Vera Gissing - April 22, 2006
News of Mother
And how long 'til the end of the war?
We were there 'til the end of the war, and I was the first one to hear when the war ended that my mother had survived. I have it in writing from her that she survived, and "Please let the children--we are well and going back home," and was signed by her Christian name Erma and her sister's name Berta. By the time I got the note she was already dead but, of course, I thought she was alive. And that was the worst thing that could have happened. That all the years of the war I was preparing myself for the possibility of not seeing her again. And then she was given to me. I was the first person of the school to hear and everybody was so happy for me--so pleased. And I thanked God everyday, because it was the only thing I wanted in life: to see her again, to look after her. I mean, I was sixteen. I wanted to work for her--I wanted, you know, and then I enlisted in the first transport the school was, was organ...organizing to transport us--to repatriate us back those of us who were orphaned. And, and uh, you know, a couple of days before I left...
You got the word.
But you see all that is in my diary. And that's part of it. I think, I ga...gave you, sort of, some leaflets, didn't I?
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