We had planned to stay in Sweden at least four years but the black clouds of war hovered over us. Mother, Peter, and I left Bergan (sp) (after my sleep all night in a smothering feather bed) on the last ship to the States. The sea was dangerously full of mines and our captain steered our ship to the tip of Greenland.
The Christmas tree and presents on the boat did not seem to bring their usual happiness. Fear reigned the thoughts of the passengers. I sensed it as children do, and when I had to wear my life preserver could only be coaxed with gum from a kind gentleman.
Our furniture left Oslo five days before it was bombed.
The author was 5 years old when her family was forced by threat of violence to leave Scandinavia to return to the US in 1939. This text was written as a school assignment describing her experience of war in Europe.