Nazi Germany Survivor Celebrates 100th Birthday in Minnesota

Surviving Wartime Germany

Reflecting on her early life to a gathering at her dining room table on Friday, Sept. 18, Annelee Woodstrom recalled the hardships of growing up under the Nazi regime.

During her childhood in Germany, Woodstrom attended a Catholic school because her parents refused to enroll her in public schools where children were routinely recruited into the Hitler Youth. She later endured heavy aerial bombardments, stating, “You have no idea what it was like to sit in the basement and wait for the Allied planes to come in and bomb,” adding that the bombings caused permanent damage to her hearing. She also witnessed Allied tanks rolling directly into her town.

Moving to Minnesota and Teaching Career

Amid the devastation of the war, Woodstrom met Kenny Woodstrom, a U.S. Army soldier from Minnesota who was serving in Europe. Reflecting on their romance, she previously told WDAY, “I just loved the guy for who he was. I didn’t know he was a Lutheran.”

The couple relocated to Norman County, Minnesota, where Woodstrom raised her children and taught school in Twin Valley for 22 years. She earned recognition as Minnesota’s Teacher of the Year in 1984 and later authored three books, including the memoir titled War Child: Growing Up in Adolf Hitler’s Germany. “The best thing you can do is teach, I loved the students,” Woodstrom said of her long career.

Centennial Celebrations

Friends and family are honoring Woodstrom’s centennial with celebrations in Ada on Saturday and at the Jasper in downtown Fargo on Sunday. Despite living through severe food rationing in wartime Germany—an era that left her marveling at bottled milk deliveries and abundant butter upon her arrival in America—Woodstrom maintains a positive outlook.

“When I think back how I lived. Maybe I should have regrets but I don’t. My parents told me to treat other people the way I would want to be treated,” Woodstrom said. Today, she still lives independently at age 100 and remains in touch with younger educators she previously mentored.