A German Childhood: In the Shadows of World War Ii

By Ingrid Wood

A German Childhood—In the Shadows of World War II is the story of a family in post-war Germany. The author, Ingrid Wood, immigrated to the United States of America at age twenty but kept in close contact with her German family members.

More than forty years after moving to America, Ingrid read two books published in her old homeland and had long conversations with a German aunt about the war years. She learned unexpected and surprising facts related to that time. The knowledge shed new light on her childhood in a defeated country.

A German Childhood is a testament to the multigenerational resilience, strength, and courage of an ordinary family during extraordinary times in history.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Dec 9, 2022
• ISBN: 9781665574624

Ingrid Wood

Ingrid Wood started her career as a sub-editor for a national newspaper. After moving into the world of magazine publishing, she began to specialize in health and beauty issues. She has worked as assistant editor on Longevity magazine, and for Elle in the health and beauty sections. She is currently assistant editor (beauty and health supplements) for Elle. She has also edited the Longevity Spa Guide and Intercoiffure, a trade hair publication. Consultant Beryl Barnard FSBTh. MPHYS. ATT is the Education Director of the London School of Beauty & Make-up.

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© 2022 Ingrid Wood. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 05/10/2023

ISBN: 978-1-6655-7463-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-7462-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022920021

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people have been altered to protect their privacy.

Contents

Illustrations

Preface

Introduction

Cast of Characters

1War Games

2The Görgen Family in Neumagen

3The Igel Family in Hermeskeil

4The Four of Us

5Hard Times

6We Move to the Sauerland

7Osteric—Östrich—Oestrich

8Kasper Defeats the Devil

9How Do You Write the Word Ei?

10The Grass Is Green

11The Americans Will Fly to the Moon

12The Christ Child Needs a Ferryman

13Every Cow Has a Birthday

14Aunt Bertel Bakes Amerikaner

15The Carpet Beater Ends a Rebellion

16Mrs. Schlichka Sews a Curtain Dress

17I Do Not Become a Fresh Roll

18The Children Need Fresh Air

19I Refuse to Curtsy to Pitterman’s Gret

20Mint Tea and Oil Wraps

21What Will the Neighbors Think?

22Mama Loves Hoss Cartwright

23Lassie Never Comes Home

24The Wall of Silence

25Silence Healed My World

26Beautifully Brave

27In the Shadows

Afterword

Ancestry Chart of the Görgen and Igel Families

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Illustrations

All images are courtesy of the author. The photos are very old and not of the quality we expect from those taken with modern equipment. This should not reflect poorly on the publisher of this book.

Front cover from left to right: the author, Ingrid Wood née Görgen, and her siblings Dieter, Karin, and Margit. The photo was taken on the patio of the Görgen house in Oestrich (circa 1957).

Back cover: the author as a toddler in Neumagen (1951) and prior to immigrating to the United States of America (1969).

Introduction

My paternal great-grandfather’s French identification card (issued after World War I in 1919). His first name is spelled Nicolaus in this document. His complete birth year is 1863, of course.

2

My paternal great-grandfather, Nikolaus Görgen (1863-1936),

the son of Jakob Görgen and Anna Maria Görgen née Lehnert, sits in front of the Görgen house in Neumagen.

Nikolaus had two children with Katharina Obertreis (1861-1900). Their son, my paternal grandfather, Anton Jakob Görgen (1896-1965), marries Maria Martini (1898-1968) in Hunolstein (Morbach) in 1921.

Günter Paul Görgen marries Anna (Änni) Helene Igel (April 20, 1949).

Toys are not needed when work has to be done on a construction project to enlarge Gothi’s store (1952).

The infant, Günter Paul Görgen (1922- 1990), is the first of four children of Anton and Maria Görgen.

I clearly remember the wall and the huge tree in the front yard of the Görgen house (1952).

3

My maternal great-grandparents, Nikolaus and Maria Igel. This is very likely their wedding photo. It was customary in those days for a bride to wear a black dress.

My maternal grandfather, Josef Igel (1895-1960), in Hermeskeil (1941).

Helena Agnes Igel née Bielen (1892- 1978) as I remember her from my childhood.

From left to right: the Igel sisters Hedi, Josefa, and Änni (circa 1949).

4

Ingrid Wood née Görgen in Neumagen (circa 1954).

Gothi relaxes in her cozy living room in Neumagen (1941).

5

The twins, Karin and Dieter, enjoy their noon bottles on the large balcony in Neumagen (1955).

9

Änni Igel learns to write in the old Sütterlin script (1932).

10

Gothi stands behind the counter of her little grocery store (1952).

12

Miss Görgen teaches math skills to Margit with a shared Christmas present (circa 1958).

13

Margit and I hold our Easter baskets in Neumagen (1954).

14

The twins are beaming during a rare photo session (1957).

