Fred Bonisch

Children of Our Own War: a Boy's Journey Fred Bonisch

It is 1943 and the big war in Europe is now in its fourth year. The Allies have begun to take the fight to Germany, and bombing raids on German cities are now an almost daily and nightly occurrence. As cities are being destroyed, panic-stricken survivors are frantically searching for relatives to find shelter with. Refugees, driven out of recently occupied Russian territories in the east, are now arriving with only small pieces of luggage as their only possessions and they are in desperate need of places to stay. Our small house, which we already shared with another family, soon nearly doubles its occupancy as desperate relatives in need of shelter kept arriving. All eligible men are away fighting at one of Hitler's many fronts. The overwhelming need to support this effort has left the country drained of nearly everything and has forced mothers alone to protect and provide for their families during this most difficult period of history. Fear, hunger, and the struggle to survive have become a way of life. As children we did not always understand the serious time in which we lived, however, we learned to assess the fear from the expressions on our mother's faces, especially so during the frequent air raids. Often it was their despair that we quietly observed while they struggled with the constant inability to adequately provide for their families. In late1943, my family received the news that Dad had recently become a prisoner of war. By late1944, it became clear that Germany was losing the war. Fear that Russian troops would reach our area ahead of American or British forces became the real concern now. Just days prior to Germany's capitulation, our occupation occurred, and this event would forever remain in my memory and directly affect much of my young life. The events, as described, were real and have been written as seen through the eyes of a young boy. Following our liberation, we came to realize the enormous