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Centigenarian survived tragedy |
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Written by BERNICE TRICK
Citizen staff
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Wednesday, 19 November 2008 |
Elizabeth Muntau is celebrating her 100th birthday today. (Citizen photo by Brent Braaten )
A Prince George woman who turns 100 today is among the few who survived the destruction of her home city, Dresden, Germany, during the Second World War.
Elizabeth Muntau was a young mother at the time with Fred, 5, who lives in Prince George, and Brigitte, 7, who died in 2000.
Her husband, Friedrich, was away serving in the German army.
On the night of Feb. 13, 1945, the three had settled for the night when they heard the sound of airplanes and watched brilliant flares light up the city.
"My mother told us it was just bombers putting Christmas trees up," said Fred, who speaks for Elizabeth, who does not speak English and whose memory has faded.
The family, who experienced going to bed hungry and doing without during the war years, soon realized the city of 250,000 was being bombed.
"The family rushed to the bomb shelter underneath their building and the city dissolved in a fiery storm of bombs and incendiaries," wrote local author Dr. Eldon Lee, in one of his books.
It was the Royal Canadian Air Force who had been given the lead job to destroy Dresden that night and they were followed by two more waves of Royal Air Force and American daylight bombers, said Lee, who served as a Royal Canadian Air Force flight lieutenant on the homefront.
Early morning showed the apartment sections at either end had been destroyed, but the Muntaus' middle section was miraculously untouched. The three survived when an estimated 150,000 others didn't and they stayed in their apartment for days, afraid to venture out.
Fred said another family miracle that night involved his aunt, who was fleeing pushing a baby carriage with twin boys in it. An incendiary bomb actually hit the carriage, but didn't explode with a soft landing on the carriage and blankets, and the twins were unhurt.
As a child, life was good for Elizabeth, who was born into an affluent family. She went to school and learned to be a cashier in a large department store, took piano lessons and had the luxury of swimming in the Baltic Sea when the family moved to Koenigsberg, East Prussia, when she was still a child.
"Christmas was special," said Fred. "On Christmas Eve afternoon the family went to church, had a special meal and then her parents would open the doors to another room where the children would see the decorated tree with real burning candles for the first time. There would be presents and stockings and treats, and at New Year's when the tree came down, all the candy decorations were given to the kids."
Elizabeth was fortunate to escape the First World War in Germany because the family was still in East Prussia prior to moving back to Desden. "She was miles away from it," said Fred.
Elizabeth's most treasured memories are of her sports years of swimming, cycling, skiing, hunting and fishing.
"When it snows she still says, 'Too bad I gave my skis away last winter or I'd be out there in the snow.'"
Fred believes his mother's longevity comes from an inherited long lifeline, an active life and the fact she never drank or smoked.
"Cooking for her was a chore and she'd often put something on the stove, and then go into another room to read and completely forget about it.
"She used to do handicrafts, but her sight is no longer good, like her hearing," Fred said.
"She doesn't have much to say about the inventions she's seen, except the airplane. She loved the coming of the airplane, especially in her later years when she could go back to Germany to visit."
Elizabeth has received birthday greetings from Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean and Queen Elizabeth, Prime Minister Steven Harper, Premier Gordon Campbell and B.C Lt. Gov. Steven Point.
Elizabeth, who came to Prince George in 1971 to be with family, is celebrating her birthday quietly today at Rainbow Lodge with birthday cake for all residents.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 19 November 2008 )
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