Eva-Maria had an idyllic childhood, growing up in Prussia, with a big garden to play in, a big loving family and church community. She remembers the family singing together, the childhood games they played, the Christmas and New Year celebrations.
Everything changed when Hitler came to power. Hitler Youth was compulsory. The Jews disappeared. Two of her brothers, conscripted into Hitler’s army, were killed in the war.
As the war progressed and the allied forces advanced, the Nazi’s withdrew. Soon after, the Russians arrived, followed by the Polish, to reclaim Prussia. The memories of rapes and murders, the shootings they were forced to watch, of hiding young girls and their eventual discovery still haunt Eva-Maria. Riding a bike with no tyres and dressed as a boy for safety, Eva-Maria took food and clothes to family members held in prisons.
Expelled from Prussia with no possessions, the family lived in refugee camps. Eva-Maria remembers refugees singing on the balconies and the long, long queues for the toilets. One night, unaware Germany was divided, they were put on two trains. Their train arrived in West Germany, the other one went to East Germany.
The family were provided with one room to live and cook in. As work was found, they gradually separated. Although Eva-Maria had missed 2 years of school, she won a scholarship to the Gymnasium, for gifted girls. She then studied to be a Medical Technical Laboratory Technician. Working at Mönchengladbach, a British Hospital in Germany, Eva-Maria met Bryan Heard, a British soldier. They married in 1961.
Follow The Old Plank Road 