In Mathilde Wolff-Monckeberg’s collection of letters to her children, On the Other Side: Letters to My Children from Germany 1940-46, she describes firsthand the atrocities of World War II and the effects it had on not only her city of Hamburg, but on Germany as a whole. She describes the events of the war from her perspective in letters to her children. These letters frequently entail a thorough description of Monckeberg’s opinions of the state of international politics at this time. Even through the constraint of German censorship in the media, she is able to receive an accurate recollection of current affairs. This paper will discuss Mathilde Wolff-Monckeberg’s views of Germany’s participation in the war by exploring her views of Germany’s
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Monckeberg’s detailed account recalls her views of Germany’s position during the war. While she was not led astray by the censorship or sensationalization of German media, her experiences as a German citizen altered her opinions of the war nonetheless. While not necessarily completely supportive of Germany during the war, Monckeberg certainly wasn’t supportive of the Allied forces either. This is understandable, as from her perspective she believed the Allied occupation of Germany to be invasive even though it was not entirely unpleasant. On the eastern front, Russian encroachment becomes a larger issue as the war pushes on and Monckeberg is fiercely against the Russian occupation of Germany in the capital of Berlin. Throughout all of this, however, one can see the effects of the war have made her tired. After enduring the hardships of the first world war, a second war quickly following is straining and ultimately Monckeberg simply desires for the fighting to stop. In her first letter to her children, she describes the war as “justified based on a daily incitement of lies, not an honest war, but an illegal and mean exploitation.” This quote so eloquently encapsulates her views of the war and this is poetic reflection is reverberated throughout the
Monckeberg’s detailed account recalls her views of Germany’s position during the war. While she was not led astray by the censorship or sensationalization of German media, her experiences as a German citizen altered her opinions of the war nonetheless. While not necessarily completely supportive of Germany during the war, Monckeberg certainly wasn’t supportive of the Allied forces either. This is understandable, as from her perspective she believed the Allied occupation of Germany to be invasive even though it was not entirely unpleasant. On the eastern front, Russian encroachment becomes a larger issue as the war pushes on and Monckeberg is fiercely against the Russian occupation of Germany in the capital of Berlin. Throughout all of this, however, one can see the effects of the war have made her tired. After enduring the hardships of the first world war, a second war quickly following is straining and ultimately Monckeberg simply desires for the fighting to stop. In her first letter to her children, she describes the war as “justified based on a daily incitement of lies, not an honest war, but an illegal and mean exploitation.” This quote so eloquently encapsulates her views of the war and this is poetic reflection is reverberated throughout the