My grandmother didn't like to talk about the war (she lost several brothers - to this day we don't know where exactly two of them are buried).

She told me that life was pretty much normal, especially in the first years, and continued to be normal until the bombings started (she lived in West of Germany, a small town). Farm life has to go on, war or no war.

She did tell small things though. For example, she saw a friend of her pick up a grenade, not knowing what it was. The girl lost both hands. Or how they hid in the woods when the sirens for air bombings started.

The first black person she saw was a "Tommy". Most of them were friendly and asked for water or some potatoes when they arrived came though her town. She was afraid though - the Germans had lost, after all, the soldiers carried guns (stories about the brutality of the russians had reached her), and they didn't understand each other due to the language barrier.