Tired Edith, Malente, 1944

1944 – Exhausted from the ongoing Second World War, Edith Schweim (right) watches her daughter Editha (center) playing in Malente-Gremsmühlen, Germany. © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com


The story behind the image

56 years ago, on the 5th November 1966, my grandmother Edith died in Kiel, Germany, at the age of 61. On most of the archived photographs she had been in a good mood, usually smiling. Not so on this image from 1944. It shows her exhausted from the Second World War which had been going on for half a decade by then. She had born her two daughters during that time – my aunt Editha in 1941, and my mother Inga in 1942.

The kids had moved to Malente, just 40 km outside of Kiel which was very far away from the nerve wrecking bombings that were rocking Kiel more often now. But she had still her successful business and was doing well, at least when compared to others who could not as easily relocate from Kiel and protect the family.

But she was tired. And it shows in this image which I am posting to keep the memories alive.


The high resolution image

Capture DateMay 1944
LocationMalente-Gremsmühlen, Germany
Image Source6 x 6 cm Print
Digital Image SourceEPSON Perfection 4870 Photo
Digital Image Source FormatTIFF, 48 bits/pixel, AdobeRGB
Edited Image FormatJPEG, 24 bits/pixel, sRGB
Edited Image Dimensions2579 x 2591 Pixels
Copyright© by Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com

Zanzig.com shows images of the period from 1933 to 1945 only for the purposes of education, the defense against unconstitutional and anti-constitutional efforts, scientific, genealogic and art historical research, reporting on relevant current events, military history, and uniform research. By accessing this page you agree to use the images only for historical or scientific purposes for the reasons mentioned above and to not use them for propaganda purposes in any way, especially within the meaning of German § 86a StGB.

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