Cheryl W.
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Title
Cheryl W.
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Extended family originated in Germany and many relatives were involved in both world wars.
Creator
Cheryl W.
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Cheryl *
When I married my husband we created a mix of family histories to pass down to our
children. One branch of my family tree comes from Germany following World War 1 and my
husband has a branch of his family that comes from Germany after participating in World War
2. Although our families share a similar cultural heritage as Germans they had very different
experiences as German citizens.
My great‐grandmother lived in Wiesbaden, Germany until 1926. Wiesbaden is situated
a little over 100 miles from the French border. Her experience during World War 1 would have
been one of great hardship. Although Wiesbaden did not receive any damage during the war,
all of Germany was unable to get supplies due to a naval blockade held by Britain for the
duration of the war. German families were asked to give up materials that could be used in the
war effort. My family was not of great means and would have been very hard hit by the
shortage of food and supplies.
After World War 1, my great‐grandmother married an allied soldier and returned with
him to the states. They became farmers in Maryland and unfortunately for them they soon
were in the great depression that began in 1929 with the stock market crash. They were able
to maintain their farm throughout those hard times and even became a family of modest
means. My great‐grandparents were very hard working and I feel the struggles that my great‐
grandmother lived through helped to create her resilient nature and indomitable spirit.
My grandfather was raised with a sense of "American pride" as he called it. They were
not allowed to speak German in their household because of concern for the opinions of others
and my great‐grandmother's desire to fit in with other American families. My grandfather even
enlisted to fight in World War 2, although he was denied for medical reasons. So much of our
German heritage was taken from my family when my great‐grandmother left Germany with so
little of her belongings and then even more so when she attempted to assimilate into American
society. She did not talk about Germany and said it brought back sad memories. All that has
been left to us are pictures in old photo albums.
My husband's grandmother lived in Bayreuth, Germany until 1950. Bayreuth is located
on the eastern side of Germany near the Czech Republic. Bayreuth was the capital of the Nazi
Gau of Bavarian Ostmark during the war. Both my husband's grandfather and great‐uncle
fought as Nazi Soldiers. His grandfather was an SS officer who was killed during a weapons
malfunction in his initial training and his great‐uncle was killed in Russia as a tank operator. The
hardship of being a widowed mother to a small child in the war and losing her only brother
must have been very hard on the family. A few years later after re‐marrying the son of an
Ukrainian officer, who was in a relocation camp in Bayreuth, the family relocated to the United
States and became small business owners in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. My husband's mother
joined them in 1958 after finishing her education in Europe and they had developed a very
successful and profitable business.
Their experience during World War 1 was very much the same as my great‐
grandmother. During World War 2, however, the food supplies were not limited in the same
way and Germany began the war as a military powerhouse. Germans, at that time, were fed a
steady diet of Nazi propaganda that created a euphoria in favor of the war. It seems like it was
a misplaced sense of German pride that embraced the hope for a new and better life for the
German people.
My husband's grandmother, until her death, did not believe that the version of facts
told by the Allies about World War 2 were true. Whether it was a sense of guilt or loyalty to her
German roots, she chose to believe the best of what she was told during her life in Germany.
My mother‐in‐law said she did not know many details about Nazi Germany until she left
because they were not spoken of in her history classes. The history of my husband's family has
left him with a strong sense of German heritage. America became a chance for their family to
make a new life when things became hard in Germany after the war. Their family had lived
through bombings and Nazi propaganda and came out with a resilience and strength that
brought them through the hardship of two world wars.
I trust my children will be able to learn from our family history and the lessons that
history affords all of us. I hope I can teach them how to avoid the mistakes of those who came
before us and create a world and history their children can be proud of.
When I married my husband we created a mix of family histories to pass down to our
children. One branch of my family tree comes from Germany following World War 1 and my
husband has a branch of his family that comes from Germany after participating in World War
2. Although our families share a similar cultural heritage as Germans they had very different
experiences as German citizens.
My great‐grandmother lived in Wiesbaden, Germany until 1926. Wiesbaden is situated
a little over 100 miles from the French border. Her experience during World War 1 would have
been one of great hardship. Although Wiesbaden did not receive any damage during the war,
all of Germany was unable to get supplies due to a naval blockade held by Britain for the
duration of the war. German families were asked to give up materials that could be used in the
war effort. My family was not of great means and would have been very hard hit by the
shortage of food and supplies.
After World War 1, my great‐grandmother married an allied soldier and returned with
him to the states. They became farmers in Maryland and unfortunately for them they soon
were in the great depression that began in 1929 with the stock market crash. They were able
to maintain their farm throughout those hard times and even became a family of modest
means. My great‐grandparents were very hard working and I feel the struggles that my great‐
grandmother lived through helped to create her resilient nature and indomitable spirit.
My grandfather was raised with a sense of "American pride" as he called it. They were
not allowed to speak German in their household because of concern for the opinions of others
and my great‐grandmother's desire to fit in with other American families. My grandfather even
enlisted to fight in World War 2, although he was denied for medical reasons. So much of our
German heritage was taken from my family when my great‐grandmother left Germany with so
little of her belongings and then even more so when she attempted to assimilate into American
society. She did not talk about Germany and said it brought back sad memories. All that has
been left to us are pictures in old photo albums.
My husband's grandmother lived in Bayreuth, Germany until 1950. Bayreuth is located
on the eastern side of Germany near the Czech Republic. Bayreuth was the capital of the Nazi
Gau of Bavarian Ostmark during the war. Both my husband's grandfather and great‐uncle
fought as Nazi Soldiers. His grandfather was an SS officer who was killed during a weapons
malfunction in his initial training and his great‐uncle was killed in Russia as a tank operator. The
hardship of being a widowed mother to a small child in the war and losing her only brother
must have been very hard on the family. A few years later after re‐marrying the son of an
Ukrainian officer, who was in a relocation camp in Bayreuth, the family relocated to the United
States and became small business owners in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. My husband's mother
joined them in 1958 after finishing her education in Europe and they had developed a very
successful and profitable business.
Their experience during World War 1 was very much the same as my great‐
grandmother. During World War 2, however, the food supplies were not limited in the same
way and Germany began the war as a military powerhouse. Germans, at that time, were fed a
steady diet of Nazi propaganda that created a euphoria in favor of the war. It seems like it was
a misplaced sense of German pride that embraced the hope for a new and better life for the
German people.
My husband's grandmother, until her death, did not believe that the version of facts
told by the Allies about World War 2 were true. Whether it was a sense of guilt or loyalty to her
German roots, she chose to believe the best of what she was told during her life in Germany.
My mother‐in‐law said she did not know many details about Nazi Germany until she left
because they were not spoken of in her history classes. The history of my husband's family has
left him with a strong sense of German heritage. America became a chance for their family to
make a new life when things became hard in Germany after the war. Their family had lived
through bombings and Nazi propaganda and came out with a resilience and strength that
brought them through the hardship of two world wars.
I trust my children will be able to learn from our family history and the lessons that
history affords all of us. I hope I can teach them how to avoid the mistakes of those who came
before us and create a world and history their children can be proud of.
Files
Citation
Cheryl W., “Cheryl W.,” Historical Memory:, accessed October 30, 2024, https://memory.ctevans.net/items/show/6.