When his mother’s death was looming, Jürgen Wiebicke decided to write down their conversations – which were more intense than ever before. His idea was not to let the experiences of the generation that was young during the Second World War and Nazi era disappear with her.
What do violence and cruelty do to young people who were committed to the spirit of the Nazi era? How do you emotionally process fleeing and expulsion, hunger and poverty and the loss of your professional prospects after the war? How does the Nazi poison continue to affect families – and for how many generations?
It seems more important than ever to write down everything his parents experienced since historical deniers and haters are once again crawling out of the woodwork while the last generation of those who actually witnessed the era are making their final exit. Jürgen Wiebicke gives an exemplary account of a generation that experienced the full brunt of the war, and draws parallels to the present.
