thedrifter
11-18-07, 07:29 AM
An open window into the past
Author shares lessons of life under Nazis
Sunday, November 18, 2007
By Doug Oster, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
It's been 62 years since World War II ended, but seeing a roomful of people give the Nazi salute still can be chilling.
As about 170 people raised their outstretched arms, Gisela McBride stood tall and sang the German national anthem, just as she had as a child under Nazi reign in Berlin.
Ms. McBride was at Victory Family Church in Cranberry on Tuesday to tell some of the stories from her book, "Memoirs of a 1000-Year-Old Woman: Berlin 1925-1945."
The title mocks the Nazi regime, or Third Reich, which Hitler proclaimed would last 1,000 years. Since Ms. McBride saw both the rise and fall of the regime, she figures she must be at least 1,000 years old.
Her talk was part of the American Conflicts Roundtable, a program organized four years ago by Seneca Valley history teacher Jim Lucot to bring in speakers like Ms. McBride to relive history.
Ms. McBride, 81, weaves her personal memories around the historical events of the time, sharing compelling tales of her ordinary life as a civilian.
"I want to open a window into the past that shows dictatorship from a very different perspective," she said, adding that she also wanted the members of her audience to treasure their freedom.
When the war started in 1939, she was 13. Early on, she watched the birth of the Hitler Youth movement. At first, only a few classmates participated, but as the war continued, most of the girls in her class had been seduced by the movement, she said.
She recalled the nightly air raids when British and American bombers pummeled Berlin. Her mother would wake her and walk her down into the basement. The whitewashed walls there were lit by only a naked light bulb hanging from a cord. The room was cold, and sometimes they would spend hours down there.
One night, she was terrified when she realized that some papers containing politically incorrect Nazi jokes were in her purse and she feared that if the bombs hit, the papers would be found and her family would be executed.
"I got the matches and I burned them in the stove," she said.
She recalled that when the war started, three crimes were punishable by death. By the end of the war, 43 crimes could result in execution. And justice was swift in wartime Berlin. If a person was convicted, the death sentence was implemented within 72 hours, she said.
After the war, she worked as an interpreter for the Royal Air Force War Crimes Section. She told a story of an arrogant SS officer who had killed a British lieutenant prisoner of war at the end of the war.
Ms. McBride helped translate his confession. She said she felt justice was served when the German officer was put to death.
She emigrated first to England and then came to the United States in 1957. She now lives in Carlisle, Cumberland County.
Mr. Lucot, of Cranberry, begged Ms. McBride to lecture here after hearing her stories at another event. Much of the audience was made up of Seneca Valley students.
He reflected on what he wanted students and adults alike to get from listening to Ms. McBride.
"I hope they saw the civilian side of it," he said of the students. "I want them to understand [Germany was] a democracy, Hitler got elected in a democratic environment and that constitution got annihilated."
Nancy Larocca, of Cranberry, came to hear the speaker but also to get some information about items that her uncle brought to this country after visiting Germany in the 1930s. In addition to what she believes is a Nazi armband, she had what looked like small German postcards, two of them bearing pictures of Hitler. Ms. McBride was able to tell her that the pictures came in packs of cigarettes and could be placed into a book as a kind of a collectors set.
Mrs. Larocca found the talk informative.
"I learned more about the citizens. She was not a Nazi. We grew up thinking everyone was either Jewish or a Nazi. It was very enlightening to get a different perspective of life for a non-Nazi in Berlin," she said.
"There were lots of people who didn't like it," Ms. McBride said. "People must safeguard their rights and their freedom."
Ed Kinter, of Portersville, is an 82-year-old WWII veteran who came to hear a different point of view about the war.
"I though it would be interesting to come down and hear what happened from the other side," he said.
Mr. Kinter was in the Merchant Marines, serving in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. He was wounded and spent V-E Day, the day Germany's surrender was announced, in a Pittsburgh hospital. He returned to service and was in Norway for V-J Day, the day of the Allied forces' victory over Japan.
"The best day was when it was over," he said.
Doug Oster can be reached at doster@post-gazette.com or 724-772-9177.
