大象传媒

My mother Hildegard Zimmermann was born in Waldkirch, near Freiburg, Germany in 1908. Waldkirch was a tiny town and must have been a narrow, claustrophobic environment for a lively young girl. As soon as my mother reached 21 she was free to choose her own destiny. She decided to travel to London and find work. She could not speak a word of English but made a point to learn numbers and the how to tell the time. She obtained a job of lady's maid and eventually met my father and married him in 1931 in London.
I recall my mother telling me that when the blitz on London began she would never resort to the safety of the air raid shelter. Her neighbours knew she was German and she would have had to face an unpleasant response. She chose to remain at home and seek the protection of the living room table under which she, my brother and 1 year old sister slept whilst my father was on nights - he was a train driver. I can barely imagine what they went through and how they coped. My brother Keith died in the war and on some occasions my mother received police protection from the ire of her neighbours. Her brother Rudolph was in the SS and, needless to say, there was no communication between my mother and her family in Germany until after the war when she learned that they had survived and Rudolph was a POW in France. He returned home in 1946/47. My mother, father, my sister and myself (I was born in 1948)travelled to Waldkirch in 1953 when she saw her father for the last time. She never lost her love for her Heimat and I keep in contact with my German cousins and last visited Waldkirch in 2001.

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.