04-10-2026, 06:49 AM
A Family Rises from the Ashes of Western Europe
In 1943 my mom worked at Stalag III D in Berlin Germany
censoring the mail of American prisoners.
In 1944 my dad, who was born in Vienna, Austria,
arrived in Metz France with the US Army 87th Infantry.
He would pass within 35 miles of where his younger brother, Fridolin,
a private in the German army, was killed.
As his unit moved through Belgium, he would come within 60 miles
of where my mom’s husband, a German Lieutenant, was killed
on Oct 3rd, 1944, the day before my oldest brother was born.
My mom and dad would eventually meet in Berlin
where they would be married as the war was ending. Since my dad
was an American who still maintained Austrian citizenship
he was able to retrieve my brother from the mountains in Austria,
where he had been hidden from the war with his grandmother.
The new family would make it back to America, settle in the DC area,
and proceed to have 7 more children. It wasn’t until I was a teenager
that I found out that my mom had been previously married,
or my dad ever had a brother who was also killed. They rarely spoke
of the war, yet I was eventually able to uncover scant details.
In 1943 my mom worked at Stalag III D in Berlin Germany
censoring the mail of American prisoners.
In 1944 my dad, who was born in Vienna, Austria,
arrived in Metz France with the US Army 87th Infantry.
He would pass within 35 miles of where his younger brother, Fridolin,
a private in the German army, was killed.
As his unit moved through Belgium, he would come within 60 miles
of where my mom’s husband, a German Lieutenant, was killed
on Oct 3rd, 1944, the day before my oldest brother was born.
My mom and dad would eventually meet in Berlin
where they would be married as the war was ending. Since my dad
was an American who still maintained Austrian citizenship
he was able to retrieve my brother from the mountains in Austria,
where he had been hidden from the war with his grandmother.
The new family would make it back to America, settle in the DC area,
and proceed to have 7 more children. It wasn’t until I was a teenager
that I found out that my mom had been previously married,
or my dad ever had a brother who was also killed. They rarely spoke
of the war, yet I was eventually able to uncover scant details.