BDR
First Grade
- Messages
- 7,526
I'm currently reading Ruth Maier's diary. Bit of a tough read as most of her rescued diary's were pre-war so it takes a while to get interesting but I've learnt quite a bit while tracking through. At the very least you can clearly see the difference in intelligence between late teens in the 30's / 40's compared to now. Before the war, Maier read extensively, quoted great poets and authors alike, could hold a conversation about politics, the arts and theater and had a vast appreciation for it all. She was insightful and witty. Most people of her age nowadays would struggle to string a coherent sentence together.
She came from a rich, educated Jewish family. Her dad held a doctorate in philosophy.
A lot of teens of that era were breaking their backs doing factory work by the time they were 14