The Road to Liberation: Trials and Triumphs of WWII
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Bolshevik Revolution—the revolution in Russia on October 25th (November 7th – by new Calendar) 1917 that overthrew the czar and brought a Communist party to power
Citizen—criminals and suspects were addressed as “Citizens” and not as “Comrades”
Commissar—Soviet Communist Party official responsible for political education and organization
Dzerzhinsky—a Bolshevik revolutionary and official; led the first two Soviet state-security organizations
Frühstück, Mittagessen, and Abendessen—Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Garelka—a Byelorussian vodka
GTO—abbreviation for Ready for Labor and Defense of the USSR; was the All-Union physical culture training program, introduced in the USSR in 1931 on the initiative of the Komsomol. GTO was a program for all Soviet people of almost all ages
Gulag—acronym for Main Administration of Camps, the system of forced labor camps in the Soviet Union instituted in 1918
Herod—the Roman client king of Judea; appears in the Christian Gospel of Matthew as the ruler of Judea who orders the Massacre of the Innocents at the time of the birth of Jesus
Hivi—a German abbreviation of the word Hilfswilliger, meaning “willing helper,” in reference to people recruited (or forced to act as auxiliaries) from the local populations in the areas of Eastern Europe
Jawohl—“Yes Sir” or “Aye, aye, sir!”
Judenrat—a WWII administrative agency imposed by Nazi Germany on Jewish communities across occupied countries, principally within the ghettos, to control Jewish population
Kilometer—is equal to 0.621371 mile
Kolkhoz—a collective farm in the former Soviet Union based on a small village or settlement
Komsomol—acronym for the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League, a political youth organization in the Soviet Union
Krambambulya—a Byelorussian flavored vodka drink
Kulaks—formerly wealthy independent farmers. They strongly opposed collectivization and hence were dispossessed of their property. Most were arrested and sent to hard labor in Siberia or shot by Stalin’s regime
Levitan—the primary Soviet radio announcer during and after WWII
Lvov—a largely Ukrainian-populated city in Poland. After Nazi Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, it was taken by the German Army, but on September 19, the Soviet Army replaced Germans under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
Lyubov—(a first name) is translated into English as “love”
Mein Kampf—autobiographical book by Adolf Hitler
NKVD—the abbreviation for People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs, a Soviet police agency that by the 1930s had become a vast internal security force
NSDAP—The National Socialist German Workers’ Party, commonly referred to as the Nazi Party
OSOAVIAKHIM—acronym for The Society for Facilitating Defense, Aviation and Chemical Construction. A mass volunteer organization in the USSR from 1927 to 1948. The agency organized mass education in physical culture and training in shooting, gliding, making model aircraft, paratrooper jumping, flying airplanes, air and chemical defense, etc. Beginning in 1940, it organized mass military training of the population to prepare for the danger of Nazi attack
Pervitin—a methamphetamine drug used in the German military during World War II
Polizei—a member of the German organized police force of collaborators
Polotsk—a city about 100 kilometers from Vitebsk
Promtorg—a convenience store in the Soviet Union
SD—the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany
SHON—abbreviation for Special Purpose School. In1938, the Soviet government established the centralized intelligence school to provide specialized espionage and intelligence training to new recruits of the intelligence service
SMERSH—the Soviet military counterintelligence organization during WWII, an acronym for “Death to Spies.” Among the tasks were counterintelligence, counterespionage, investigating traitors, “suspicious” persons who might be German agents, etc.
Sovinformburo—Soviet Information Bureau
Sovkhoz—acronym for a state-owned farm in the Soviet Union
SS—a major paramilitary organization in Nazi Germany responsible for crimes against humanity
Stalags—camps intended for NCO’s (sergeants) and enlisted men only
Treaty of Non-aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union—The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, named for the foreign ministers of the Soviet Union and Germany, signed in August 1939
VKPB—acronym for the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)
V.P. Antonov-Saratovskiy—the chairman of the Saratov executive Committee of the Russian Social Democratic Workers’ Party (Bolsheviks); a Soviet politician
Wehrmacht—the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1946
Notes On Russian Names
In Russia, a person is identified by three names: an individual, given first name, a patronymic middle name derived from one’s father’s first name, and a family surname—for example, Vyacheslav Konstantinovich Godyastchev, Nadezhda Konstantinovna Petrovskaya.
Patronymic names are used to address someone who is your senior or to denote respect or while on formal terms—Sergey Vladimirovich, Svetlana Andreyevna.
Russian forenames have formal forms—for instance, Nataliya, Sergey; endearing forms—Natasha or Natashen’ka, Serezha or Serezhen’ka, and diminutive forms—Arkashka.
