More Memories from School Children
March 19, 2008 – 6:00 amIn the past few days I have read about school children in Germany and in the United States. Today I would like to add school children from two more countries.
In my book, We Knew We Were at War: Women Remember World War II, two women from England tell about their school days, and a woman from Poland shares her life when she was able to be in school.
The two women from England shared a nmber of experiences. They were both evacuated to the countryside during the early years of the war. Neither of them liked the experience and after a period of time they requested their parents to let them come home. In both instances, their parents sent them tickets to come home. From then on, they were back in London right in the thick of nightly bombings.
As Marion writes, she was back home with sirens, soldiers, rations, no traffic, no traffic lights, only the sound of people quickly walking home before the raids begin. Rations were slim - no bananas or oranges for four years, and the grocery man carefully measured every ounce of butter, every ounce of tea, and every ounce of cheese.
Lilian talks of her daily adventure in just going to school. Buses could travel only so far due to bomb damage. At a certain point, the students got off the bus, walked around the damage, and made their way to another bus. Lilian and her sister went to bed every night praying that they would survive the night.
And in Poland, Helen ’s town was occupied by German soldiers who taught the children to salute Heil-Hitler style and encouraged the children to greet their parents with the same salute. When Helen walked into her home one day and saluted her mother, she got a wet dishcloth slapped across her face and told never to do that again.
For months she, her mother, and baby sister traveled through Poland and through parts of Germany in a wagon, sleeping in schools or in barns until finally, after many adventures referred to in my book, they arrived at a Displaced Persons camp. Here Helen was finally able to attend school, take piano lessons, join the Girl Scouts, and go to basketball practice.
For more World War II stories, go to www.peggeorge.com.
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