The Toy Box

I found the little box of toys upstairs, in a finished attic room called the mansarde that was crammed full of furniture and boxes.  I slept here when Mama and Papa had guests.… Continue reading →

Short Film: Last Trip to Wroclaw

I went with misgivings. “Breslau” was sacred to my adoptive mother.

Dream

I ran through buildings, and up and down dark hills and dark streets.

Love After WWII

“Es ist mir ein Herzenswunsch ein schlesisches Maedel kennenzulernen.”

Im Schwimmbad, II

Every time we used the pool, she reminded me that under the Nazis, she had been a swimming champion. The medals were lost during the war.  

Im Schwimmbad, I

Mia swam.

Movement

Mia made up for being the middle sister.  

Heimat

Although she did not know it when she was little, Mia’s Heimat was actually Hesse, the region in the triangle between Frankfurt, Wiesbaden, and Limburg. All of her people came from there.

The Catastrophe

Mia’s life as she knew it came to an end when her little sister was born, in 1936. Mia was eight. It came as a shock. Mia’s mother wrote: “The hearts of little… Continue reading →

War Hero

Mia loved her brother. He was a war hero.  

Mama loved him

  She told me he was kind to German children, and she kept pictures of him until she died.