War Brides Meet In Peterborough

This may be one of the most powerful stories that I will every write. Where do I begin? How do I tell it with the sensitivity that it deserves? How can I be sure not to sensationalize it – yet not miss any of the crucial points? And I almost missed it.

The story is of two War Brides that meet in Peterborough in January 2009. Sitting beside each other at a Senior’s function is how it all began. Actually it is an unlikely meeting – one in a million or more. But it happened.

Marion sat beside Elizabeth and they began to talk. They were to be new friends with each other. Elizabeth lives in her own house not that far from where Marion lives. Marion lives with her son.

Marion has been lonely for almost two years and the doctor advised her that more socializing would be part of her “prescription” for Marion’s well being.

I am not totally sure but Elizabeth also was told the she needed this kind of socialization. Living on her own as a widow for the past 17 years she is alone… few friends if any in her community connect with her.

Marion and Elizabeth are like two new teenage girls in a community. Neither had known each other until they meet at a school dance while standing against the wall. Everyone else at the school knows each other – they don’t.

Well they are almost like teenagers except for one thing – teenage years happened over 74 to 75 years ago. Both gals are 87 and 88 years old. One was born in 1922 and the other in 1921. Both are War Brides.

Now we need to back away up… to 87 and 88 years ago…
Both gals were born on a farm to farming families. Both gals worked very hard as farm laborers all their lives. Both decided not to continue as farm laborers by marrying Non-Farming men. That decision took them off the farm. They loved the farm but simply didn’t want to work as its slave for the rest of their life. As Elizabeth stated, “We all wanted to marry some one that was not a farmer. If you married a farmer you would have to work hard for the rest of your life.”

But this is where their stories begin to be radically different… so radical in fact that it is almost hard to imagine. And with this great difference in their life beginning – they would never have conceived that they would become a potential “best friend”.

Marion was born in remote southern Saskatchewan – 60 miles from the nearest city. Elizabeth was born in southern Germany in a part that is now included in Poland. By the Second World War Elizabeth was in the last of her teen years and Marion had just turned 20.

Marion watched men around her leave to fight in that awful war. One of her potential suitors for her future life went to that war and never came home. When Marion speaks about him there is a sudden softness in her voice and a touch of deep regret. His name was "Aisel".

Elizabeth was affected deeply by what happened to her. The war came to her country. Men in her community were swept into a war that they didn’t want either. A brutal man rose to power in Elizabeth’s childhood and teen years. This man’s actions would be responsible for millions upon millions of deaths. His name was Adolf Hitler.

Her stories are so many that there is no way one can write it all. Four hours with Elizabeth is just the beginning as story after story pours from her life. I know Marion’s story better than Elizabeth’s.

When the War came to Germans in Germany it was not something that they wanted. They were happy living their lives the way that they were. The horrors of the last war(WW I) was still in the minds of grandparents. It was not something that they wanted for their families anymore than the rest of the world did.

As Elizabeth spoke of her home and the farm she lived on the War was far away… on the Western Front with the Americans and on the Eastern Front with the Russians. She lived in the south and east part and was far from the war zone… until the Russians came into their area.

The Russian soldiers needed food and supplies. A rich farming area was perfect for their purposes. The farming boys were gone, leaving young and middle aged women to work the farms with their parents. The rich supply of not only grain and farm products was not the only thing that the Russians helped themselves to… the women were prime targets for sexual nightmares… nightmares that are still fresh in Elizabeth’s mind and heart.

Elizabeth’s “husband to be” was a soldier that went as far as Stalingrad, in southern Russia where a sniper took out his knee with one bullet.

Wikipedia states…
“The Battle of Stalingrad was a battle between Nazi Germany and its allies and the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in Southern Russia. The battle took place between 17 July 1942 and 2 February 1943, during World War II.
The results of these operations are often cited as one of the turning points of World War II. The Battle of Stalingrad was the bloodiest battle in modern history, with combined casualties estimated to be above 1.5 million. The battle was marked by brutality and disregard for military and civilian casualties by both sides. The German offensive to take Stalingrad, the battle inside the city, and the Soviet counter-offensive which eventually trapped and destroyed the 6th Army and other Axis forces around the city was the first large-scale German defeat of World War II”

With the end of the War Elizabeth married. Together they had two boys. After the nightmares subsided a wonderful opportunity came to them as a Canadian official came to their area. They passed the medicals and were accepted as immigrants to Canada. Elizabeth stated a number of times how happy they were to get out of Germany and away from any more potential wars.

In 1952 they arrived in Peterborough not knowing anyone. They had two boys 8 and 6 years old, no food, no friends and no place to live. A nun along the way had passed a small booklet to them and said, “If no one helps you.. go to the church. The church will help you.”

In Peterborough without anything in their possession and desperately in need of housing they knocked on the Priest’s door near the church. He looked at them as if they were crazy, what could he do to help people he couldn’t understand… they spoke German and he didn’t. It was post war Peterborough and that had its own share of opposition to a former German Soldier and his family.

The priest gave their boys a glass of water.

Marion is my mom – some of you may have guessed that already. Elizabeth is her new friend. In two years time Elizabeth is the first person to invite mom over to her house for lunch together. Both girls were very excited about that day. Elizabeth is also mom’s first friend to come over for supper last evening.
Elizabeth shared her stories from 4:30 to 10:30 PM.

Before she left for home last evening I showed her a new experience entitled “Google Earth”. I had been preparing for a talk today with the “New Friends” group that we attend on Thursday afternoon. I will taking all the seniors on a Google Earth Trip around the world many times.

With a click of the Computer Mouse the Google Earth turned the Earth on the Computer Monitor and we swished all the way around the world to her home village in what was southern Germany and is now Poland.

The transformation was amazing. Elizabeth quickly pointed to the road through her village… to the area of her father’s farm. She began to speak German describing places and land marks that she could see. Her amazement at being able to look into that far away world was a treasured moment for Marion, Alida and me.

At just over 1400 words I need to stop this blog. I asked Elizabeth if anyone had ever written her story. In an offhanded way she said, “Auff da.. who would vant to read dat. It is so long ago and the stories are not good. Da Russians were animals… war was terrible.”

Comedy…?
Marion began to laugh as I read this to her… the part about Elizabeth starting to speak German… “I thought my hearing aids had gone funny… I couldn’t understand a word she was saying…!”

~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stalingrad