02:19

Ruth Deutschmann

Benjamin Epp

Wien

2008-06-13

Sylvia Manning - Baumgartner

1945

Then the Americans came. After the war they confiscated the house, it was the time of the occupation. They also made stipulations. You had to be out by twelve o'clock. Gone. The Jesuits had given us a very beautiful, large ivory crucifix and also a smaller one ? I had already joined the Jesuit Order - when the Jesuit college was occupied. We hung the cross up in our flat. When the Americans saw it they were a little subdued. And my mother said, or maybe it was father: "We're just making lunch. Will we be allowed to eat it?" "Yes, you can eat but then you have to leave." Then the first American/soldier came back in and looked around. My sister was just saying grace. So he realized that we weren't Nazis. About a week later the house was free again. At first the whole house had been confiscated. Then they moved out and took a different one. But in the short time they had spent there they replaced some appliances. For example our radiator ? we don't know where it ended up. We didn't know where the bigger one came from either. We simply used it. The Americans had used the doors, the varnished doors, for target practice. There was nothing you could do about it, that's the way it was. Nevertheless, we got through quite well. Downstairs, where Nazis lived ? they even had the Reich flag which was confiscated, but they didn't hurt them. They all got away quite lightly.