… in which the author describes her life in Berchtesgaden, Germany, during the years of Hitler’s regime.
When it comes to memoirs relating to WWII history, the selection seems to be largely dominated by Holocaust survivors or by writing from the Pacific side of the war. For me, at least, it was easy to forget about the general population of Germany, since most of the attention goes to the Nazis or to the people who suffered under them. Irmgard Hunt, the author of this memoir, was born in 1934, the year after Adolf Hitler was elected Chancellor of Germany. She was born in Berchtesgaden, a town in southeastern Germany that is infamous as being Hitler's home and his base of operations. Irmgard was born to parents who had both suffered greatly in the difficult years following WWI. Because of their difficulties in their youth, Irmgard's parents were both easily persuaded to vote for Hitler in 1933, and to support him in the following years. Because of her proximity to Hitler's home, Irmgard was always aware of Hitler's presence; once, when she was a small child, she even sat on his knee when he spotted her at a parade. As Germany eventually found itself at war with the Allies, Irmgard's happy early childhood changed. Her father was called away to war, and was killed in France. Irmgard goes on to describe what it was like being an everyday German during the war, during the years of rationing and air raids and increasing Nazi brutality directed at Irmgard's family and friends.