Calling a person after one’s patronymic name—Il’inichna, for instance, implies a slight tone of familiarity.
Russians often use “aunt” and “uncle” as terms of addressing someone older with and without reference to family relations.
In the Soviet Union, the form of addressing each other by “comrade” became commonplace and was a standard form of address in the armed forces, for instance, “Comrade Colonel,” “Comrade Senior Lieutenant.”
A Love Letter To My Readers
Act of giving something to others is an art of flowering your heart.—Vinayak
Dear Reader,
What would we, authors do without you?
We spend hundreds or even thousands of hours writing a book before we can offer it to you. Of course, we write because it’s simply not possible for us not to write and also because we want to share our stories with you.
It is a dream for any writer to have an involved, sensitive reader who recognizes what we wanted to convey. As much a reader as I am a writer, every story leaves a mark in my mind, some in my heart, and others go as deep as into my soul.
Without you, Reader, there wouldn’t be us, writers. We are a perfect symbiose. There is no better gift for us than you reading our tales and sharing your impressions, thoughts, and feelings with us and other people.
Thank you for reading Too Many Wolves In The Local Woods.
Every story’s ending is a beginning of a new one. I’m eager to continue sharing my tales with you.
Sincerely yours,
Marina Osipova
When’s Mummy Coming?
Rachel Wesson
Contents
Synopsis
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
C
hapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Epilogue
About Rachel Wesson
Synopsis
The War was over but for some it had just begun!
Growing up in Berlin in the 1930’s, Heinz Beck watches the life he loves disintegrate, soon it become too dangerous to walk the streets. After a spell in Dachau, he reluctantly escapes via the Kindertransport to London, England. With him are his siblings and best friends. And his memory of the tortures he endured.
Newlywed Sally Matthews waves her husband, Derek off to war. Her Rector asks her to open her home to some Jewish children seeking sanctuary in England. She travels to Liverpool Street with the intention of taking one child home, and ends up with three.
Sally, Heinz and the children must learn to navigate through testing times. England is at war with Germany. Some neighbors believe the children are dangerous aliens who should be locked up for the duration.
Sally fights to keep her new found family together despite having to deal with losses caused by the war. Together they battle rationing, bombing and at times the unkindness of strangers. When the war is over becomes their mantra. When the war is over, rationing will stop and loved ones will return. The children will reunite with their German families.
.After five long years, the war is finally over. But can Sally give up the children she has come to love as her own? Have their parents survived? The people of Britain find the end of the war doesn’t bring the hoped for end to their troubles. People must pick up the threads of their pre-war lives but this is easier said than done.
Prologue
8th May 1945, Abbeydale, Surrey.
“When’s Mummy coming?”
Sally Matthews took a deep breath as she gathered the seven-year-old girl up in her arms. With one hand she pushed the child’s blonde hair from her eyes.
“Liesl, we’ve spoken about this. They have only just announced the war is over.”
“But she said. She wrote in her letter. She said she would come as soon as the war was over. Then we would go home.” Liesl bit her lip, her brown, tear-filled eyes staring into Sally’s face. Sally’s heart ached. How could she tell this poor child the chances of her mother being able to keep her word were all but nil? She tried to find the words, as the child’s heart fluttered against her chest. What the child said next shocked her.
“Do I have to go with her?” Liesl whispered, wrapping her arms around Sally’s neck, dampening her skin with tears. “I want to stay with you. I love you.”
“Oh, you poor darling.” Sally buried the guilt that fought for domination over the warmth the child’s words gave her. “I love you too.”
She loved Liesl desperately and couldn’t bear to think of the day when they might be separated. Although the chances of the child’s mother reappearing were small, she did have other close family. Her half-brothers Harry and Tom, and there could be cousins, aunts, and uncles too. Who knew what members of the family had survived the Nazis' hatred?
“Is Harry coming back soon? Now the war is over?” Liesl asked, still holding tightly to Sally.
“I think Harry might be busy for a while. He has his new job now, do you remember? He is helping the people in Germany. He’s done very well, your brother, hasn’t he?”
Liesl nodded her head but the worried expression hadn’t left her face. Then the front door banged and they heard eleven-year-old Tom, shouting.
“Aunt Sally, where are you? Can we go to London? Please say yes, all my friends are going. Oh, what’s wrong with Liesl?” Tom came to a standstill at the entrance to the kitchen.
“Liesl was upset and asking about your mother.”
Tom rolled his eyes. “My mother’s dead. She died before the war started.”
