A German Childhood

Ingrid Wood

Description

A German Childhood—In the Shadows of World War II tells the inspiring story of an ordinary family during extraordinary times in history.
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.

Sujets

• Histoire
• Segunda Guerra Mundial
• Memoir
• Military
• World War II
• Autobiography
• History
• Seconde Guerre mondiale

Informations

• Publié par: AuthorHouse
• Date de parution: 09 décembre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781665574624
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

A GERMAN CHILDHOOD
In the Shadows of World War II
A Memoir
INGRID WOOD


AuthorHouse™
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.authorhouse.com
Phone: [phone]
 
 
 
 
 
 
© 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
 
1 War Games
2 The Görgen Family in Neumagen
3 The Igel Family in Hermeskeil
4 The Four of Us
5 Hard Times
6 We Move to the Sauerland
7 Osteric—Östrich—Oestrich
8 Kasper Defeats the Devil
9 How Do You Write the Word Ei?
10 The Grass Is Green
11 The Americans Will Fly to the Moon
12 The Christ Child Needs a Ferryman
13 Every Cow Has a Birthday
14 Aunt Bertel Bakes Amerikaner
15 The Carpet Beater Ends a Rebellion
16 Mrs. Schlichka Sews a Curtain Dress
17 I Do Not Become a Fresh Roll
18 The Children Need Fresh Air
19 I Refuse to Curtsy to Pitterman’s Gret
20 Mint Tea and Oil Wraps
21 What Will the Neighbors Think?
22 Mama Loves Hoss Cartwright
23 Lassie Never Comes Home
24 The Wall of Silence
25 Silence Healed My World
26 Beautifully Brave
27 In 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 impac