[The following is taken from a memoir of Irmgard A. Hunt, who grew up in the mountains under Hitler’s Eagles Nest during the Second World War. In this excerpt, she outlines her mother’s experiences during the hyper-inflation of German currency in 1920s Weimar Germany.]
I began to chatter, a little out of breath when I caught up with them [her family]. “I got a gold star for spelling. And my teacher said summer vacations start in two weeks. She beat Wolfgang Stössl with her thin cane today, not the thick one. She always hits him because of his sloppy homework.” I stopped because they did not respond or ask any questions. There was an awkward silence, which puzzled me. They both looked sorrowful and avoided eye contact with me. I stopped my prattle, deciding to also walk quietly and to take their serious looks and exchange of nods as just one of those inexplicable moods adults occasionally fell into.
We continued up the mountain in silence until Haus Linden [their home] came into view. And then I saw my mother standing in the doorway. She looked wretched, strangely destroyed. She said, barely audibly, “Der Vati ist tot” (Vati [German: Dad] is dead). I did not understand. What did she mean? Not my Vati, not our Vati! Dead? Mutti [German: Mom] left me standing there and went into her bedroom, where she remained for seemingly endless days, crying inconsolably.
I can’t imagine what I did that afternoon, but I remember Tante [German: Aunt] Emilie telling me that an official messenger on a black motorcycle had come by Haus Linden that morning. He handed Mutti a telegram informing her that my father had died for the Führer in France on July 5, 1941.
Source:
Hunt, Irmgard A. “Early Sacrifice.” On Hitler’s Mountain: Overcoming the Legacy of a Nazi Childhood. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2005. 109. Print.
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