Guest speaker recalls Nazi Germany

By Anna Urbanik
Contributing Writer

At first glance, one might think that Margot M.Blewett is just like any of us, but she is not. She saw things that we only see in a movie theater. She went through one of the toughest experiences one might imagine — she survived war.

Born in Dusseldorf, Germany in 1930, Blewett was returning from vacation at age nine when she learned that the war had just begun. As a matter of fact, it ruled her life for the next six years and destroyed her childhood just like it destroyed her hometown of Dusseldorf and many other cities in her beloved Germany.

“They (the Nazi’s) did not ask you how you feel,” she recalled. “You were totally helpless. You were just a subject to what was going on, especially as a child. All you were trying to do was survive from one day to another,” she said.

Today, Blewett has her own children and they were the ones who convinced her to write down her memories and give an accurate account of the war, day-by-day. They helped her realize that as a witness, she must give testimony to the truth. So she did.

In 1982, she started working on a book. It was a painful process. She was strong and brave for her children and for all of us, and allowed us to see and understand what happened between 1939 and 1945 when, in Blewett’s words, “people were ruled by constant fear.”

Blewett is now over the pain and fear and ready to share her memories with others. She will be the guest of North Lake College on Nov. 7, and will answer questions and tell stories from her life and difficult time in Nazi Germany during World War II.

The program, "Feet in the Fire,” will be held at 11:30 a.m., in room A-206, and again at 12:20 p.m., in A-259. Call 972-273-3020 for info.

Example with bullet to copy