What was it like in Nazi Germany? I found out from this lady

I went and heard Gisela McBride speak of her experience growing up in Nazi Germany.It was exciting to hear her true life experiences.
Here are some of the notes I took:

Gisela was 7 years old when Hitler came to power. Gisela lived in Berlin during this time.

During the 12 years Hitler was in power all the German citizens rights were taken away.

The Enabling Act abolished the German Constitution & Civil rights.
*No freedom of assembly
*No freedom of speech
*No freedom of the person
*No freedom of the press
*No freedom to express an opinion
*No secretive communications

During 1940 there were ration cards. Example of what was given as a ration were
1 egg per week per person
7 grams of tea a month
1/4 pound cheese a month
1/2 pound cottage cheese
1 pound of meat a week per person. ( That would be like having a total of 4 Quarter Pounders but there were no fast food places back then to go get something to eat either).

Her mother had to stand in line for two hours at the grocery store because the rations and ration cards were so complex. (And here we complain when we have to stand in line more then 15 minutes at Walmart hu?!!)

Gisela was just an ordinary citizen but she explained what some of the requirements were to become a Nazi.
They had to trace their heritage back to 1700 to make sure their family line was pure. They had to do volunteer work for the Party, and they had to fully agree 100% with everything Hitler said and did. Nazi's are not to be confused with people in the German Army.

Children were expected even before the war to collect scrap metal. They kept records of it at school, and during the war, Gisela had a Nazi teacher so she wanted to make sure she collected the required amount of metal each week so she would not draw attention to herself. This was no easy feat mind you, as most of the scrap metal was already collected. Fortunately she had a family friend that worked in a plant and he was able to give her enough scrap where she even won a special prize. Something that she didn't even enjoy that wasn't even meant for children. haahha

There was a Hitler Youth Group that people under 14 were encouraged to join, but it was voluntary. Once you were in it there was nothing voluntary about it. What ever they told you to do, you had to do even if you had plans with your family. If they told you there was a meeting, you had to go to the meeting. There were no exceptions.
It wasn't easy to not join the Hitler Youth Group because during that time the law was that if you were not a part of the Youth Group then you couldn't go on to a University nor even be apprentice.

Church Pastors had to agree to "be under Hitler". If they didn't agree, they were persecuted and many times killed. Many did die.

Gisela happened to see Hitler twice during her outings.

Right before the war ended, Hitler even had 12 year old boys manning the anti aircraft guns.


During the war you could get arrested for saying anything against Hitler.
Also you were not allow to listen to any radio stations broadcasting outside of Germany.
If you were caught doing any of these things you would be arrested and tried. If found guilty within 72 hours you were either going to receive 8 years of hard labor or executed.
Her mother would listen to BBC on the radio. She didn't' even dare tell Gisela for safety reasons, just in case she might of said something at school.

Old people and people needing extra physical help that were institutionalized were soon after reported dead. Hitler felt these people were useless, taking up much needed food and extra man power, so he ordered them killed.

Right before the meeting started we all received a copy of The Constitution of the United States.
I asked Gisela after the meeting what was her purpose of giving these meetings and she said "It's important that we know these things, so we do not loose our freedoms here in the USA".

Thank you Gisela for sharing your life story.

Gisela R McBride has a book she has written if you want to know more of her story called:
Through My Eyes- Memoirs of Hitler's Berlin can be found online at www.univpress.com

Wealth and Riches comes through keeping our Constitution and Civil Rights safe here in the USA. Let Freedom Ring!!


Dexter