This incident is so mysterious and unexplainable that any mutually exclusive versions, truth and false, certainty and groundlessness equally have the right to existence.
It happened to a sanitary technician from German town Bottrop 27-year old Tomas B., on the New Year's Eve. 'We started arguing, - tells his wife Kirsten, a nice blond, who works in the local supermarket. - He flatly refused to pay a visit to my mother. After all Tomas even got angry. I saw him go to the bedroom and immediately fall asleep'.
His wake up scared the young woman, who was busy in the kitchen cooking breakfast. Tomas got up and said something in expressive whisper. 'First I thought that there was a stranger in the house. But my husband entered the kitchen and addressed me just like Michael Gorbachov appealed to people on TV. First I decided it was a New Year's joke. However, Tomas talked and talked, and didn't respond to my pleading to speak German.'
So the scared woman had to call for emergency. The only unusual thing that the amazed doctor could find was that the sanitary technician, who had never left his town, never studied foreign languages and didn't even finish school, spoke Russian. The only thing that can somehow explain this phenomenon is Tomas's family tree. It appeared that his ancestors moved from Russia to the Rein banks more than 200 years ago.
And suddenly the German started speaking the language of his remote ancestors. Was it genetic memory, though all his forefathers except those first Russians were native German? The fact that he didn't use modern swear words speaks in favor of this version.
But history is history, versions are versions, and everyday life goes on. Our hero addressed to his wife only in Russian and couldn't remember a word in German, and he was confused and annoyed that she didn't understand him. The only joy for loving wife was that sphere of communication where people don't have language problems.
As for the rest they had to appeal to the interpreter's help, which costs considerable sums of money. Fortunately modest German family from Uzbekistan. Russian-Uzbek-German boy interpreted for them, though it wasn't easy, as Tomas claimed that he was speaking the pure German language, and couldn't understand why his wife and other people stopped understanding him.
'He withdrew into oneself - tells Kirsten - he didn't want to go out, though before we used to go to the disco each Friday. I started studying Russian. I love Tomas and don't want to lose him.'
And Tomas went to the doctor. Word by word with the help of doctors he recovered his German speech, replacing the Russian language, as there were definitely not enough space in his head for two languages.
A year later he couldn't remember a word in Russian, not speaking of supporting a conversation. The doctors, to prevent a relapse, strongly recommended him to avoid foreign speech, and foreigners as well, probably being afraid that there were the Chinese or Ethiopians among his ancestors. After such a stress, Tomas followed all the doctors' instructions, stopped arguing with his wife, even if she asks to visit her mother.
