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Bonjour, I am a 100-yr old WW2-surviving Bretagne expat living in Australia
My Memere, Philomene, has just turned 100! Born on the November 5th, 1919, on a farm in Brittany, France, she migrated to Wollongong, Australia with her husband Pierre (my Pepere, now deceased) after World War 2 when Europe declined into depression.
She is currently the oldest living French expat in Australia according to the French consulate!
Memere and Pepere both lived through Nazi-occupied Bretagne and have always told lot's of really interesting stories about the time & area plus moving to Australia without knowing a word of English.
My Pepere was a member of the Free French under Charles de Gaulle and was a plane technician during the war (one of his missions across the English Channel was in a book that I’ll dig up the name of soon).
Proof via Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/mjrowles/status/1192973841980485632
UPDATE: we’re filming some responses, as you can understand this is more of a conversation so please bare with us 👍🏻
UPDATE 2: I have a lot of footage, we’re trying to reply as quick as possible. Thanks so much to everyone who has asked so far. I’ll come and visit Memere again tomorrow and get some more answers, so keep them coming :)
UPDATE 3: I promise i’ll get around to answering some of the new questions with Memere over the next few days, bare with us :)
bonjourmr467 karma
This one was a hard one, I’m uploading a few video answers to other questions which might paint a picture! Sorry!
bonjourmr1058 karma
The moon landing! Planes also, nothing has changed the world more than planes. It took us 5 weeks on a big boat to come to Australia, then all of a sudden we could go on holidays every year.
bonjourmr147 karma
Moon landing, the war, modern science etc.
pvpplease397 karma
Does your Memere consider Mont-Saint-Michel to be in Brittany or Normandy?
bonjourmr326 karma
Well, it’s between the two. It’s a very special place but also a very dangerous place in years gone because of the tide and waves!
Jaelanne380 karma
Did you ever suspect, or hear suspicions, that Hitler was systematically slaughtering Jews before the gas chambers became common knowledge after the labour camps were liberated...and what have you the suspicion?
bonjourmr737 karma
Yes we knew, the prisoner of war camps were big, two of my brothers were sent there before they came home and word got around.
There were Jewish families who hid on our farms, my sister even hosted a family in their barn and they survived thankfully.
an-escaped-duck236 karma
What advice would you offer a young person who will soon be going out into the world?
bonjourmr603 karma
Say sorry when you’re wrong, fight for when you’re right
eusoulegal6127 karma
Can u please explain how did an occupied city worked for it's locals? Did the commerce still work normally? Did police and other emergency services stop working? Were people afraid?
bonjourmr210 karma
There was a lot of fear. Germany took most of the northern countries in a week and France very quickly too. In saying that, life was mostly normal aside from a few very sad events that affected my town (mentioned in another video) and the odd soldier coming to get food from my family. We just survived, obeyed and got on with life.
bonjourmr205 karma
Not great! I don’t think I’ve had a proper French meal at a restaurant since I’ve come to Australia.
eusoulegal690 karma
Despite from the ideology, do u think there was an objetive difference between Nazi and Allies soldiers? Specially in terms of how do they act towards civilians.
bonjourmr227 karma
Not really, the German soldiers varied just as the Allied soldiers would have but were generally nice. They were all young men. A lot of the Allied nations, France especially, did not have an army of proper soldiers, whereas Germany did. When they occupied Brittany, some even boarded with French people.
When D-Day happened, they all took off their uniforms to blend in for safety but also because it was finally over.
bonjourmr70 karma
Young men were scared to go to war. Everyone knew many who were killed.
bonjourmr147 karma
It’s funny because I could not even speak French until school, but sadly now I do not. Pepere spoke all his life!
GodKingMussolini70 karma
Hi,
If I may what was it like living through Nazi occupied Europe,
Like what was your day to day.
BloodKingX50 karma
My Great Grandfather was a WWII vet, and he died when I was young, so I never got to ask him the things I wanted to.
So, I must ask first and foremost, as a survivor, was there a German soldier you thought could’ve been a comrade, even a dear friend under different circumstances?
bonjourmr43 karma
German soldiers and local girls sometimes got together, with repercussions
bonjourmr25 karma
Grandson: I have a few vids at this comment that give insight into this: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/dtom4o/bonjour_i_am_a_100yr_old_ww2surviving_bretagne/f6y52qu?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x
bonjourmr119 karma
In Australia, teaching at a high school! I did cleaning for a few weeks when I first arrived to cover for my cousin who went home. I loved every minute of my teaching years, ‘62-85! I taught French mainly and a bit of Italian. My friend, who recently passed at 101, used to teach me some Italian and vice versa!
eveningsand26 karma
When you moved to Australia, what was the general sentiment towards the French post-WWII? How were you and your husband received by the community?
Thanks for sharing your experiences!
ID9ITAL22 karma
Hi would love to hear of your experiences. What was the process you went through to immigrate from France to Australia? Was there a lot of bureaucracy? Did your husband have a job offer set up before arrival?
bonjourmr26 karma
10 euro cruise liner buffered by the Australian Government
bonjourmr41 karma
Breton! I could not speak French until I went to school. It was hard to talk to Parisians when we went to sell produce or animals in the capital later on also. Saint-Hernin, Finistere if you know that area
bonjourmr18 karma
Have faith!
Grandson: sorry, I think you meant during WW2 but her answer was more regarding post-immigration to Australia, other videos will cover WW2
siperjff11 karma
Bonjour! Je connais quelques Bretons et leur fierté pour la Bretagne est toujours surprenante à mes yeux! Partagez-vous encore cette passion pour ce drapeau noir et blanc?
I figured a french text would be easier to understand as you are from Britanny. Pardon me if my french has some uncaught mistakes.
bonjourmr18 karma
Grandson here: we’re not actually sure it’s a real thing, it sort of translates to Mum Mum, but there was someone else here who uses the same words so maybe it is more common than we thought! It’s just something we grew up calling them, i’ll ask Mum and Dad to find out more.
Luhzly30 karma
It's a real word. In France, you can call your grandparents mémère and pépère or mamie and papy, those are the most common choices.
ozarkadventurer537 karma
Is there a simple way you can express how you have seen the world change in your lifetime?
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