Antonia Ladleif Research Paper

Antonia Ladleif is my mother's father's mother, or my great-grandmother. She was born on March 12, 1928 in Warburg, Germany; however now at the age of 88 she has moved to the town of Darmstadt, Germany. Growing up she lived on the outskirts of the main city, in a two story farm house with a small amount of land, on which her family raised sparse number pigs and chickens. In the house she lived with her father, Anton Otto; mother, Else Otto; an older sister, Hedwig Otto; and a nanny, "Tante Cohn". She also had a younger brother; however , he died at the age of five. Her father was a railroad worker , while her mother was a homemaker, who also took care and raised the few animals they had. Growing up the town of Warburg, Germany was a small
This major event shaped Antonia's life in many ways. Antonia had to face a constant struggle with famine. The conditions and famine she had to face changed her life, to this day she says that she must always have " butter in the refrigerator and good smelling hand soap in the bathroom", this mentality was created during the war since these were considered luxuries. According to the BBC website, "Food rationing began in 1940. This meant each person could buy only a fixed amount of certain foods each week."(BBC News ) This was a major factor that has influenced Antonia's adult life. The war also brought much conflict to her life . When Antonia was around the age of 12, the government required the young children to join the "Hitler Youth"; however, her mother had refused that she was not to attend this, since it was part of the Nazi party. This incident however caused a conflict with the neighbors who were supportive of the Nazi party. The war had also effected her family personally. Her nanny " Tante Cohn", who she grown up with was one day deported to the concentration camp in Bergenbelsen because she was Jewish. She also had a Great-Uncle who had an altercation with the Nazi party. According to the family story her uncle had been a few towns over trying to sell his fish at the market, when he yelled out the slogan "fish as fat as Goering". This was a major issue because he was a politician, military leader, and an important figure of the Nazi Party;. This was of course heard by a police officer who then had him arrested and he was sent to a work camp; however, he survived due to the fact that after only a short period of time in the camp the Americans had taken the camp and freed the people held within it. So in conclusion the second world war that occurred during this time had quiet a major impact on Antonia's mentality and life