May 9th, 1945 is when WW2 ended in Europe. That was also my grandmother’s 40th birthday and she had her hands full raising four kids. My mom was 8 years old and the second oldest. During the winter/spring of 1944/45, they spent many nights in the basement of their house in Eisenberg, Thüringen, Germany, listening to bombers heading east towards Chemnitz and Dresden. They went to bed, often hungry, in camping beds around their dining table, to make it faster to get 4 little kids down to the basement when the alarm sounded.
My mom does not remember any end-of-war celebrations, only that the town eventually got a bit more lively, that people dared to talk to each other again and that American soldiers were handing out chocolate to the kids on the town square. There was a sense of relief that they had ended up in the American zone – until it was turned over to the Russians a few months later.
On days, when I find the current Corona situation particularly tough, I think of my grandparents who raised 4 kids during a flaming war.
The fear, the hunger, and the loss of their “normal” life is hard to imagine. Compared to that, I gladly try do my part to keep everyone safe. I put on a face mask when I have to go to the grocery store and we try to stay at home as much as we can. I can do without a hair cut or theater visits for as long as it takes. I know many are hurting badly, too many have already lost loved ones, lost their job and go hungry or go to work in dangerous conditions, especially in the US. 75 years ago, a torn Europe rebuilt – with help from large investments from the US. The US is rich enough invest in all its people and rebuild for a more resilient future. For that we need to fight for fair elections and un-buyable politicians, but that’s for another blog post…
Stay safe, stay strong and Happy Mother’s Day to all moms out there doing their best to keep their families together thorough all of this!
Elisabeth
