Frederick, as he would later be called, and his family lived comfortably in a large apartment that took up the entire floor of a building. By outward appearances, they were seemingly sheltered from the devastating effects of the Great War, which crippled most of Germany. Margarete, an elegant and aristocratic woman, decorated the home with dark wood furniture, paintings of European landscapes, and a prominent deep strawberry-colored velvet sofa. “My mother was a woman of taste, and she furnished the apartment according to the style which was then in fashion, of course,” said Charlotte Tutsek, Frederick’s sister. There was even a pond that Karl created to embellish the apartment building’s exterior.

Margarete knew she was a stunning woman, and she took great pains to maintain her beauty. She was formal and followed strict rules of dress: never wearing pants except for a pair of ski trousers and never leaving the house without stockings and gloves. Karl provided well for his family, but he was emotionally detached and took no interest in his wife or two children. He didn’t even bother to hide his affairs. Margarete responded by focusing on herself and her appearance. While Karl was away working or spending the weekend with his mistress, Margarete carried on like a woman who had many interests and was unaffected by a betrayal happening right under her nose. She liked to read a lot, mostly novels and detective stories, and enjoyed baking, cooking, and gardening. And she loved to travel, mostly in Germany, visiting friends and relatives. But spending quality time with her children rarely fit in with her plans.

Karl Albert, born around 1896 in the East German town of Magdeburg, had two interests: business and women. He was tall, handsome, charming, and a man’s man. He had been a lieutenant in World War I and was a strong, no-nonsense doer. As a young engineer he worked in a factory on the outskirts of Oppeln where he developed materials used to create cement. Margarete was born in the late 1890s to an upper-class family in Siegen, in western Germany. Her father was a forest ranger and successful hunter and her mother’s family owned a furniture company. Karl and Margarete thrived in Oppeln and were lucky to maintain and grow their wealth during a time when most Germans were barely getting by.