Some of the greatest things in life, come to us when we are least expecting it. They find us in the darkest of times, and bring light back into our lives. This is one of those stories. How my Omi found love again in the most unlikely of place, a Prisoner of War camp.

“As the days passed by, most of the military had left Innsbruck. Life began slowly returning to normal. Mutti would go to work each day as a masseuse at the hospital, and each evening my brother Gottfried and I would run to the hospital to pick her up. On one of those occasions, Gottfried tripped and fell hard on some broken glass. His knee was split wide open, as if someone had taken a knife and sliced it right up the middle.

In only a few seconds, blood was pouring out of the wound. I didn’t know what else to do, so I took off one of my long knee high stockings and we wrapped it over his wound. Despite our best efforts, his knee was still bleeding, now through the stocking. Fortunately, we were near the old military barracks that had been turned into a prisoner of war camp for German soldiers. A passerby suggested that we seek help there, because he knew that they had a medical staff.

I had Gottfried put his arm around my shoulder for support, and slowly we hobbled over to the gate of the prison camp. A guard there took Gottfried inside, and I then ran as fast as I could to get Mutti. When she heard what had happened, she became extremely worried for now her son was not only injured, but also inside a prison camp. Her worries were soon calmed, when we arrived at the camp to see Gottfried emerging with his knee all bandaged up and a candy bar in his hand.

Next to him stood a smiling German soldier in the uniform of a First Aid Corps man. “Keine angst liebe frau! (No fear dear lady)” , he said with an even bigger smile as he saw Mutti. The wound had been stitched up and cleaned, but the bandage would have to be changed a few times and then the stitches taken out, so we would have to return again.

Mutti and the German soldier began chatting. He told her he was a corpsman from Riga Lithuania, and when Mutti told him we were from Danzig, he said he had been there many times. One of his friends knew her brother, so they already had something in common.

This was how we met Walter Pein, the man who would become our step-father. He was a prisoner of war at the time. A tall handsome man, much taller than our father. His uniform was quite worn, but kept clean. And although his face was sunken in due to the lack of food at the prison camp, he always had a smile on his face when Mutti was around.

Walter was considered a trustee at the prison camp, so on occasion, he would be given permission to go into the city and look for supplies that were needed at the infirmary. He took one of those opportunities to ask Mutti if she would join him on a date. He showed up at our gate with a smile and a bouquet of flowers. They would go on long strolls and talk about many things. On one of their strolls she had told him about the many friends we had in Tulfes, but could not afford to visit, because the cost of bus tickets was way too high. Two weeks later, he showed up at our door with tickets for all of us in his hand and explained that as a medic, he was able to get the tickets at a discount.

Mutti had packed a little basket of home-made sweet bread and Walter had brought a couple oranges he had scrounged from the guard’s mess hall. We had so much fun, while Gottfried and I ran and played with our old friends, Mutti and Water sat on the balcony getting to know each other more. We returned later that evening, with the basked loaded with food. The villagers had gifted us many things, since they knew that food supplies in the city were extremely limited. I slept the whole way back to Innsbruck on the bus, while Mutti and Walter chatted and smiled the entire trip.

It was a good day, and for a moment the war was forgotten, and we came home with enough food to last a couple of weeks. It was there, that Mutti found love again with a Prisoner of War, my Step-Father Walter.” -Jochen

Isn’t it funny how true love often seems to pop up from the most unlikely of places. Often in our lowest times. Especially second love. When the world seems too low to make it, here comes a person into your life when you least expect it that reminds you of things they you may have given up on having a long time ago.

I find love like this so impactful. When it begins at a time where your world has crumbled, where you’re struggling to figure out everything. When love finds you at times like these, it’s truly beautiful, because that person falls in love with the real you. The raw, unfiltered, struggling you. The part of you, that may be hidden if things were better for you at the time. But when love finds you in times like this, you know it is true, because if they fall for you at your worst, their love will only grow for you as you become better together. They’ll never hold you to unrealistic versions of yourself, because they loved you and saw you through the tough times. This is a beautiful type of love. This is a strong love. When love starts at the bottom, and works together to claw their way up to the top as a team.

I’m living that type of love these days, after a failed divorce and a not so good long term relationship, I was at my worst. At my lowest, when love found me. Together we crawled out of the darkness and into the light. Together we work day in and day out to make our lives better and more beautiful. But on the days when things get tough, it’s okay, because we’ve both seen much worse, and we know we’ll get through any issue that may face us.

The timing of this post is ironic, as to why it was delayed.. As life happens, my husband had a health scare, and we spent three nights in the hospital, and as I found out, a hospital is a terrible place for writing. Way too many distracting beeps and people and worries. But all is well now and we are home. Just one of the things that we knew would be okay, because we’ve been through much worse together and we knew this was nothing we couldn’t’ also make it through this time.

When love starts at the bottom, nothing can break it, because of the strength it took to make it just to begin.

Once again, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for taking the time to read his story. Every time he learns about the people that are reading, sharing, or enjoying his stories it gives him great joy. Watching the statistics steadily climbing each week, we are honored. Please continue to subscribe if you haven’t already and share with others who you think may enjoy. Living historical documents like this are truly hard to come by, and we’d love to reach as many people as possible, to learn from his life. It’s only just begun.

Love,

Verina