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'We speak with an accent' connects German childhood, American life
OBERLIN, Kan. - In order to offer a unique, rarely-seen perspective of life growing up in Germany during and shortly after World War II, Gisela Fisher of rural Oberlin has compiled a series of short stories into print, and titled it “We speak with an accent”.
The collection features stories from six women currently residing in areas in or around Oberlin, Trenton, and McCook, all of whom have vastly different experiences from Germany and of coming to the United States.
The title of the collection is tribute to the fact that the women’s childhoods played a big part in shaping who they are today. Gisela said that each person featured in the collection said “I don’t have an accent!”, but she tells them their accents are quite strong. Each of them carried what they were taught vocally, as well as socially, throughout the rest of their lives, as much as 70 years after they left Germany.
Gisela got the idea to collect these stories around 20 years ago, but didn’t begin working on the book until last year, when beloved Siegrid Wilmot, or “Siggi”, as she was called by her friends, was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
“That was when I said, ‘We have to get this done’,” said Gisela. “So I sat down and finished hers, and then finished the rest of them over the past year.”
Gisela said her motivation to finish the project and share it with everyone in the area came from Siggi, who told her to “make sure that the people of McCook find out about it.”
The process of piecing together the book was not without its challenges, said Gisela. Some of the women who contributed would switch to German every now and then, so Gisela would then have to translate it.
“It’s a hard habit to break, and as you get older, you have a tendency to revert to your childhood,” she said.
Elfriede Keen was born the middle of five children in a farming family that also operated a roadside tavern in Germany. Throughout her earliest years, she was taught to listen for enemy bomber squadrons on her 45-minute daily walk to school and to conserve everything she could as the economic strains of the country took their toll. Elfriede details the struggles of her early life, then her move to McCook at the heeding of her family friend-turned-husband. She explains her hesitance, then said at the end of her story, “I’ve always missed my German family and my beloved homeland… But I got used to living the American life and became comfortable with it.”
Gisela begins her story by depicting a troubled relationship with her mother, who eventually became absent. She describes a difficult childhood with her father, as their finances were constantly in jeopardy. Gisela was eventually introduced by friends to an American soldier named Don. They were married when she was 16 years old, then had a child nine months later. Gisela recounts her attitude toward their move to Traer, Kansas, one of excitement and anticipation. After describing her new life in America, Gisela said she grew to resent many aspects of it. Nevertheless, she wouldn’t trade her experiences for the alternative, she said:
“Nothing is ever the way we think it is going to be. Anticipation is often rosier than reality. But I’ve never been sorry I came to this country, a new home and new people. I would never have become who I am today anywhere else.”
Helga Binkey is the oldest of the group, and was a teenager when World War II began. She offers a unique glimpse of wartime as a woman near the Polish border, and describes working in an emergency hospital. She chronicles the terror of living there shortly after the war, with vivid scenes of Russian soldiers making their way through her town. Helga talks about the horrors of the sort of women’s work camp she was put into, then other extremely difficult jobs once she left there. Life didn’t get much easier once she had a child, but an American soldier named Earl eventually came along and brought her to the U.S., where they eventually took a train from New York to McCook. After that, Helga said, “the rest is another story.”
Lydia Williamson was born the fourth of five children, and recalls seeing the aftermath of the war in her story. After making it through school and holding a few jobs, Lydia dated and eventually married an American soldier named Lynn from the Trenton area. The two moved back to Nebraska at separate times before reuniting, and Lydia details feeling overwhelmed by her move to the U.S. Despite various troubles and shifting dynamics, Lydia said, “Lynn and I had a good life and I am very grateful for everything we had. I have never regretted coming to America.”
Siggi begins her story with tales of joy in her early childhood, but wartime in Germany eventually flipped those experiences upside down into ones of fear and confusion, as her area was subject to air raids and other violence. She describes the difficult decision her mother had to make when she kept her family together rather than sending the children to safety, where they may never be seen again. Siggi’s daily life didn’t improve much after the war, as her struggles included a two-week walk to “safety” and living in an apartment with an unexploded bomb. After a brief stint in a work camp, Siggi and her family went to work for a farmer. She finally came to America at the heeding of her first husband, and lived in Culbertson before moving to California, then back to Culbertson. Her adjustment from the big city in Germany to a rural community was difficult, she said:
“When I look back over the years since then, things eventually always got worked out somehow. In time, I was glad I came to the United States, but not at first.”
Vera Hanson describes her earliest years during World War II with stories of taking shelter during bombings. She recounts her memories of daily life in Germany, the return of her father (who was a prisoner of war), and her parents opening a meat market. She worked there for much of her adolescent life, but also got work experience in other places. She eventually met a man named Ron, and tells of her trip to America to be with and marry him. The two eventually ended up on a farm outside of Stratton with Ron’s parents, Vera said. While she never regretted coming to America, she said she felt very homesick. Vera encompasses the theme of the entire collection well when she said, “people told us we were lucky that our husbands married us and brought us over here. But I told them that our husbands were lucky that we came here… They thought we came here for a better life. But we had a good life already in Germany. We came here because we married our husbands.”
Gisela is asking for $10 per copy of the collection. She prints the copies in a simple spiral-bound format in order to keep costs low, but prioritizes getting the word out about their stories over any kind of profit. She’s already sold dozens of them, she said, and wishes to continue to spread the word.
Each of the six stories in the collection stands alone from the others, and they are in no way connected, except that each woman grew up in Germany during or after World War II. Gisela challenges readers to think about the women’s perspective and apply it to their own lives:
“The best advice I have is to read it and think about how it’s like another world, and also that your childhood shapes you. You may not know that yet, but as you get older, you’ll realize it shapes you quite a bit. I just want to share that with people.”
The collection isn’t Gisela’s first venture into the creative world. She published her autobiography, “It Is Well”, in 2004. It details a confusing childhood, then her move to America and her adjustment. The title holds significant meaning for Gisela, she said:
“It’s called that because of the hymn, ‘It Is Well With My Soul’, meaning no matter what happens… It’s okay. I’m going to trust God with whatever happens.”
Additionally, one of Gisela’s many passions is photography, especially of nature. Her works have appeared in the Gazette, as well as in several other publications.
As Gisela nears her 80th birthday, she’s busier than ever. Along with her writing and photography exploits, she visits McCook multiple times per week, as she volunteers at the Work Ethic Camp as part of a Bible study as well as regularly attending the YMCA.
To purchase the collection, Gisela can be contacted at (785)475-4901, or through Facebook Messenger. She is willing to deliver copies of the book to buyers in the area.