#HOLOCAUST VICTIM ANNA ANDORN – DIARY ENTRIES

 
Part III:1916-1925

1917 – Yesterday I collapsed [and] fainted at work.  The doctor wants me to take off at least two days.  I have one day behind me already, but I know how urgently I am needed by my brave soldiers.

Mimi has given me two bedsheets.  So, now I have at least material for bandaging.  Mimi and Alfred are going to Berlin next week and will try to have me transferred to a hospital which is better organized.

1917 – They transferred me here to Berlin.  I work every day between eight and ten hours.  In this way I am recovering from the excessive strain. They employ me most often in the children’s clinic.  They know of my previous work.  If only this cruel war were at an end already!

1918 – On October 5^th I received news of my brother Paul being gravely wounded. He is in the military hospital in Bayreuth.  I requested an immediate leave of absence and soon arrived there.  He did not recognize me.  They had amputated both legs in the hope of saving his life in this way.

 He died on October 19^th and my work consisted mainly in transferring the body.  Paul was buried with all the honours of a brave soldier in Bocholt, in the Jewish cemetery.  12 R I R 53 Offiz. St. N.V.L.

1919 –The cruel war ended on November 11. 1918. May the people finally learn to settle their conflicts “in peace.”   Father could not bear the loss of his youngest son.  He died without suffering a lot.

1922- We have had peace for three years now, but the bellicose atmosphere persists.  People blame us, the Jews, for losing the World War.  Walter Rathenau, the man who worked energetically for the reduction of German war debts, was murdered.

1925 – I am here in Zürich, Switzerland, working as a nurse in the Jewish community. My duties are diverse, but satisfy me greatly.   Only at night do I still often think of the terrible time in Bottrop.