I should have read on. A few sentences later she wrote that they loved the military parades. It gave them back some lost pride after the first world war. They liked Hitler. They wanted a hero to look up to. It reminded her of all the books they read at school, also praising all the great heroes of history.

At the time Hitler invading small countries and fighting communists was seen as “liberation”. But a full blown war was looming on the horizon already and they were afraid of that.

But in the end life went on. With all its ups and downs. The husband was singing racist songs but that was more an annoying occurrence than something outrageous. He took part in military training, mostly for sport. He quit his Nazi job after an accident he felt responsible for (but actually wasn’t because he was at said training when it happened).

The worst thing the Nazis did to them was to restrict the name of their second child. They couldn’t use the name they had chosen because it was of Jewish origin. So the poor husband had to think of a new one at the office on the spot.

And then the war started and he was conscripted. They were afraid of bombs and gas and she prepared their apartment for that. He did come back once when his father had a fatal accident. Everyone at the hospital was nice to him because he was in uniform.

Later when the bombs did fall in 1941 she had to find a new place to live for herself and her two children. It was a normal thing for many Germans. The trains were super full, especially in the lowest class which was the only thing she could afford. Luckily she had rich relatives who took them in.

So life went on. Funnily enough her rich aunt (?) wasn’t racist but classist. The children were allowed to play with the Baltic children but not with the children of a waiter. Only where aunty couldn’t see them. My grandma wrote letters to her husband and he wrote back to her and sent her dried flowers from Norway where he was relatively safe.

Fleeing from bombs into cellars became part of life. People helped each other survive where they could. Family members started to fall in the war. And eventually her husband as well, a few days before he was supposed to come home from his safe post.

I’m tired. I’ll continue reading tomorrow.