Notes from the war years
Meta’s journal of life from 1939 to 1946
The start of the second world war meant it was impossible for Meta Brandenburger to correspond with her daughter Edith in Australia. That didn’t stop her from writing. Throughout the war years she kept a journal of everyday life which she later sent to her daughter.
The journal tells the story of the life of the family’s life in eastern parts of Germany. Most of the story happens in the township of Falkensee (just outside Berlin) where Meta and Richard Brandenburger lived with their son Leo and his wife Mucker. There are few references to the politics of the day - these are the stories of every day life. They tell a tale of self sufficiency, hardship and puzzlement about the brutality of the war.
The story was written in three separate journals. They begin in December 1939 end in May 1946, when it again became possible to write to her daughter in Australia resumed.
Notes:
These PDFs are transcriptions of the notebooks in their original language which primarily is German. They have not been edited or checked for errors.
The letters refer to a lot of different people. The list of people named in the letters on this site may be helpful.
The notebooks
Book 1
Book 2
Book 3
