Giselle Roeder

We Don't Talk About That Giselle Roeder

This story is more like a history rather than a memoir. It starts after WWI and outlines the changes in many European countries' social makeup, particularly in post-war Germany. Unemployment and staggering inflation where half a loaf of bread cost billions and two beers a mere one-hundred billion led to the rise of Adolf Hitler, an Austrian man. He promised work and bread and kept his promises. The following years brought a tremendous upswing in life but also carried Germany into WWII. Six years of war devastated great cities, and millions of people lost their lives. The invasion of eastern Germany by the Russian army brought horror through unspeakable atrocities to the ordinary people. While most survivors' attitude is "we don't talk about that," the author has found the courage to place her memories on record. Growing up in a rural village in Pomerania, which became part of Poland after the war, the authors' (Gila) tranquil life turned tragic when the fighting approached her neighbourhood. The Russians took her father and all 16 to 60-year-old healthy people, men and women, to Siberia while her mother and siblings were evicted and became displaced persons. They joined the trek of thousands 'on the road to nowhere.' Gila was witness to gruesome acts of violence quickly ageing her beyond her years. She barely survived diphtheria, and later, recovering from typhoid fever, she took responsibility for her three younger siblings while her mother worked. Despite her interrupted schooling through circumstances beyond her control, Gila's determination empowered her to become a Physical Education teacher and successful competitive kayaker. Gila lived the first ten years of her life under the Nazis and her teenage years under communist rule. Germany's final division into East and West with its political ramifications caused her to escape to West Germany. Here she was able to fulfill an old dream despite facing new challenges, including an unwanted affair. Gila's story is one of heartache, courage, pain, love, liberation and reclaiming life.