Back home again

We have left the green hills and warm weather of Kwa-Zulu Natal and now are back home again to spring in England. A drizzly, grey day, and I noticed how lovely these blossoms in our front garden are. They were not blooming when we left home 6 days ago.

Last night on the plane I watched the movie The Book Thief. I had read the book many years ago and really enjoyed the book, and I am pleased to say that the movie follows the book very closely and has been very well done. The story makes us realise that there were many Germans living in Germany during the Second World War who did not support Hitler and the Nazis.

My mother is a good example of that. She was born in South Africa to German parents, and when she was three years old they returned to Germany because her grandparents were very ill. But it was 1939 and due to the war breaking out they could not return to South Africa. One day, when my mother was six years old she was taken by the Nazis as she was walking home from school and put into forced child labour, where she had to work on a farm picking fruit. Her parents did not know where she was and eventually three years later she was released. However, as her father did not support the Nazis and they had nationalised to be a South African, they were placed in a displaced persons camp called Buchholz which was pretty awful. Two years after the war ended they were eventually rescued by the Allies and were taken to London, and finally returned to South Africa. She has had a very hard and interesting life, and the movie got me thinking about the life of Germans in Germany during the war.

A very early night tonight is required after our 3am breakfast on the plane this morning! You may wish to catch up with my back blip from yesterday.