A friend of mine from Luxembourg sent me a surprise the other day. A great little book called Milly's story, by a woman who was a young girl between the ages of 10-15 who lived in occupied Luxembourg 1940-1945.
I always enjoy first hand accounts and it gives you a good feel of what it was like to wake up one morning and have Stukas, German soldiers & tanks pull into your town suddenly and change your way of life. Can any of us imagine what that would have been like?
So take a look out the window right now and imagine seeing a hoard of scary looking men and machines going down your street. Imagine living under their rule for the next 4-5 years. You'd never take anything for granted again.
I just started the book this morning and will fill you in on details later.
I must say that I enjoyed the book. It gives you a completely different feel of the war; a new perspective from a young girl's eyes.
You realize how much was taken away from people of occupied countries and all the indoctrination that went on. Of course most of their indoctrination went in one ear and out the other, but boy did you have to be careful. You give your weak Heil Hitler and mutter something nasty under your breath.
The part of the book that was so endearing was soon after the liberation. Several GI's moved in with the family and they grew very close. Some of it is heartbreaking, some is very funny. The family trying to speak a bit of English and the GI's trying to converse with them.
The family like many others under the same conditions became very resourceful as far as food and clothing was concerned. I never cease to be amazed by human ingenuity.
If you want a light, but revealing read (it's a quick read), give it a try.