I’m in a DP (Displaced Person) group on Facebook. And someone posted a photo that she colorized. And it inspired me to get this photo of my dad and my grandparents colorized.
My dad is crucial in my family. He is helping raise our daughter, he’s there for me when I’m sick, when my husband’s sick. I even remember the day my dad fell on our steps and was at the same time, holding our daughter. He hurt his hand and was bleeding, but he protected his granddaughter. That’s how he is.
And this particular photo means a lot to me. Because it’s just a reminder of my dad’s humble beginnings. (Although my dad never ever complains. He just talks about having grown up on a farm.) And how hard my grandparents’ lives were, and they both were so young to have gone through so much, especially a World War.
There’s a lot of hope in my grandmother’s eyes. Meanwhile, she was still living in a camp in Germany.
I shared this photo in the same DP group and thanked them for inspiring me to colorize this photo, then I asked if they know of a camp that my father was born in. And someone told me about an Archive. She told me to look up the last name but try different variations.
And on one quick search, my grandfather’s name popped up. And there I found in 1948, either an American or British ally (because the document was in English), my grandfather, where he was born, his parents’ names, his ethnicity, date of birth, where he wanted to go, and at the bottom, it listed his wife and his son (my dad.) I was very much moved to have found such a snippet of history, thanks to this one photo.
I don’t have much beyond my mom and dad’s parents’ history. But I have pictures like this that I can one day share with our daughter so she knows my grandparents started a new life in the USA.
I am grateful for my grandparents and their sacrifices, and my dad’s sacrifices… I hope that my daughter will always remember the love her grandfather has for her.
