Portrait of German soldier Hellmut Heinsen age 18, dressing Wandsbecker Husaren uniform. Emigrated to Chile after the war.
When I realized the man at this portrait was my grandfather I was really shocked. I used to think it was just the portrait of an unknown soldier because my father thought it could be confusing for a little child to be told that her grandpa had been in a war and maybe killed people. So he decided not to tell us the real story until we were mature enough to understand that when living in Hamburg he reported voluntarily to the German Army to fight for his country, Germany. He was sent to the eastern front and spent about two years in the hard war of trenches. He was an officer of the traditional and old “Wandsbecker Husaren” Regiment that fought even at Waterloo battle . My father is a very peacefull person as I'm sure my grandfather also was. His name was Hellmut Heinsen and after the war he decided to leave Germany and came to Chile in a ship. He became an important and respected man in Viña del Mar, Valparaíso. As my father told me, he never talked about his days in the war. Maybe because it was too hard for him to remember. At the moment this photo was taken, he was abt. 18 years old.