Schwester Wilhelmine

There she is, in my minds eye.. a vision in black. Her black habit hugging her like a cloud. A bit of her face visible, yes and on her head was yet another black cover, I don’t know what they call it. Mom told me that Schwester Wilhelmine wanted to marry my father before she came on […]

Small Things Count

The only bakery in town was right across the street from our home. A great baker, Herr Muenster, often looked out of the window to watch the gathered women who were just visiting with each other. The Brachwitz “accent” is one that is not heard anywhere else. It’s German alright, but it doesen’t sound like it, […]

No Doctors

Mom kept saying: “If this Dr had done his job dad would still be alive!” In the midst of all the terror we were living through it was nearly impossible to find a doctor, any doctor. They were either “missing” or killed in the war.. just like many of our younger men. They were all drafted into […]

The Moon And The River

It was one of those days you are not particularly fond of, you know? The air was laden with moisture. It was sticky and warm. A strong thunderstorm had it’s grip on Brachwitz. For some reason it just would not move on, it lingered, it thundered and the skies lit up brighter than daylight. Every […]

Attempted Brainwashing

The time when the Americans occupied us was a good time. We felt free for the first time in a very long time. America gave us a taste of what a normal and good life could be like. Of course if something seems too good to be true, well then maybe it is. The “big trade-off” when the Russians […]

Fear struck

Right when the war ended there were unbelievable things that happened. The Allies had conquered our part of Germany but later on traded us for a part of Berlin, Germany’s Capital. The Americans had not hurt us at all, in fact.. as I described earlier, they actually did feed us. But when the first soldiers […]