A Mom Story: Fleeing During World War II to Finding True Love
I would not be here today if it weren’t for fate
I’ve had a heavy heart lately.
My grandmother is currently in the hospital. She has late-stage dementia and hasn’t eaten anything for two months.
I dropped everything to drive 12 hours to see her, possibly for the last time.
Seeing my grandmother this past week has inspired me to write about my Oma’s story (Oma is grandma in German).
A tribute to the amazing matriarch of our family and everything she has done for us.
Ever heard of Prussia?
Renate (ren-na-ta) was born in 1935 in Allenstein, Prussia (where modern-day Poland is). She was only 4 years old when the second world war broke out.
Up until that point, she had a wonderful childhood with her 4 sisters. Her family was well-taken care and her days were only playful.
They celebrated her youngest sister’s birthday one evening. Everything was as normal as can be.
Then… the following day the family was listening to the evening radio. The mayor came on and said, “The Russians are 75km away from our town. Take anything you can and save yourselves.”
Everyone in town fled.
Within moments, young Renate had her world turned upside-down. She didn’t understand war, she only understood that her home was now gone.
A Twist of Fate
When it’s a cold January and you have 5 young children to flee with, Renate’s parents were faced with impossible choices.
They had to split up. The father took the one-year-old baby and fled towards their relatives in West Germany. His journey took weeks — by foot, by train, by any means to get him and his daughter to safety.
The mother took the other 4 girls, including Renate, and went north to try to catch one of the ships fleeing Prussia towards northern Germany.
When they reached the port, they had to queue for hours with the hope of catching the next ship. Just as Renate’s…