16

Mama wears a dress that she made, and Papa has only eyes for his pretty wife. We are all dressed for a holiday (circa 1959).

19

Dieter puts his teddy bears to bed (circa 1958).

23

Oma’s cat is a good mouser but not a pet. The addition to Gothi’s store is almost completed (1953).

24

Standing from left to right are Anton Görgen and children, Vitus and Rudi. Seated from left to right are Maria Görgen née Martini and children, Justine and Günter. (Photo from 1939)

Günter Görgen becomes a paratrooper (1940).

Afterword

Ancient Romans pay their taxes in this relief sculpture from 205 A.D. It was found in Neumagen. The original is housed in a museum in Trier.

I am sitting up in this photo taken in front of the Görgen home but was asleep in my pram when the three Igel sisters smuggled coffee beans from the French Saarland across the border in 1950.

Also by Ingrid Wood

A Breeder’s Guide to Genetics—Relax, It’s Not Rocket Science

The Alpacas of Stormwind Farm

The Frugal Alpaca Farmer—A Holistic Approach to Success

Hiking Home—Where the Heart IsFor Margit, Karin, and Dieter

Es lebe wer sich tapfer hält.

—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749- 1832)

Preface

My best friend, Nancy, has a large collection of family photos mounted on one wall of her home. One photo always draws my attention. It shows Nancy’s maternal grandparents in their kitchen. I love the photo because the setting and the two old people in it remind me so much of my father’s parents, my Opa and Oma from Neumagen, a village in Germany’s beautiful Mosel valley.

Nancy’s ancestors came to the United States of America from Italy and the former Austro-Hungarian province of Galicia. I was born and raised after World War II in what was then West Germany.

Any time my friend and I share stories about our respective childhoods, one of us will invariably say, Why didn’t I ask more questions when my grandparents and parents were alive?

Maybe one day long into the future, some of my descendants will say, Why don’t we know more about our German ancestors?

I also think back to the day when my son, a small child at the time, called out in mock exasperation, Why do I have to have a German mother?

His tone and body language made it clear that he was teasing me, but I knew his outburst contained more than a kernel of serious complaint. Ben was upset because one of his friends didn’t like my healthy cooking. As an only child, my son was always happy to have the company of a buddy. His friends often shared meals with our family.

His mom makes him something else to eat when he doesn’t like what she cooked, Ben informed me. He added what he no doubt considered a helpful suggestion, You could do that.

That’ll never happen, I said.

Ben, who loved his visits with his German relatives, was too young to properly articulate his frustration. What he really meant to say to me was, Why are some of your rules so different from those in other homes?

Looking back, I realize that I did a poor job explaining to my child why I had no tolerance for any complaints about meals offered at our home or anywhere else. Aside from that topic, there are other reasons—they will remain private— for writing about my childhood memories.

I had been half-heartedly working on the project for years, making a preliminary outline of chapter contents and discussing some details with one of my sisters. Reading two books—the histories of the two German villages where I spent my childhood years—served as powerful motivation to begin writing.

Many of my memories include my two sisters and my brother. A conversation—unrelated to my book at the time—that I had as an adult about the subject of siblings was an eye-opener to me.

How can children raised in the same family be so different at times? I asked, surely a foolish question in many respects as I realize now.

But siblings are not raised in the same family, the woman told me. Seeing the confusion on my face, she explained: The family dynamics change with each child, so siblings are never raised the same way. A family with four children is not the same family it was when there was only one child. Each additional child changes the family. Each child also responds as an individual to things that happen during his or her childhood. What one child remembers as a positive aspect or experience, another may view in a negative light.

I remembered these words when I started writing. Although my siblings and I grew up together, I can only speak for myself. Some of my memories may not be their memories. Others are exclusively mine because they are of events that happened before my sisters and brother were born, or while they were infants.

My generation of German children was raised by adults who, physically as well as emotionally, were damaged by what they had experienced. Growing up, we did not realize to what extent World War II had impacted our childhood. We lived our formative years in the shadows of a war that had ended long before we were born.

My brother and I recently talked about our respective childhood memories. I was glad and comforted when I heard Dieter say, When we consider what our parents went through, we have to admit that they did the best they could.

Introduction

Many readers skip over the Introduction in a book. I admit that I have done so many times in the past. I respectfully ask readers who know little or nothing about World War II, post-war history, or German customs to please read the Introduction. Learning a few basic facts will be helpful to understand my memories of post-war life in the defeated Germany.

Oh, I can’t remember all that history stuff; it’s too boring, one friend told me.

There is no need for readers of A German Childhood to remember the exact dates. Americans of all ages should remember, though, that Germany’s history of World War II—including the post-war years— is also an important part of the history of the United States of America.

My suggestion is to look at a map of Europe—preferably one dated between 1938 and 1945—and follow the progression of the war as outlined below.

