Ilse Koehn

High School

Home "Sweet" Home

Ilse is at the top of her class in elementary school. She has to apply for high school at age 11 and she gets accepted. In all schools across Germany it is the law to have a picture of Adolf Hitler (The Fuehrer) in every room. (pg. 31-32)

Ilse gets out of camp and is on a train back to Berlin. Her father is in some hot water. His execution date keeps getting postponed due to his help working with the damaged air raids. Back at school, Ilse finds a friend names Eberhard. Not too long after Ilse reaches home, the next rounds of air raids and bombs hit Berlin. Ilse is now fighting for her life.

(pg.190)

Evacuation to Czechoslovakia

Is it over yet?

Germany surrenders on May 7, 194 after Hitler commits suicide. After many air raids, drunk Russian invasions, and near death experiences, Ilse's father finally finds a way home and almost family members survive. Ilse and her family were in hiding for four weeks in her grandmothers cellar before they decided it was safe enough to come out.

(pg.220-240)

Ilse and 80 of her other classmates are evacuated to Czechoslovakia as part of the Kinderlandverschickung (KLV). All 80 girls will be attending a Hitler Youth camp. It will be the first camp of many. (pg. 44)

Ilse Koehn died May 8, 1991 in Connecticut. She was 61 years old. She movedto the U.S.A. in 1958 to become an author. "Mischling, Second Degree: My Childhood in Nazi Germany" was published in seven countries including the U.S.

Ilse Koehn

Dad's gone

At 13 years old, Ilse's father was arrested and taken to a labor camp called the Organisation Todt (OT). The camp was 50 miles southwest of Berlin.

Already Back?

Bad times in Czeck

Ilse's father takes a risk and escapes from the OT camp to bring a fake note to Ilse's counselor so she can come back home. If the note doesn't work, Ilse has to find another way to escape. Her fathers life is on the line, for if anyone finds out he escaped, he will be hanged. (pg. 159-160)

At camp in Czechoslovakia, Ilse gets bitten by tons of fleas and has to beg for money to but daily necessities like toothpaste and itching cream for the bites. (pg. 51)

Back to Berlin

In 1942, Ilse travels back to Germany and is reunited with her mother. She also gets to go back to school, which she didn't get to do in Czechoslovakia. (pg.60-67)

My life in Nazi Germany

Hitler Youth Camp...Again?

After being home for a little while, Ilse is sent to a third Hitler Youth Camp in the winter of 1942. The counselors here are still very strict and constantly have uniform checks, room checks,etc., but the food is much better and the girls

are actually aloud to talk

and go on skiing trips.

(pg. 115-120)

How is everyone at home?

In March of 1943, Ilse's grandmother dies. finds out through a letter from her father. Before she left for a third camp, she and her father discussed a symbol they would use encase she died. He would put a cross at the bottom of the page if she were to pass. Her grandmother died at 84 in a concentration camp the same day she left. She was 100% Jew. (pg.123-124)

Hitler Youth Camp

In her second Hitler Youth camp, Ilse and her new friend Uschi do the same thing everyday. As they stand around the flagpole, in the Nazi salute, the Hitler Youth band plays and the swatstika is raised. They do all of this without moving. (pg. 85)

Mother at camp?

Ilse's mother has come to the Hitler Youth camp to "rescue" her. Her and Uschi have managed to become the camp counselors favorites and have earned a higher position at camp. They have earned a Beach Day and stuck a letter in a mailbox. A few days later, Ilse's mother comes to camp with two fake emergencies for the girls so that they can come home from camp. Hanka, the leader of the camp reluctantly agrees and the girls are on a train back home within an instant. (pg. 94-95)