Refugee's journey from wartorn Germany to Warnham

By The Newsroom
Published 18th Jan 2016, 09:28 BST
Updated 8th Jun 2018, 06:51 BST
Warnham resident Brigitte Ziegler has written a book Refuge From a Broken Land about her experiences as a refugee at the end of the Second World War. Here she is pictured back in her homeland in modern day Russia - picture submitted by Brigitte ZieglerWarnham resident Brigitte Ziegler has written a book Refuge From a Broken Land about her experiences as a refugee at the end of the Second World War. Here she is pictured back in her homeland in modern day Russia - picture submitted by Brigitte Ziegler
Warnham resident Brigitte Ziegler has written a book Refuge From a Broken Land about her experiences as a refugee at the end of the Second World War. Here she is pictured back in her homeland in modern day Russia - picture submitted by Brigitte Ziegler
A Warnham resident has written a book on her experiences as a refugee at the end of the Second World War.

Refuge From a Broken Land is an autobiographical account of how Brigitte Ziegler and her family fled their hometown of Interburg, Prussia (modern day Chernyakhovsk in Russia) just hours before the invading Russian forces in January 1945.

The book also outlines how her native Prussia went from being a powerful independent kingdom in the 18th century, to an integral part of the German Reich, before finally becoming a Russian exclave.

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The family travelled across Prussia before arriving in a small village in southern Mecklenburg in East Germany, which at that time was under communist rule.

Warnham resident Brigitte Ziegler has written a book Refuge From a Broken Land about her experiences as a refugee at the end of the Second World War - picture submittedWarnham resident Brigitte Ziegler has written a book Refuge From a Broken Land about her experiences as a refugee at the end of the Second World War - picture submitted
Warnham resident Brigitte Ziegler has written a book Refuge From a Broken Land about her experiences as a refugee at the end of the Second World War - picture submitted

During this time, her father was captured by the Red Army and was sent to a prisoner-of-war camp in Russia.

He did not return until Christmas 1949 – with profound psychological damage.

Brigitte, aged 76, said: “The years in Communist East Germany were considerably harder than life under the Nazis had been.”

unable to join school

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Warnham resident Brigitte Ziegler has written a book Refuge From a Broken Land about her experiences as a refugee at the end of the Second World War. Pictured with her mother Gertrude and brother Werner - picture submitted by Brigitte ZieglerWarnham resident Brigitte Ziegler has written a book Refuge From a Broken Land about her experiences as a refugee at the end of the Second World War. Pictured with her mother Gertrude and brother Werner - picture submitted by Brigitte Ziegler
Warnham resident Brigitte Ziegler has written a book Refuge From a Broken Land about her experiences as a refugee at the end of the Second World War. Pictured with her mother Gertrude and brother Werner - picture submitted by Brigitte Ziegler

Later, she and her family escaped to West Germany in 1953 – thus making her a refugee in her own country for the second time.

Arriving in the ‘Golden West’ of Germany as penniless refugees was not easy for the family but thanks to her ‘courageous and hard working father’, life gradually improved. Still, sacrifices had to be made.

Brigitte was unable to attend higher education due to the schooling she had received in East Germany which was not recognised by the then West German government.

Speaking about her new life there, she said: “The joy of being free to think and speak and do in a democratic society made everything so much easier.

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“Yet, there were sacrifices to accept there as well and my book goes into all those feelings in greater detail.”

She had been writing the book for the past five years.

Although the current refugee crisis began long after she had started writing, it further encouraged her to finish the book.

Indeed, Brigitte did not shy away from drawing parallels to the current crisis and her own experiences.

She said: “When I arrived in West Germany, we were unwelcome. There were millions of us and we were starving.

“Nobody wanted to feed strangers in their house.

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“There certainly was tremendous resentment towards refugees.

“The effect of being a refugee never goe