MilkomedaDec 16, 2024

What questions would you ask a 108-year-old woman?

https://sh.itjust.works/post/29560819

What questions would you ask a 108-year-old woman? - sh.itjust.works

My great-grandma is 108. I’m thinking of documenting her life in writing. She’s had an extremely interesting one. She was born in Berlin to a wealthy family, had a long-term affair with an older, married man from ~ the age of 17 who went missing in 1945. In the 1950s she married an American (my great-grandpa) and moved to the US. Little backstory. Looking forward to the question suggestions.

Show threadElectricDec 16, 2024

Personally I’d love to talk about what her hobbies were or simply how living would have been different. That setting though definitely makes for some interesting questions.

She could have been insulated from the war or just tried to ignore it but it’d be neat to ask what the opinions in her community were about it (or her own!). Also what changed in her lifestyle as a result of the start of the war and the end of it.

Show threadMilkomeda
She was pretty insulated during WW2. Her family relocated to Switzerland after the Nazis took power as they didn’t support them; she chose to stay in Germany due to her partner. Her partner moved her and his family to his estate on the German side of Lake Constance, area which was virtually unscathed during the war. Was no contact with her family during this period. Talking about the man, his activities and that part of her life is a pretty “we don’t talk about Bruno” situation.
Dec 16, 2024 at 12:07pmWeb
Show thread[deleted] in lemmyDec 16, 2024

Talking about the man, his activities and that part of her life is a pretty “we don’t talk about Bruno” situation.

This is basically like someone shouting ‘he was a nazi!’ at the top of their lungs.