A Chill out day today, waiting for favourable winds. I caught up with my laundry and then wandered into town while Alan had a kip. There, I learned a little of the history of the town, how it had been taken over by the Teutonic Knights, and how the drifting dunes had caused silting in the harbour which in turn created stagnant periods in its history.
During one such stagnant period, the authorities pondered on drawing in a number of Jews to help the economy to grow. Obviously this idea must have been put forward before Hitler came into power.
One aspect in the town's history that I hadn't appreciated was the fact that it had been in German hands for 600 years up to the end of World War II, though regarded as a backwater. After the war, the Russians took over, and Poles started drifting into the area. Shortly after the war, the Russians removed all the fishing boats and smokeries that the Poles had taken from the Germans. Protests resulted in the Russians sinking a barge in the harbour to deprive the fishermen of their livelihood. When the fishermen approached higher authorities regarding what they should do, after due consideration the response was, "Raise poultry". Perhaps that explains why poultry was almost impossible to find in shops and restaurants.
Leba struggled on, with fishing appearing to be the only industry apart from the vast tourist trade it had established. It strived to pull its head above the parapet with events such as the World Windsurfing Championships and the best cod recipes. Good luck to it.
