Hansi :The Girl Who Left the Swatstika
by Maria Anne Hirschmann
Maria Anne Hirschman was born and mostly raised in Germany when WWII started. She was one of the smartest people in her class and was sent off to Nazi school. She loved it there. But then most of the men in her school had to go off to war so they moved her to a different location. She liked it here too. Only she couldn't learn as much as she had to work. In school she earned the name Hansi.
Hansi had many men in her life. She had a friend from her old school named Walter and later he proposed to her, but she turned him down. Her reasons for this were that she felt dedicated to Hitler and the Nazi Union and that she was kind of in a relationshhip with a young navy officer named Rudy. Later, she met Rudy and he proposed to her. She accepted. Later while they were still engaged, she met Rudy's parents. She became good friends with his sister, but his mother did not approve. Later, Hansi recieved a letter from Rudy telling her that they had to call their engagement off. A little while after that she met a man named Kurt and he proposed but she turned him down also. Later on after WWII while she was teaching, she met up with Rudy again. This time they got married and had two children.
The soldiers in Maria's life were very different from each other. Ther German soldiers treated her with respect. All of the men that proposed to her were German soldiers. But, the Russian soldiers were a whole different story. At night, they would go on raping rampages. They would get drunk and then threaten German women so they would stay still and then they would rape them. Only with the help of God did she escape the Russsian soldiers' rampages. A little later in her story, Maria came across a little girl stranded in the woods while they were trying to escape eastern Germany. She came to the door of some American soldiers. Not only did they take they little girl but they took Maria and her friend in too. They gave them food and shelter for the night . They also set the little girl up with a room in the Red Cross hospital. Maria learned that not all enemy soldiers were like the Russians.
The story of Hansi's family is very sad. Her mom died when she was just a baby and her dad didn't bother to keep her. She was given to her aunt and she came to know her as her mother. One day her brother, Sepp, got mad at her and told her she was adopted and she was crushed. Her foster father did not care for her. This is a lot of the reason that she latched on to Hitler and his Nazi Youth program. But through her jorney she found the Lord again. It was a good thing she was raised in a Christian home.
Now Maria Anne Hirschmann (Hansi) has retired from teaching and is traveling the world telling people of her story and how important God is in their lives. She came to Bethany on Life Sunday and talked to our congregation specifically our confirmation class.
This is Hansi at her current age. She is standing in front of the flag that represents her favorite country.
This is a picture of Hansi in her younger years on the cover of the book i'm reading
This is another current picture of Hansi in her home on the island of Hawaii.
Julia
hansiministries.org
vancrook.tripod.com
tks.org
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