The Story of a Childs Survival of WWII in Nazi Germany

Pirmasens, their hometown in Germany, was one of the first cities that required the citizens to evacuate as the town was located in close proximity to the French border. The adventures started with the first evacuation from Pirmasens. The evacuees were required to report to the local train station and taken to a safe city by train. During the evacuations, the family was often attacked by machine gun fire from the vertical dive bombers known as Stucka's.

Among other adventures, they found bones of an aborted baby in the woods after they had evacuated their hometown. Going for days without food was not uncommon. They became very creative about obtaining food, clothing, and other necessities which were in rare supply. Pauline recalls the postwar time in 1945 when the Americans came into town to take control. Hitler portrayed the enemy as dark, hunched-over creatures. Posters were hung throughout every city, depicting the enemy. Surprisingly enough, Inge met the first time an American who was tall and handsome, nothing like the creature she expected to see. That was also the first time she ever tasted chewing gum. Chewing gum was the treat the American soldiers handed to the German children during the first encounter. Soon thereafter, the family received care packages from American citizens with food, toys, and clothing. The postwar years were plagued with people starving. At least, shortly after the war, August was able to return home to his family. Together, August and Pauline were able to assure the family that the war was over and now begins the journey of becoming valued members of the German society.