My grandfather grew up in Czechoslovakia, and was drafted to fight in WW2 with the German’s. My grandmother grew up in Hungary and was taken to a labour camp.

By the time I was born my grandparents we separated and my grandfather died when I was still young, so I really don’t have much information on him. I grieve losing the chance to get to know him as a person and listen to the experiences he had.

My grandmother died when I was 10, but I know she grew up on a farm, because she told me they used to dye their chickens so they wouldn’t get mixed up with the neighbours. I also know that while she and her siblings were in the labour camp they would give their rations to the younger sibling because they were growing. Since her passing I also grieve not being more interested in hearing her stories when I was younger. I’m sure I could’ve learned so much about life from her.

I would love to be able to retrace their lives but because they’re both gone and I don’t know if any records would exist, I’m really looking for any sort of guidance towards textbooks, videos, novels etc that could give me more of an understanding of what their lives could’ve been like.