At a dawn service in the Adelaide Hills, Arna Eyers-White is one face in a crowd of hundreds.
She deliberately stands near the back.
“It’s awkward, and it’s difficult to articulate,” she said. “We’re Germans, we were on the other side.”
Ms Eyers-White was born shortly after her parents migrated to Australia, with the memory of World War II still fresh in many people’s minds.
In the post-war era, Australia became home to millions of European migrants and refugees seeking a better life. Tens of thousands came from war-ravaged Germany.
As the Eyers-White family sought to build a new life, they kept their heritage to themselves.
“I think, like a lot of Germans, when we were young we didn’t really say that we were [German],” Ms Eyers-White said.
“Our names were Anglicised, and it was never really talked about."
It also took her several decades to realise her parents had both played active roles in Hitler’s Germany.
“My father fought in the Wehrmacht, and my mother was in the Hitler Youth,” she said.
“I guess that was like the Girl Guides, to some extent. They had to be part of it, and they learned to tie knots… I’m sure there were worse aspects, but to be honest, I don’t know a lot.”
Ms Eyers-White will likely never know the extent of her parents’ involvement.
“Like others, like a lot of Australians, I guess, they never talked about it,” she said.
Though she attends Anzac Services out of respect, her family’s hidden history has left an uncomfortable legacy.
“The awkwardness comes from the lack of acknowledgement that anyone else was there, except for descriptions like the oppressor,” she said.
“There’s an inherited guilt that we all carry. We’re the children of the oppressor.”
The lingering guilt over a conflict in which she played no role will probably never disappear for Ms Eyers-White.
“It’s right, they do what they do [on Anzac Day]. I respect that. In fact, it’s respect that brings me here,” she said.
“There is a greater respect these days for the Turks, and quite rightly so, to acknowledge what they did.
“That level of respect is still not available [for Germans], and probably, I don’t think ever will be.
“And no one’s really asking for it. But, I think a level of forgiveness is what’s being asked for.”
