Tags
Berlin, community, courage, Diana Schwenk, family, growing up, Hump Day Chronicles, life, memories, parents, peace, war, world issues, WWII
My brother shared this video on Facebook the other day with the following preamble:
Wow, this was a real tough one for me to watch. I realise that Germany was the aggressor and I`m not trying to comment on the outcome. This is the first time I have seen the post war Berlin in moving picture. In 1945 my Mom and Dad were 7 and 11 respectively. They grew up in Berlin. I remember them telling me stories of rubble in the street and how people lived. The fact that they even survived, is a testament to their strength and resilience. My parents went on to make a new life here in Canada. May this never happen again. Please watch it, there are no winners in this type of conflict.
We’ve heard so many stories from Mom and Dad over the years…
like the time dad stole a horse from the Russians and it was butchered by his family and neighbours so they could eat.
how one night you’d have potato soup and the next night you’d have potato peel soup.
or the time when Mom accepted chocolate from a Russian soldier.
how you could buy cake crumbs for a few phennig just to have something in your belly.
or the time they were sitting around the table when the windows imploded because a bomb had been dropped nearby.
I cannot imagine the affect war had on my parents. And after viewing this video, I’m reminded how blessed I am to never have experienced war in my lifetime in my country.
As my brother Michael states: May this never happen again. There are no winners in this type of conflict.
~ HUMP DAY CHRONICLES ~
I many times thought Peace had come
When Peace was far away
As Wrecked Men—deem they sight the Land
At Centre of the Sea
And struggle slacker—but to prove
As hopelessly as I
How many the fictitious Shores
Before the Harbor be
Emily Dickinson
talktodiana 
Just wow…. HUGS! ❤
LikeLike
Thank you my friend. ❤
Diana xo
LikeLike
Diana … The video is stark and haunting. From the description you provided about your parents, it sounds like The Great Depression in America plus a war-time experience. Our neighbor in Oswego County, when I was a teen, emigrated from Poland after he’d been impressed into the Czar’s Army. He lost some of his family during the war. He was a hard-working farmer who survived tough times.
LikeLike
It does sound similar Judy. We humans are very adaptable. The human spirit is awe-inspiring in its resilience. ❤
Diana xo
LikeLiked by 1 person
My parents were not directly by the Japanese war invasion in China. However father did see faraway, bombs dropping. They were very young children.
My partner’s family was directly affected by WWII as Germans. My partner lost his father because he was conscripted to fight. He died in Czechsolvakia but he and mother didn’t learn of death until he was 4 yrs. old. He remembers his mother getting the letter and crying.
When I met my partner he did mention his birth father every few wks. A father who he never knew… he was an academic, PhD in Law and then conscripted. A few yrs. ago, my partner got a phone call in Vancouver, from a German nun doing her dissertation on the Catholic resisters to the Nazis. His father was part of one, but not really the strong rabble-rousers..
His mother told him that she would run with him, as a baby into the woods, when the bombing started. One bomb fell next door. His mother never liked thunderstorms because of the bombing memories.
HIs mother did prepare meals for the French soldiers..in fact, my partner started to learn abit of French when was young. Very short few months.
The stories reverberate through the generations…my partner’s daughter (she did her MA in English LIt. in Canada) wrote away and got her grandfather’s dissertation….but of course, it’s in German.
LikeLiked by 1 person
My partner as a 7 yr. old boy and his family immigrated to Canada by ship in early 1950’s and were detained for 5 days at Pier 21, Halifax, Canada’s eastern national port of entry for over 1 million European and other immigrants (it is now a national heritage museum site).
And meanwhile my father immigrated by ship as a young man, from China from the east to Vancouver in the early 1950’s, our western national port of entry for Asia..
When meet my partner and I, they probably wonder what we have in common. We actually have ALOT in common in terms of our family histories and understanding immigrants, war, cultural dislocation, etc.
LikeLike
Yes, definitely write a post or a series of posts about it Jean! ❤
Diana xo
LikeLike
Amazing stories Jean! You should write a post about it. Your family’s and your partner’s family story. ❤
Diana xo
LikeLike
Among my mother’s things, we recently came across my grandmother’s written notes of her early married life. My grandfather was gassed in World War 1 and suffered ill-health all his life and therefore they struggled as a family right through until he retired in 1951 and was able then to obtain a pension. So even though he was Australian, the after-effects of that war in Europe were felt half a world away for many decades. You are correct that there are never any winners in war.
LikeLike
Wow, so sorry your dad and family suffered like that. Hugs. ❤
Diana xo
LikeLiked by 1 person
Diana thanks for sharing this footage you are so right, there are no winners in war and seeing this broke my heart. Your parents must have carried heavy hearts to their new home. This kind of footage should be shown in schools etc to assure we learn that war is not the answer.
LikeLike
Thanks Kath. A big hug for you! ❤
Diana xo
LikeLiked by 1 person
My mother’s family was in Frankfurt while my mother was on her way home from Czechoslovakia, although the areas different the destruction the same. Yes may we never see this destruction again, sadly we will. My mother had a different story to tell of Russian soldiers and what they did to a defeated people. Wars are still being fought, cities destroyed and families separated. Humans will never learn.
