The Woods of Medallion is homebase to many exceptional people. While working in my flower garden two years ago, I met my neighbor, Rob Richter’s mother, Mary. She also was “puttering around” and getting beds ready for summer flowers. Her German accent led me to believe she had a life story to tell. It’s a frightening story, a heroic story, an immigrant story of survival and strength, and she is our neighbor.

Mary Braunstein was born in Yugoslavia, January 22, 1933. Mary was the second youngest of 6 children. Her father was a shoemaker in the German-speaking village.  She remembers making rag dolls and other toys and playing ball and hide and seek with school friends. When she was in third grade, she remembers hearing planes flying over their village, and the Croatian Military terrorizing the neighborhood. The Militia had no uniforms except a hat with a red star. Many neighbors were arrested and sent to concentration camps in Serbia, and she knows of parents who were killed.

They had just gone to bed one evening in December, when there was pounding on the door, and Mary was awakened by a rifle butt on her shoulder. Her entire family was ordered into the street by the Croatian Militia where, with their neighbors, they were marched to the local school. They were allowed to grab their coats and no food. At age eleven, Mary remembers looking back and seeing others ransacking her home of goods and food. At the school, jewelry, rings, and other objects were taken from them. 

When morning came, they marched in the snow and cold to the next village. Ninety people were in the group. Mary remembers tripping and falling into a ditch and then marching with wet clothes. In the next village they were given dry clothes and food. The following day found the group of ninety marching, shaking, and freezing. German soldiers found them, gave them food and put them on a train to Austria. 

The boxcar for 90 had a potbelly stove and straw on the floor for sleeping. Mary and her family spent two days in the boxcar and she remembers hearing planes overhead. Arriving in Austria, the group was told “NO”. They had to move on to Germany because Austria had too many refugees due to the war. Mary remembers washing her face with snow and hiding when American bombers were overhead.

Along the way, they hid in bunkers, carried younger children, and peeled potatoes to get food. Refugees would help each other out; Germans with different dialects got along. Arriving in Germany, they again were told to move on. No room for them. So, they marched on.

Finally arriving in Bavaria, the family was housed in a school with other refugees, and a local priest would travel to farms begging for food. In the village, the local shoemaker had died, so Mary’s father and brother fixed shoes. Since no one had money, food was the method of payment. On May 4, 1945, an American jeep pulled into the village of Mailing. Mary’s father always had a desire to go to America, and through Catholic Charities, the family was sponsored by an uncle in Youngstown to go to America. 

Mary and her family traveled to America on the warship USS Hersey, arriving at Pier 55 on Christmas Eve, 1951. Mary was seasick for the entire twelve-day voyage. As they disembarked the warship, each person was given $5 by Catholic Charities. They were also instructed that they must self-support themselves, or they would be sent back to Germany. The Braunstein family settled in Youngstown, Ohio. In 1953 at a church picnic, Mary met Joseph Richter, another German refugee and after their marriage moved to Hermitage PA near the Ohio border. 

Mary held many jobs, and because of her sewing skills, did intricate detail work on bridal gowns. Mary enjoys plants, cooking and especially, making her own phyllo and strudel. Reading the Bible and other religious books is also a pastime for her. Mary lives with her son Rob who fondly remembers all travels the family has taken when he was younger. This summer she and her son plan another trip to Hermitage, PA to visit her only surviving sibling, her sister, Ann. 

Mary’s story is not only a testament to survival but also a reminder of the strength and resilience carried quietly by those around us. For them and all those who built our country, we are proud to celebrate America’s 250th Birthday.