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Early 1940s.
A dozen guys chase a lonely guy around Gothenburg. Masthugget’s pursuers seem to harbor resentment towards the boys who live around Vegagatan and Linnégatan; This is not the first time Bertil Lindström has been hunted.
Övre Djupedalsgatan is speeding up. This is where Lennart Olsson lives, often the haunted savior from tormenting spirits.
Bertil Lindström, 14 years old. Photo: Private
Fall 2020.
GP publishes an article about Johnny Martinsson searching for his childhood friend, Putte. Johnny hasn’t met Putte in almost 70 years, but he’s always wondered how it went.
READ MORE: Johnny is looking for his teenage friend Putte, last known in 1952
Bertil Lindström, now 88, reads the article and remembers his long lost childhood friend Lennart Olsson. They also haven’t been seen in at least 70 years.
When Bertil talks about his childhood, he describes it as “not a success, directly”. But his friend Lennart improved it a bit.
– I felt quite lonely and harassed, but we were good friends, he says.
They were both interested in collecting stamps, but also in the paper the oranges were wrapped in at the time.
Childhood friends also spent a lot of time in Gothenburg harbor to spy on ships from all corners of the world. Bertil Lindström says it was easy to get on board then and that one day they traveled on a boat from South Africa. Suddenly, they were standing on the same deck as a pride of lions in a cage.
READ MORE: 14 Gothenburg places that have gone to the grave
Images of the port, from Bertil’s collection. Photo: Private
Bertil was eager to open them, but Lennart made him think better.
Is that true, did it happen?
– It is true!
Looking for your childhood friend
The last time Bertil Lindström saw Lennart Olsson was probably in the 1950s, he thinks. Now he wonders how the old childhood friend fared.
– It would have been fun to see what happened to him. I’ve always wondered where it went.
Lennart Olsson should be the same age as Bertil, because they went to the same class. So around 88 years old, born in the early 1930s. He lived as a child in Övre Djupedalsgatan, one block from Linnégatan in central Gothenburg.
Lennart’s father is said to have died at his workplace when Lennart was still quite young and still living with his mother. Bertil remembers that he used to offer semolina pudding with raspberry jam, which was very much appreciated.
READ MORE: Gothenburg’s 10 Classic Places: Photographs from the Past and Present
Do you know who Lennart is or are you Lennart himself?
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