Ruth Margot Klebe
Sept. 10, 1924-Sept. 10, 2012
Redwood City, California

THE WAR ISN?T OVER

I?ve hated Adolf Hitler since I learned of the despicable things he inflicted on this world. I was a student in the mid '50's; born of a proud returning American soldier and his adoring wife. Our lives were pretty calm and normal; suburban and "average." We camped, learned to fish, got a TV when they were invented, raked leaves and washed cars with our families. We went to elementary and high school and rarely discussed "the war." Dad only talked about it in terms of his buddies and the good times they had in the Philippines, never mentioning the havoc that was unleashed on him or the natives he encountered. Meanwhile, on another front, other lives were progressing, tumultuous from the mayhem of the war in Europe. My someday-to-be husband's family was scattered and decimated by the war. He never met grandparents or one uncle because Auschwitz was a killing factory. His father, racked by the chaos of war, moved here but couldn?t settle into the American way of life. His mother, ripped from her home in Berlin in 1937, came to this life to be with his family while her own scattered around the world; Berlin, Toronto, South Africa.

Now, as Ruth ages, we think we can see in her face a sorrow and loneliness that her children alone cannot fill. She has no siblings left; and when they were alive, they were thousands of miles away. She can?t reminisce at the park she played in as a child; it was blown up in the 40's. Her father's bakery was demolished in the mess of war, as was her place of birth.

Her life was ripped from her as a child. She can?t go to a high school reunion, the cafe she loved on a rainy day, or her grandparent's grave. They're all gone. They became rubble to be swept away in the reconstruction of the German cities. She still suffers the ravages of war and for her the war isn?t over. She?s always been a loner partly because she was never sure of her English and a bit embarrassed by her German accent. When the generation that fought and endured the war dies, the tendrils of emotional and physical loss will continue to recede. That my husband never knew his grandparents is sad and unfortunate, but losing ones entire history and roots to Herr Hitler?s war has been devastating.

We, as her family can only wish her peace in her last days and forever after??.goodbye, Ruth, Oma, Mutti. With love from Roy, Joanne, Kathy, Shannon, Alisha and Hannah.