大象传媒

This story hass been added by Belinda working for CSV Devon. on behalf of Paula Kichenside, with her permission. Paula under understand the site's terms and conditions.
When my mother was a young woamn - she trained as an opera singer - she won a scholarship to the Hamburg State Opera. She lived in the Altona District - that was key working class area, and the family was anti Nazi.
She was in the airforce - she told me if she hadn't have joined the airforce she would have been forced to go to a factory.
She joined the Luftwaffa, she had to take various exams and because she was very bright she reached Lieutennant standard, and was put into a special unit. She used to type all the telexes from all over the country from all the famous generals - she had to read all the ticker tape and everything. I think she also had something to do with the Enigma machine, but she she would never elaborate on it too much.
When the Luftwaffa discovered her musical talent, she was required to entertain the officers and wives. And she had to sing on the radio.
For a lot of the time she lived in a big bunker at Heilingeistfeld, and all the staff had to go there at night.
Becasue she was very dark haired and black eyed - she was rounded up on a number of occasions into the back of a lorry - while they checked her credentials - we think now it was oo check she wasn't Jewish. She wasn't exactly aware of what was happening - but she knew there was something going on, one Jewish family she knew just vanished - and she never knew what happened to them.
My mother and aunt lived lived under the ground in the bunker - and they could hear the terrible noises of bombing and everything else, and they stayed in the bunker for days - and they hadn't had anything to eat or drink. But they thought they had to go above ground. And she told me she remembered she could see the Michel (The Michel Kircher - the Cathedral) standing there - and everything else was flattened.
She she had never seen so many dead bodies, people shrunken by the fire. And she could remember the fire storm just shooting over the streets - and her sister said to her "if we survide this day it will be an absolute miracle". She said all they could find in a dustbin was potatoe peelings. And that's what they ate. Her family lost everything they had.
A few days before Hitler killed himself - my mother and her frind were sitting in the ofice - and in front of them was a big picture of the Fuhrer. And suddenly - she said it was most incredible - the picture dropped off the wall. And they looked at each other and said "Dare we say it? Is the war over?"
My mother's family came from Ahlden, near Luneberg Heide, from a very old farming family and a few days after the war they decided to go and see them - to see whether they were all alright really. It took her and her sister nearly a week to walk and on the way they were suddenly surrounded by Russians. And they stood in the middle of the circle and my mother thought her last hour had come. She screamed, and out of the blue came an English officer in a jeep and demanded to know what was going on. And rescued them both. She went on to marry an Englishman (not that officer!) and moved to England, and gave up her career as an opera singer.

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