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Germany Invades Austria
Nazi Germany walks into Austria without a fight. Now that Nazis flood the streets of Austria, it had become more dangerous for Jews. Hitler became more and more of a threat towards the Jews when he started to put restrictions to what they could or could not do. -
Asparagus Farm
The Gestapo forced Edith to leave Vienna with her mother and Pepi. It was hard for her to leave Pepi because they were in love and he made her feel safe during this frightening time. She had to leave mostly everything behind and took a train out to Osterburg. Here, she was forced to hard labour out in rain or shine with barely any food. -
Transferred to Aschersleben
After working at the Asparagus farm Edith thought she could go home to Vienna. Instead the Gestapo forced Edith to transfer to a paper factory in Ascherleben. She had to meet a quota every day for the amount of cardboard she cut in the machines. It was hard work, but she figured how to fit more cardboard into the machine so she could meet the quota. Edith survived these times with writing letters to her mom and Pepi. -
Menstrual Period after One Year
This was significant event because Edith's menstrual period returned after losing it for some time. This meant that her body was recovering from the loss of nutrients while working at the asparagus farm because there was a lack of food for her and the workers. Despite the hard labor at the paper factory, Edith did not go hungry and therefore her health improved. -
Scarlet Fever
Edith came down with Scarlet Fever. It made her sweaty, uncomfortable and she had a high fever. She was wild with anxiety because she knew that as long as she was working her mom would stay in Austria. She said that she was well, but she really wasn't because she just could not bear the fear of her mom leaving without her. It turned out that the fever helped her recover with six weeks of being well fed and rested. -
Edith's Mom Deported
The Gestapo told Edith that if she worked, her mom would be safe and that she would not be taken to Poland without her. But sadly, this was a lie. Edith's mom sent her telegrams saying "I will have to go soon. Come quickly. Come right away". Edith went to the police but they would not let her go back to Vienna until June 21st. Her mother was deported June 9, 1942 to a Jewish ghetto in Poland. -
Secret Identity
Edith's friend Christl gave Edith her ration cards. Edith was now living as a Christian woman named Grete. If Christl got caught helping Edith, she could have been sent to a concentration camp or been killed. Christl's bravery saved Edith's life. -
Werner Vetter
Grete was in Munich at a famous art gallery. She sat down on a bench and thought to herself while staring at a landscape. A tall man sat down beside her, he had thin, silky blond hair, bright blue eyes and a thin hard mouth. She recognized him as an Aryan, and a Nazi Party member because he was wearing the swastika pin. They talked a lot about art. Little did Grete know that Werner was falling in love with her and that he was about to save her life. -
Marriage
Werner and Grete were going to get married. Grete tells Werner that she is actually Jewish and he says to her, "So no we are even, I lied to you about being divorced , and you lied to me about being Aryan. Let's call it squared and get married." When they got married Grete became a German housewife. She cleaned, made food, sewed and did the laundry which was the perfect cover to protect her true identity. -
New Card
Grete became pregnant and was ordered to quit working because of a strong heart murmur. This meant that she had to get a new ration book but could not get one without a national registration card. The woman working at the Central Registry could not find Grete's index card and believed it must have been misplaced somehow seeing she was the wife of an important supervisor at Arado and a long time member of the Nazi Party. This woman simply made Grete a new index card which saved her. -
Werner Drafted
Werner was drafted to go fight in the war since Hitler was recruiting more troops as the Germans were now losing the war. He had to leave Grete and Angela to fend for themselves. Grete took in a girl named Gretl from the local orphanage who acted like a sister to Angela. -
Baby Angela
Grete's baby was born. She refused to take a sedative for the pain of the birth because when she worked for the Red Cross, she remembered that when you're given sedatives, you tend to say things you do not mean to say. Therefore, she birthed her baby girl with no pain killers. When Werner found out the baby was a girl he was upset because he wanted a boy. -
BBC Program
One day, Grete tuned in to listen to Thomas Mann on a BBC broadcast (British Broadcasting Corporation) and heard horrific news. They were broadcasting that many Jews were killed and suffered unthinkable conditions in the Nazi concentration camps. Approximately 1,750,000 Jews were murdered in Nazi concentration camps alone. Grete fell to the floor in horror and she could not get up from the shock. -
Bombing in Brandenburg
The Allies bombed Brandenburg causing destruction to apartments, stores and the streets. Grete and Angela were evacuated to a bunker. Angela got sick and had contracted measles. They left the bunker and Grete went from house to house weeping and begging for help because Angela was ill. Eventually someone took them and helped. Later on, Grete went to apply for a new apartment since their old one was destroyed. Their new apartment had once belonged to an old, highly ranked Nazi Officer. -
Werner Comes Back
Grete got a job in the court so she was not home to clean or make food anymore. Grete begged the Russians to let Werner out of the POW camp in Siberia. When Werner came home, he was disrespectful. He was saying that she was not Grete anymore and that she was never home to treat him like a "king" anymore. Grete replies with "I'm not Grete anymore. I'm Edith". Werner gets a divorce from Edith and reconsiles his first wife Elisabeth. -
Reunited with Hansi
Edith fled East Germany for England after the KGB (Soviet secret police) tried to recruit her to be an informer. She was reunited with her sister Hansi there. When she saw Hansi, she heard her joyous cry and felt her tears mingle with her tears. Edith said that when she held Hansi in her arms she knew that Edith Hahn had finally returned to herself. They then found out that their mother, Klothilde Hahn, had been murdered in the ghetto during the summer of 1942. -
Married Again
Edith marries Fred Beer, a Viennese Jew, whose mother was also murdered in the Holocaust. They told each other their stories once, and only once because they did not want to mention those dreadful times again. -
Pepi's Last Package
Just before Pepi's death, he had sent Edith his last package. In it contained all the letters she had written from the asparagus farm, the paper factory and Brandenburg while she was living under cover as an Aryan during the Nazi regime. Edith's daughter at last, wanting more than anything to know the whole truth about her mother's ordeal, read them and encouraged her mom to write the book which became The Nazi Officer's Wife and was published in 1998.