Great Britain, France, the USSR (the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, often simply called the Soviet Union or Russia) and the United States of America are commonly referred to as the Allies. Germany, Italy, and Japan are collectively called the Axis partners.

March 12, 1938— Austria is annexed to Nazi Germany (the formal referendum takes place on March 13).

September 1, 1939— World War II starts with Germany’s invasion of Poland.

September 3, 1939—Great Britain and France declare war on Germany.

June 10, 1940— Italy joins the war on the side of Germany.

June 22, 1941—Germany invades the USSR (from 1922-1991, Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union).

December 7,1941—the United States of America joins the Allied forces after the bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japan.

October 13, 1943— Italy has surrendered to the Americans and, in a total turnaround, declares war on Germany, its former Axis partner.

Combat footage can be found on the Internet under: Ostfront 1942- Heavy Combat Footage and— pertinent to my family’s history— : The Fallschirmjäger—Germany’s Elite World War 2 Paratroopers or WW 2- Fallschirmjäger (HD Footage).

To understand the conditions under which German civilians lived in Berlin and other cities, especially toward the end of the war, it is helpful to search for and view on the Internet: Russians Enter Berlin: Final Months of World War II (1945) British Pathé.

The fate of the thousands of German child soldiers who either volunteered to fight or were ordered to do so at the end of the war was a true tragedy. A general search for German child soldiers of World War II on the Internet provides much information. The American troops usually showed compassion when these children were captured, often ordering them to go home and take off their uniforms. Of course, many children had no home or parents left and joined the countless refugees roaming around the country.

I was deeply moved when I learned about the old people in the Eastern part of Germany who sacrificed themselves for their family members. When the decision was made to flee ahead of the advancing Russian army, many elderly people were not capable of walking long distances. They knew that their presence on the long and dangerous trek to the west would jeopardize the escape of the young women and children. In desperation, they committed suicide or quietly took to their beds to await their fate.

In Europe, World War II ended with the unconditional surrender of Germany on May 7, 1945. Formal signing of the document of capitulation was not completed until May 9. Germany was carved up into four zones by the victors. Japan signed the official document of its surrender on September 2, 1945.

Approximately 425,000 German POWs were sent to the USA where most were housed in camps in rural areas and worked on area farms. Relatively few American guards were employed. Captured German officers supervised the prisoners and maintained strict order in the camps. Almost all former POWs reported decent and humane treatment by their American guards as well as by the American civilians on whose farms they labored.

Great Britain also maintained POW camps for captured German, Austrian, and Italian enemy combatants. As was the practice in the USA, many were sent out to work on England’s farms. More than likely, some of those men were better fed than most German civilians or even British civilians who lived in large cities during that time.

Things were different in the open-air American and French camps in Europe where thousands of German POWs perished. Readers can learn more about the camps under the German Internet search word Rheinwiesenlager. During my research on these camps, I came across one author’s opinion that poor conditions were purposely maintained by the Allies to kill off as many German POWs as possible through disease and starvation.

I do not believe this to be true. The French themselves were in dire need of food and other supplies after the war. They would have been more interested in using live POWs as forced labor than burying dead ones. The Americans were also dealing with the logistics of feeding and housing their troops in a country where life’s bare necessities were difficult to procure and where many civilians— women, children, and old men— were also living without shelter and starving. The sheer number of POWs and the additional difficulties of transportation in a war torn country surely added to the problem.

The bloodiest slaughter of all time took the lives of an estimated 70-80 million people. This includes deaths in combat, civilian deaths, deaths of people held in captivity, and war-related deaths due to disease and starvation.

Much work had to be done after the end of the war in a country where many men were dead, in POW camps, or physically too disabled to perform heavy labor. The search word Trümmerfrau (Wikipedia) brings up an extensive collection of photos from that time.

Then there was Operation Paperclip. After the war ended, over 1,600 German scientists and engineers were brought to the United States of America, often in fierce competition with the Soviet Union. The most famous was Wernher von Braun, the German pioneer of rocket and space technology in the United States. Operation Paperclip was supposed to be a secret mission; it did not remain a secret forever.

Two of the former allies—USSR and USA— became enemies. As a result of what is commonly referred to as the cold war, Germany formally split into East Germany and West Germany in 1949. In essence, Germany became two separate countries, with East Germany supported by the Communist Soviet Union, and West Germany allied to and protected by the United States of America. The Berlin wall, built by Communist East Germany to prevent East Germans from escaping to the West, was torn down in 1989. East and West became reunited as one country in 1990.

The formal names and abbreviations of the original, the divided, and the eventually reunited Germany amount to an unbelievable alphabet- and- word salad. To keep it simple: The country called Deutschland—Germany— today has a federal parliamentary system and is divided into sixteen (16) states. It is a member of the European Union and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).

The Internet provides much information about World War