Sunday, July 18, 2010

P.S. from Tante Maren...

I received this email from my cousin Solveig on Sunday, following our trip to Norway, and it was too meaningful not to share... (I just wrote about Tante Maren last week, she is my aunt who lived through concentration camp)...

Solveig translates into English:

"Hi, I just phoned mother and translated your blog for her and she wanted me to send you some words. She still have the little "book" of recipes. They were collected in a piece of velvet from some clothing and stiched together with small threads. About bitterness she said that she don't have the genes for becoming bitter. In the c.camp the great fear was to be sent to extinction camps (Arbeit macht frei) and she had at first much anxiety about that. Then some evening in bed she remember she folded her hands and prayed to God to help her in the agony and had an immediate feeling of response and had never thereafter any fear of being sent. And she wasn't sent. She also told the story about one Christmas eve in camp. They had put some white paper on the table and saved some food for the Christmas dinner to share. Then some of the girls that went with the enemy came and mother first reacted on that (as you know the norwegians didn't like that the girls went with the soldiers) but her mother in law (my grandmother) said that these girls were to be pitied and should be treated with some dignity too and invited them to the table. This learned mother to look on a person as a person and an act of doing per se. She also said to me once when I asked her about the treatment of this women after the war, if she felt anger towards them. Mother answered that the people that persecuted this women most, were the ones that were passive or fraternizing themselves during the war. "We who really was in the battle and had to sacrifice security, life and property understood that it is never that simple. You must be able to forgive."

That's my mother."

Love from Maren and me"...

No wonder we all love Tante Maren!




12 comments:

Rita said...

Oh my, what courage and what an attitude she had. I know that you are very proud of her as you should be. We do not know how very blessed we are here in this wonderful country of ours. I pray God will keep it a great country!

Debbie Petras said...

What a wonderful woman your Tante Maren is! I'm not surprised you have her genes Sonja. She is very wise and obviously loves the Lord. And I have to add that she's so darn cute too.

Love you,
Debbie

myletterstoemily said...

oh, i have been so sheltered and pampered.

to have a heart like that . . .

Saleslady371 said...

This post is a keeper for sure. I loved reading about her attitude after all the persecution. A great teaching and example for all of us.

Tammy said...

This was a wonderful post.
As I was reading this, her ways to "love" those we might consider unloveable reminded me of my mom.

Melanie said...

What a treasure!

Just a little something from Judy said...

I love this story. No wonder you are the kind and gracious woman that you are. Your Tante Maren had it right. "Kindness gives birth to kindness", and who knows the ripple effect these two women created by their caring and forgiving spirit. I am thankful you shared this story. A Godly legacy is a beautiful thing to leave your family. You are blessed my friend.

Anonymous said...

Tante Maren is a very wise woman indeed. God bless her. I enjoyed reading this post. Thank you. ~Ron

Anonymous said...

Oh how I enjoyed this! Someone needs to be writing all her stories down!!! If nothing else, publish them in a book for the family!

Deborah Ann said...

Oohhh...do you know how capital B Blessed you are to have this godly heritage? What a beautiful woman...

LisaShaw said...

Sonja, I hung on every word!!!

I love what she said about folding her hands and praying and having that assurance from GOD that she needed!!!

I also loved what she shared at the end. What a lesson for all of us to remember!

I appreciate you sharing the words of this amazing woman!!!! What a gift she is!

Love you!

Janettessage.blogspot.com said...

Oh Sonja...how did I miss this post? I was with a friend today that read this and told me I needed to come back and read it.

My, oh my...What an awesome God we serve! What an awesome testimony! What an unreal heritage!

I am speechless....so blessed by this, thanks for sharing