大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War web site by Sutton Coldfield Library on behalf of Friederike Rice and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the sites terms and conditions.

The VE Day in England was the day of utter defeat for the evil Nazi regime in Germany where I was a 15 year old German girl. Here is an extract from my diary which I have tried to translate into English.

鈥溾�t last, this terrible war is over! The Nazi government has been defeated and come to an ignominious end. The main culprits have not escaped their fate, they are either dead, have fallen into the hands of the victors or have committed suicide. The Third Reich - which was to last for a thousand years - has perished. The deaths of millions of our people have been in vain, only to prolong the lives of the Nazi leaders. They all have lead us into the abyss, and now we are confronted by chaos everywhere.

The British troops are talking about a famine because of the universal devastation of Germany. We don't know where our fathers, brothers and other relatives are, scattered all over Europe in prisoner-of-war camps, hoping that they are still alive. Their fate will be decided upon by the Allied Powers.

No more bombing raids. When the phosphor rained over Kassel, my limbs were paralysed from fear. No more fighting, no more killing! Yet our hearts are so heavy with mourning and sorrow for what has been and for our uncertain future. But there is a glimmer of hope for a new beginning!

We have such beautiful spring sunshine as if to strengthen and encourage us. One can say that Easter, the Date of Resurrection, has triumphed over Good Friday, the power of evil - what a symbol for our present time! The Nazi regime with its Concentration Camps and torture has been defeated for ever, and we hope that our land will experience a new dawn where justice and freedom for the individual will be upheld. But this will only happen if we make God our mighty ally. Our regained religious freedom will be the best guarantor for it鈥�.鈥�

I think the tone of my diary entry makes it quite clear that my family was never a supporter of the Nazi regime. As committed Christians they had a difficult life, and my childhood was also blighted by it. When the final defeat came we all experienced it as our liberation.

Here is a translation of a poem I wrote on 10 May 1945 when I was 15 years old. In the German it rhymes but I am afraid the translation does not.

Peace

Peace, peace upon our land.
Peace after years of the world on fire.
Silenced are the guns, the fight is over,
Now we mourn in sorrow.
Devastated the whole land
Once a place of civilisation.
The best have perished,
They were our future.
They died in vain.
Confronted by the whole world
victory was not to be.
Let us bend our knee.
Though the battle is lost
the fight for peace is free.
God 鈥� be our mighty leader.
Ban the godlessness which brought disaster.
Resurrect our land when we take your hand!

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