Handwritten letters felt like lifesavers during World War II, a slender thread of connection during an era of danger and loneliness. For the most part, they were written in cursive. Educated people used that writing technique, which was nothing like calligraphy of old. Cursive was more practical than artistic. Students learned it in elementary school.… Read more »

After almost two years in Bavaria, it was time for my husband and I to return to the United States. As I retrieved items we had stored in our German landlord’s attic, I came across a decades-old undeveloped roll of film. “It must have belonged to the last owners of this house,” our landlord said.… Read more »

My husband and I lived near Nuremberg, Germany, while he was an Army lieutenant stationed in Bavaria. Though we both were children of World War II veterans, we knew little about the region’s history. We felt at home in the third-floor apartment of our landlord’s house. He and his wife treated us like family; their… Read more »