War Memories from my Grandmother

My grandmother just came over and was sharing with me memories of her living through the war because Remembrance Day is tomorrow. I will do my best to do justice to her story here.

She was in the theatre in Estonia with her two sisters, Helme and Linda when the bombing began. The air siren started and everyone was rushed to the basement bomb shelter.

They did their best to stay near the doorway because they were worried about being crushed by the mob if they panicked.

When the sirens were finished and it was safe to come out, they tried to leave the theatre but every exit was engulfed in flames. Finally they were rescued by German soldiers.

When I asked why the Germans were rescuing them, she said that the Russians were invading and pushing the Germans out, so at that moment in time they were all on the same side.

Everyone climbed into the German army truck that was open on the sides. The truck had been in the process of delivering gasoline somewhere so there was a lot of fear that the bombing planes would return and their truck would burst into flames and they would die in a burning truck.

But they didn't. They managed to get driven to Latvia where they found a farmer that allowed them to hide out in his sauna until it was safe. They slept the night there and when they woke up they found that they were covered in lice due to the lice infested blankets they slept in.

They found their way back to Parnu where her parents lived. Her mother heated up the sauna as hot as she could and everyone deposited their clothes in there to rid themselves of the lice.

It took 3 days for her to be reunited with her husband and when she saw him he was driving injured people to the hospital or they were dead I am not sure which one due to how she told the story because all she remembers is that the car was soaked with blood.

It was that event that made them decide to flee the country and that was when she made her way to Sweden, which is another amazing story of survival. That was where my mother was born and my grandmother began her life as a single parent.

What an amazing life and it is truly amazing that at 94 years old she can recount such a story with all the details.