According to Traute, "This is so much like what happened in Germany. There we did not need to break a law to be arrested. The Nazi leaders neither knew nor respected any laws. I was always able to counteract their [the planning department's] harassment because I made a point of knowing the law. I had to. I was not prepared for them circumventing proper procedure, though."
"I have experienced that kind of terror twice before in my life," she said, "once under the Nazis and once under Russian occupation. My parents brought us to Canada so we would never have to live under terrorism again." But terrorism is everywhere - and for Traute it has reappeared in Winnipeg.
Traute Klein has been ejected from Paradise for the sin of being original. Or rather, her paradise has been taken from her, simply because she cared too much about the earth to conform.
It is a sad commentary on the standards we impose on ourselves and our neighborhoods.
Read some of the coverage that followed Traute's original order to make her garden conform.
first coverage
Letters to the editor
More coverage
and more support
What can you do? One small thing I can suggest is that you write to the The Winnipeg Free Press and tell them how you feel.
If you are upset by the story told in this article, why not mail it to a friend?
Virtually Gardening is just one of the 40+ different home and gardening topics you can visit here on Suite 101, covering everything from amaryllis to zucchini.
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