Nipmuc students capture

By Theresa Knapp

A recent oral history collaboration between the Mendon Senior Center and the Mendon-Upton Regional School District brought history to life as local senior citizens shared firsthand memories, of childhood during World War II, with Nipmuc students.

Launched in January to align with the district’s history curriculum, the project paired Nipmuc Regional High School students with “senior seniors” who recalled what it was like to grow up on both the American and European home fronts during WWII. Through personal interviews, students captured stories of sacrifice, resilience, and the small, everyday moments that defined wartime life.

Two students in Mrs. Darcy Daniels’ U.S. History class were paired with one senior. To prepare for the interviews, the students created a list of questions they would ask, and the Mendon Senior Center shared the questions with the seniors so they could prepare.  

Among the senior participants was Louisa Marlies Kehler, 88, of Grafton. Kehler was born in 1938, in a university town in southern Germany – she could see the Black Forest from the top floor of her home - and though she was just 3-6 years old during the war, her memories remain vivid.

“I really do remember it well. I don’t know why,” she said.

Kehler’s father owned a car upholstery business with five employees before he had to become a soldier. “He had to go, they did not ‘ask,’” he was told, she said adding, “My dad didn’t come back. It was known that he was captured in the war and put in a prison camp.”

Kehler described long hours spent sheltering in the basement during air raids. “When they put out the signs that looked like Christmas trees, it meant we were a target for bombings,” she said. “During the war: basement, basement, basement — it was scary.” She remembers her mother using her body to protect her daughter.  

She said churches and relatives provided critical support, sending care packages that included small treasures, such as a ball from America. 

She said they received their news on the radio. “My mom, she always turned it off when that guy [Hitler] talked, and she never raised her hand [in salute],” she recalled. 

They later had to leave their house during the French Occupation; the family returned to the home after the war. 

Kehler eventually immigrated to the United States at age 21 after her husband, an inventor, sent her an engagement ring through the mail. They raised two daughters, Elvira and Victoria; and for many years Kehler was a coloratura soprano opera singer. 

At the same time, in America, Betsy Edsall, now of Mendon, was growing up in a military family near an Air Force base in Kansas. Her brother served in the Navy and her older sister worked as a “Rosie the Riveter” at a Kansas City plant building B-25 bombers.

Edsall recalled collecting cans for scrap drives and families buying war bonds. She vividly remembers military planes flying very low nearby. “It was so low, I thought it was going to crash,” she said. Soldiers frequently visited her family’s home for a homecooked meal. She also recalled her mother being ‘creative’ because of food shortages, remembering canned peas on toast as a frequent meal. 

After the war, her brother wrote down his experiences; Edsall shared the detailed document during the interview. 

Edsall was excited to share her experiences with the Nipmuc students. “I remember so much about it as a 4- and 5-year-old, we had so many servicemen at the house, and you don’t always get anybody to sit and listen.”

For the students, the experience offered a perspective no textbook could provide.

“I liked it and learned a lot,” said Zoe, an 11th grader from Upton. “It was different from the classroom perspective, in the details and the personal stories.” 

“It was from a first-hand experience and different than a textbook,” added Molly, an 11th grader from Mendon.

After the interviews, students incorporated their interviews, photos, and narratives into a podcast to later share at the Mendon Senior Center and the Upton Center.