Erna Helana Ania

Who are you when you lose your name, family, and country?

My grandmother was German living on the border between Poland and Germany before WWII. She fell in love with a Polish guy at the end of WWII. Both of them could be killed. She got pregnant. After the war she was imprisoned in the camp for Germans. She gave birth to my mother but, because of her poor conditions, had to give her away. The European borders have been moved after WWII and all Germans have been ordered to be expelled. My grandmother hoping to be reunited with her daughter decided to stay and gained Polish nationality. For her (as ex-German) life in Poland was extremely difficult. She lived in the shadow of guilt and memories of German occupation in Poland during WWII. It took many years for her to be with her daughter together again.

Story of my grandmother represents the situation of many people and nations struggling with finding their own identity after the war in the shadow of Nazism.