First published on November 18, 2007 at 12:00 am
Ellie
Author shares lessons of life under Nazis
Sunday, November 18, 2007
By Doug Oster, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
It's been 62 years since World War II ended, but seeing a roomful of people give the Nazi salute still can be chilling.
As about 170 people raised their outstretched arms, Gisela McBride stood tall and sang the German national anthem, just as she had as a child under Nazi reign in Berlin.
Ms. McBride was at Victory Family Church in Cranberry on Tuesday to tell some of the stories from her book, "Memoirs of a 1000-Year-Old Woman: Berlin 1925-1945."
The title mocks the Nazi regime, or Third Reich, which Hitler proclaimed would last 1,000 years. Since Ms. McBride saw both the rise and fall of the regime, she figures she must be at least 1,000 years old.
Her talk was part of the American Conflicts Roundtable, a program organized four years ago by Seneca Valley history teacher Jim Lucot to bring in speakers like Ms. McBride to relive history.
Ms. McBride, 81, weaves her personal memories around the historical events of the time, sharing compelling tales of her ordinary life as a civilian.
"I want to open a window into the past that shows dictatorship from a very different perspective," she said, adding that she also wanted the members of her audience to treasure their freedom.
When the war started in 1939, she was 13. Early on, she watched the birth of the Hitler Youth movement. At first, only a few classmates participated, but as the war continued, most of the girls in her class had been seduced by the movement, she said.
She recalled the nightly air raids when British and American bombers pummeled Berlin. Her mother would wake her and walk her down into the basement. The whitewashed walls there were lit by only a naked light bulb hanging from a cord. The room was cold, and sometimes they would spend hours down there.
One night, she was terrified when she realized that some papers containing politically incorrect Nazi jokes were in her purse and she feared that if the bombs hit, the papers would be found and her family would be executed.
"I got the matches and I burned them in the stove," she said.
She recalled that when the war started, three crimes were punishable by death. By the end of the war, 43 crimes could result in execution. And justice was swift in wartime Berlin. If a person was convicted, the death sentence was implemented within 72 hours, she said.
After the war, she worked as an interpreter for the Royal Air Force War Crimes Section. She told a story of an arrogant SS officer who had killed a British lieutenant prisoner of war at the end of the war.
Ms. McBride helped translate his confession. She said she felt justice was served when the German officer was put to death.
She emigrated first to England and then came to the United States in 1957. She now lives in Carlisle, Cumberland County.
Mr. Lucot, of Cranberry, begged Ms. McBride to lecture here after hearing her stories at another event. Much of the audience was made up of Seneca Valley students.
He reflected on what he wanted students and adults alike to get from listening to Ms. McBride.
"I hope they saw the civilian side of it," he said of the students. "I want them to understand [Germany was] a democracy, Hitler got elected in a democratic environment and that constitution got annihilated."
Nancy Larocca, of Cranberry, came to hear the speaker but also to get some information about items that her uncle brought to this country after visiting Germany in the 1930s. In addition to what she believes is a Nazi armband, she had what looked like small German postcards, two of them bearing pictures of Hitler. Ms. McBride was able to tell her that the pictures came in packs of cigarettes and could be placed into a book as a kind of a collectors set.
Mrs. Larocca found the talk informative.
"I learned more about the citizens. She was not a Nazi. We grew up thinking everyone was either Jewish or a Nazi. It was very enlightening to get a different perspective of life for a non-Nazi in Berlin," she said.
"There were lots of people who didn't like it," Ms. McBride said. "People must safeguard their rights and their freedom."
Ed Kinter, of Portersville, is an 82-year-old WWII veteran who came to hear a different point of view about the war.
"I though it would be interesting to come down and hear what happened from the other side," he said.
Mr. Kinter was in the Merchant Marines, serving in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. He was wounded and spent V-E Day, the day Germany's surrender was announced, in a Pittsburgh hospital. He returned to service and was in Norway for V-J Day, the day of the Allied forces' victory over Japan.
"The best day was when it was over," he said.
Doug Oster can be reached at doster@post-gazette.com or 724-772-9177.
First published on November 18, 2007 at 12:00 am
Ellie