‘I survived,’: A story about WWII, a young girl and sacrifice - Part 2

Rose’s Story continues as the war ravages on in Nazi-occupied Vienna. After witnessing her best friend 8-year-old Marta Meyer picked up by SS agents during school, Rose decides to help those in The Underground. Her uncle’s involvement within The Underground ultimately lead the Gestapo and SS agents to Rose’s doorstep.

Rose’s uncle was personally working with The Underground and contacted Rose and asked her if she could help by providing food for the Jews and Catholic priests he was hiding. 

“Most of all, they needed food,” Rose explained. “So, I helped him for about two years. It was very hard because I was a little kid and I couldn't tell anybody, not my mother nor my father because it would jeopardize them too. My mother would have put a stop to it immediately. My mother did not like my uncle at all.”

Rose said she would meet her uncle at different locations and she would do what she could to help.

"I was determined to help, not just because of what they did to the Jews, but because of Marta, my friend.”

But Resistance movements attracted attention and Rose’s uncle was already under observation. The observation led Nazi soldiers right to Rose’s doorstep.

“One day while I was at home, I was sitting at the kitchen table doing homework and there came a loud knock at the door. I looked up and saw three figures standing outside, but could not tell who they were. I opened the door and there stood two SS men and one Gestapo agent,” said Rose.  “They asked me my name, which I gave them and then came in, without even being asked to."

Rose was at home alone while her parents were working. 

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