LikeLike
It certainly seems like that’s true. I will keep hoping and acting from a place of belief anyway Patty. ❤
Diana xo
Was your mom stopped from meeting up with her family?
LikeLike
Don’t get me wrong, I hope one day people will realize their foolishness…there is always hope. I pray all the time for peace and for the anger and hatred to be removed from mens hearts. All war brings is suffering and no one truly wins.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You have a beautiful heart Patty. ❤
LikeLike
And there are those in the world who live in conditions like these now!
LikeLike
Yes. It’s heart-breaking Smitty. ❤
Diana xo
LikeLike
I make no wonder at all why so many veterans suffer from PTSD, Diana. Survivor’s guilt alone would be enough to contend with.
Interesting video. I’m reading The Way the Crow Flies by Ann-Marie MacDonald, which has plenty of German references. If you haven’t read it yet, you should check it out. I think it would be a compelling read for you.
Jennifer xo
LikeLike
I’ve heard of that book I think Jennifer, I will add it to my list, thanks! ❤
Diana xo
LikeLike
I can’t even pretend to understand what they, and others still, go/went through. This video was different than most I’ve seen. Even seeing it, doesn’t bring us anywhere near the experience of it. I’m with you and your brother, may this never happen again.
LikeLike
You’re right about that Colleen and thank you@ ❤
Diana xo
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re so right, Diana, there are no winners in war. Interesting footage…sometimes we forget the impact on all sides of a conflict.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah it affects everyone – thanks for chiming in Van! ❤
Diana xo
LikeLiked by 1 person
If you haven’t read it…there is a powerful book “The Reader”which includes the voice of a German official coming to terms with some of her feelings about the Holocaust.
LikeLike
I have not read it Van, another book for the list – thank you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Stories about war are so sad, especially since it usually affects the ‘common man’ while the instigators and their offspring usually escape. I, too, wish war (big or small) never happens again.
LikeLike
Thanks for your heartfelt comment ZLady. From your lips to God’s ears! ❤
Diana xo
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank yo for sharing this, I can’t image how hard it would have been to grow up in such a time, this really moved me
LikeLike
So many people suffered under Hitler Jo-Anne – it breaks my heart to think that humans are capable of such hatred. ❤
Diana xo
LikeLike
Your parents are strong people Diana. It was a very traumatic and difficult time for everyone. I am sure that courage and strength continues to be passed on in your family, making the world a better place. 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks Karen, I work to make that a true statement! ❤
Diana xo
LikeLike
Sadness… So much misery and suffering humanity inflicts on itself. Can you imagine what the world and everyone’s life would be like if the same amount of dedication, resources and energy went into kindness, compassion, and helping each other? It should be no more inconceivable then the terrible things that humanity has done. Humanity has done good things on a very small scale: Barn raisings, soup kitchens, rescuing survivors of natural disasters, the Berlin Air Lift. Humanity knows how to do it. It is a matter of will, focus, and intense desire. May humanity wake up and make better choices than those that lead to war, hatred, famine, and suffering. Thank you for your thought-proving post, Diana.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for your thoughtful comment Russ and it starts with each of us, doesn’t it? Each time we make an intentional choice to be kind and generous… ❤
Diana xo
LikeLike
When I visited Normandy a couple years ago Diana – I understood the survivor’s guilt that tormented my father. Understanding the stories of our parents helps us discover ourselves – and sharing our stories, for better or worse with our children helps heal us.
LikeLike
I think you’re right Bill, I think knowing the stories helps us to forgive and understand things in a different light as well. ❤
Diana xo
LikeLike
of course I’m right Diana 🙂
LikeLike
haha I’m so redundant sometimes LOL Just call me Captain Obvious. 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s the people who pay the price of leaders’ aspirations…
Pax vobiscum, Diana. Thank you
LikeLike
So true Deb. Peace to you too my friend. ❤
Diana xo
LikeLike
I am glad I didn’t live then and my parents went through this. It must have made such an impact. My mum still tells me similar things. Eating a “Schiebewurst brot” the piece of sliced sausage was so small to cover the whole bread, so before they bite in they moved the sausage back. I love hearing from the time.
LikeLike
Yes Ute, hard times for sure. When my mom moved to Canada she would eat butter like ice cream…she just never had anything like it… ❤
Diana xo
LikeLiked by 1 person
Funny you say butter…my mum insists now still on proper butter. 🙂
LikeLike
me too, it’s real food. I hate margarine!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I really can’t imagine it, the constant terror, how children who are born into war are shaped and view the world.
Peace,
❤
LikeLike
No kidding eh mrs. F? ❤
Diana xo
LikeLiked by 1 person
There are no winners, however in that case I shudder to think how the world would be had Hitler prevailed.
LikeLike
I agree Lisa, I can’t even imagine what would have happened. ❤
Diana xo
LikeLike
My mother went through this also. She lived in Osnabruck
LikeLike
I bet she has tons of stories too Cristl. ❤
Diana xo
LikeLike
I don’t think we can ever imagine what people like your parents went through during those times, Diana.
LikeLike
I don’t suppose so Don. And all those children in the world living through war as I type… Thanks for weighing in. ❤
Diana xo
LikeLike