He'll be glad when he is back on flat ground.	After a grueling walk, Flat Stanley relaxes and soaks up some local color in Nuremberg. He found a pair of lederhosen (leather pants) and a German-style hat, but it's a bit cold to venture outside in them, so he decided to enjoy some German food at the hotel restaurant, instead. Watch out, Stanley! If you eat too much, you'll pop the buttons off those pants!	Flat Stanley explored the city of Nuremberg and was very impressed with the architecture. He is excited about the commemorative mug that Mrs. Maurer bought.
Flat Stanley searched for artifacts at the site of the Moosburg Barracks. (He wasn't amused when Mrs. Maurer suggested that all we needed was a pair of scissors to play "Rock, Paper, Scissors.")	Flat Stanley had his picture taken next to the old barracks at Moosburg. He thinks it's too bad that they will be torn down soon.	Flat Stanley made some new friends in Munich in the province of Bavaria. Mrs. Maurer stressed that he would NOT be allowed to wear his hair that way!