{"id":860,"date":"2026-08-01T06:13:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T06:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marcielsims.com\/?p=860"},"modified":"2026-07-21T18:15:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T18:15:15","slug":"ilona-cole-guest-author-story-204","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marcielsims.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/01\/ilona-cole-guest-author-story-204\/","title":{"rendered":"Ilona Cole, Guest Author, Story 204"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

An Evening Honoring Vienna<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Invitation to a Christmas Ball arrived from Dance Studio Boylke<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walzer! Waltzes!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My sister Friedl and I, Ilona were very excited to attend. Looking forward to a dance our dear mama already anticipated and purchased two beautiful gowns. White eyelet lace for my sister Friedl with a white underlay, full and long, fitted bodice, she looked like a princess. Her black long hair was braided with white pearls braided through. Stunning!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My white eyelet lace gown also full, long with fitted bodice but a ruby-red underlay, beautiful. My auburn hair was long and our Mrs. Kramer insisted to curl it, I did not usually like curls. The curls were held back on the right side with a comb, decorated with five large rubies, it belonged to my beloved mama and I was proud to wear it tonight. Our mama waved, as we were driving away from our home with the limo. As we entered the dance studio, a big banner announced the concert orchestra. A big surprise, it was a well known orchestra from Munich, known throughout Germany and Austria. The decorations were very beautiful and festive. Big sections of wood suspended from the ceiling like clouds, painted in white and light blue. Inside the dance floor a big cluster of white, flocked Christmas trees and in the center a tall beautiful white flocked noble fir with little Angels in white or silver gowns on every branch.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This will be a nice beginning to the Christmas season. Of course, we are not aware of this being our last Christmas in this studio. So glad we do not know that next Christmas this studio, this beautiful, old city will be completely destroyed by an allied bombing raid.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The evening was a dream – only waltzes, my dearest Friedl loves.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tonight, I will be very grateful and very happy having been invited to<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

enjoy this so special evening with my beloved sister. The table by the stage was already set and they again outdid themselves with different, delicious food, both, savory and sweet, even champagne. Let the music begin; the first waltz Wiener Blut (Vienna Blood).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beautiful music, beautiful gowns, beautiful young men from the nearby Garrisons, maybe their last night at home, the right age to enter the military. A beautiful place and a beautiful night to remember long. The young man, stepping up to my chair introduced himself as Michael, blond, blue eyes with a captivating smile. During the intermission, he joined our table and started a conversation, but asked me first if I would mind if he would call me or come to see me when and if he would return, when this terrible war would be over. Of course, how could I deny this to this young man, a soldier now defending our homeland. Michael told us that he is from Munich and knows this concert orchestra. He is 19 years old and was in The University of Munich completing his first year when he got drafted. His plans now have to be postponed until his return. This is the end of 1943, I am 16 and I will be 18 years old, when this terrible war will end.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

No letter, No visit from Michael. I had my answer, another casualty of war.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So many, too many, in fact two generations gave their lives for Hitler, not to talk about the toll it took from the nightly bombings. September 11th, 1944 twenty thousand souls were lost in one night in my, this city of Darmstadt. Not to dwell on this ugly time this evening, let this be an evening for the young, let us enjoy this evening, this night of the waltz. It is now June of 1945 and this cruel war is finally over.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, the 2nd of June is my birthday and I had a letter in the mail. It was from a Freiher von Goettingen. A letter for me, from a Count?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This must be a mistake, but I may open it, since it is addressed to me. Getting seated on my window bench in my room, I opened the letter, it was signed by a lady named Mimi Von Goettingen, home address: Munich? Oh, the light came on and suddenly I did not feel good. This letter is from Michael’s mother. Oh NO!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She told me that when she escorted Michael to his troop train, he had one request, that if he did not return, for her to write Ilona a letter and gave her my address. Her husband and she are devastated losing their only son, their only child. She would be so very happy, if I could come some time to Munich and visit them. They would cherish, meeting the young lady her beloved Michael was in love with.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friedl’s and my life at this time was so tumultuous and we did not have the stamina or strength to take on another complication. We were concentrating on our survival. In time, hopefully the wounds for these loving parents would heal and they also could survive this terrible ordeal.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Christmas 1945 I wrote Mimi von Goettingen and her husband a beautiful Christmas message and remembered then that wonderful evening at the Dance Studio Boylke and Michael.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An Evening Honoring Vienna Invitation to a Christmas Ball arrived from Dance Studio Boylke Walzer! Waltzes! My sister Friedl and I, Ilona were very excited to attend. Looking forward to a dance our dear mama already anticipated and purchased two beautiful gowns. White eyelet lace for my sister Friedl with a white underlay, full and … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Ilona Cole, Guest Author, Story 204”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcielsims.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcielsims.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcielsims.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcielsims.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcielsims.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=860"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/marcielsims.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":862,"href":"https:\/\/marcielsims.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860\/revisions\/862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcielsims.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcielsims.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcielsims.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}