大象传媒

Please meet the "enemy" a German smallholders farmers wife - my grandma:

My dads family is from a small village in the Black Forest, Germany, a close-knit, small and poor community. The farm was too small to support the family so granddad had to work in a factory and grandma and the children ran the farm. This mixed way of winning a livelihood was also reflected in their values. They were staunch catholics and socialists. Two things the Nazis didn鈥檛 like very much. Needless to say, my family did not like the Nazis very much either.

It was a national holiday in Germany during the war while my granddad was as a conscript somewhere in Russia, and the family had lost all touch with him and were very worried. Now people were ordered to hang flags out of their windows for celebration. The idea was to hang a swastika flag out of the window, but what my grandma hung out of the window instead was a flag half yellow and half white. Of course the local Gruppenfuehrer (civilan type of head-nazi) paid her a visit. Asking her what that was about and didn鈥檛 she know the rule? And my grandma said: 鈥淚 would if I could but I haven鈥檛 got a Reichsfahne (swastika flag). So I hoped the white and yellow church-flag would do.鈥� - 鈥淲ell go and buy a proper one then.鈥� - 鈥淚 am really sorry, mein Herr, but since Hitler sent my husband to Russia and we lost his income, I simply can鈥檛 afford one. I promise, as soon as my Karl is back home safe and sound I will go and buy one and praise Hitler. But until then I will just to have make do and praise the Lord instead.鈥�

And because she lived in such a small village where everybody depends on everybody else, a miracle happened and she actually got away with it.

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