Description
Object description
German civilian schoolchild living in anti-Nazi family in Siegen, Germany, 1930s-1940s; postwar emigrant to USA
Content description
REEL 1 Recollections of life in Siegen, Germany, 1930s-1940s: story of her lawyer father's demotion due to his refusal to take Nazi oath; description of Court system in Third Reich; reaction to sight of marching SS and SA men; parent's anti-Nazi attitude; outbreak of war, 9/1939; listening to foreign radio broadcasts; attitude towards early war years; bombing raid on Siegen, 16/12/1944; story of how she was rescued from burning building by a Russian POW; making way home through burning city; emotional reunion with father; continuation of bombing after, 12/1944; description of public air raid shelters.
REEL 2 Continues: description of public air raid shelters; creating air raid shelter within house; attitude towards air raids; lack of water; food rations; living conditions; move with family into cave dug into hillside, 5/2/1945; story of father's accident on route to cave; living conditions in cave; help her father gave to escaped slave labourers and POWs; relations between occupants of cave; arrival of Americans troops, Siegen, 3/1945.
REEL 3 Continues: rumours of German 'wonder bomb' to win war; story of how French POWs were badly injured in attempt to return to France; lack of food; returning to house; attitude towards US troops in area; difficulty of life in Germany for next 3 years; mother's health problems; story of how she was treated for seriously infected finger; parent's attitude towards rebuilding their life; takeover of Siegen by British; story of how father helped with documents for Nuremberg Trials and with de-Nazification programme; relief provided by Quakers in area; food rations; post-war education system.
REEL 4 Continues: helping to lift morale of family with childish games; problems with bed wetting; father's discovery of official documents detailing anti-nazi behaviour of parents; degree to which parent's knew about treatment of Jews, 1930s & 1940s; difficulty for Germans in confronting past; rehabilitation of father post-war; story of how he chose to deal with reparations cases, 1949-1962; attitude towards parents; aid sent to her family by Alaskan family; decision to go to USA.
REEL 5 Aspects of life in USA, 1956-2001: attitude of husband's Jewish friends towards her; attitude towards anti-German remarks; reaction to terrorist attacks on US, 11/9/2001.