Sally took a breath, now was not the time to scold the boy. “Tom! Liesl’s talking about her mother, your stepmother.”
“Oh her.” Tom’s cheeks grew red as he refused to look Sally in the face. She knew from previous conversations, Tom had taken a strong dislike to his stepmother, once Trudi had fallen pregnant. He feared she was going to love her own baby more than she did Tom and Harry. This suspicion appeared to have been unfounded according to what Harry remembered. But Tom had only been three-years-old when his father remarried. Liesl’s mother, Trudi, had been little more than a child herself. Nineteen was far too young to become a stepmother to two boys of three and eleven-years-of-age.
“Tom,” Sally said pointedly, looking at the top of Liesl’s head. For all his dislike of Trudi, Tom idolized his baby sister and would do anything for her. At least he would, except when his friends were around, as then he would be far too grown-up to play with a baby of just seven.
Tom took the hint, pulling Liesl into his arms and tickling her until she begged for mercy.
“Liesl, we are going to have a party. A big one with jelly and ice-cream and everything. We are going to have so much to eat, we will all be sick.”
Liesl giggled, the noise making Sally’s heart sing. Tom, like many growing boys, was always hungry and found rationing difficult. Sally gave Liesl a hug before standing up and patting down her apron.
“I have baking to do. I promised Mrs. Caldwell I would make some carrot cake for the street party. It’s the best we can do seeing everything is still on ration.”
“Wait,” Tom said, catching his breath. “Before you start making cakes, can we go to London? Please. Everyone is going. Please say yes, Aunt Sally. It’s a historic day. Mr. Churchill himself is going to speak and we might even see the King and Queen.”
Sally hid her smile. Tom knew she loved the royal family. Amused to see him using this as a means of getting her to say yes, she clapped her hands, surprising both children.
“Why not? It’s a special day as you so rightly say. Let me go change my dress. You both should change too, as you look like right, little horrors.”
Tom glanced down at his clothes; his shorts were muddy but not as bad as his socks and shoes.
“Aww, do we have to? We’ll miss the train.”
Sally put her hands on her hips. “Tom Beck, do you want to go, or don’t you?”
“Yes, Aunt Sally. Come on Liesl. Race you.”
Tears forgotten; Liesl ran after her brother up the stairs. Sounds of laughter floated downstairs as they raced to get into their Sunday best. Sally glanced around her kitchen, her gaze flickering over the picture of her husband, Derek. If only you were coming back, she thought.
Shaking those thoughts away, she picked up the dishcloth and quickly dried and put away the dishes. Only when her kitchen was spick and span did she head to her room to change her clothes.
At the train station, they found many of her friends and neighbors had had the same thought.
“Wouldn’t be the same to miss it, would it, Sally? After all these years. Especially with your Derek and my Sam giving their lives for freedom. Imagine their faces if they could see us now.”
Sally forced a smile in greeting. Enid, her school friend, and longtime neighbor, once closer than sisters, although they had fallen out in recent years. Enid was one of the villagers who’d protested at taking in Germans, as she called the children. Enid didn’t care that Harry, Tom, and Liesl were innocent victims of the Nazis, persecuted for being Jewish. All the others heard, it seemed, was the German accent and their German names. That was one of the reasons she’d always made sure to call them by their Anglicized names, especially little Liesl/Liesl. Not that that had seemed to matter to young Tom who’d doggedly stuck to calling his sister, Liesl. Enid had almost crowed when Harry was rounded up and sent to a detention center, saying it was only right and proper and why didn’t they send Liesl and Tom with him? Still, there was no point
in going over that ground again, now. Enid was the way she was and unlikely to change. As far as she was concerned, the Germans had killed her Sam and there was no such thing as a good German.
Susan whispered, “keep smiling any more like that and your face is going to turn funny.”
“Susan!” Sally burst out laughing at her neighbor’s comment before linking arms with her. “I’m so glad you are coming up too. Pity Maggie didn’t want to come but she says she is too old.”
“Mark would never have forgiven me if I hadn’t agreed to go. He and Tom said you were going, so I thought it was a good idea.”
Sally chuckled. “That’s what Tom told me. You were going and could we please go too.”
They looked at the boys.
“Aunt Sally, Mrs. Fletcher’s family are heading to Parliament Square. Can we go with them and sit by the Houses of Parliament? That’s the best spot we reckon.”
Sally and Susan Fletcher rolled their eyes; they were at it again. “Can Ruth stay with you? Us boys want to explore.”
“Tom, what have I told you before. You and the Bernstein girls arrived here from Germany together. That bond is unbreakable and I won’t have you ignoring Ruth. Is that clear?”