I made this diorama to recall a story my Dad would tell me about an incident from his childhood. It occurred sometime after the end of World War II, near the Displaced Persons camp where my father, his sisters, and his parents lived. In 1944, after living under German occupation in Ukraine since 1941, my father and his parents were rounded up and sent to a work camp in Germany. He was only 3 years old at the time. His only memory of that trip was waking up suddenly after he had frozen part of his face against the ice cold metal of the carriage wall. Luckily for my grandparents and my father they were in a part of Germany that was taken over by the US Army as opposed to the Soviets. The Soviets often treated liberated Soviet citizens as traitors, especially if they weren’t ethnic Russians. They could be deported to Siberia, imprisoned, or simply shot.
Apparently my grandfather had somehow appropriated a motorcycle while in the Mittenwald DP camp and would go off to find work, food, or trade for things. One day he returned to camp with fresh oranges. How he had found oranges was a mystery and my father said that he never found out. Using liberal creative license I’ve created a scenario where those oranges may have come from.
Here we see that my grandfather has come across a US Army supply truck, stopped on the side of the road to change a tire. Seeing that there was produce in the back of the truck, he stopped to see if the soldiers were interested in some trades. Grandpa has laid out on the road some war trophies he’d collected around after being liberated. Some medals, pistols, personal gear, and other trinkets. A newly arrived American officer can be seen inspecting a Luger, while the crouching enlisted man handles an Iron Cross. They are clearly picking out their half of the trade since grandpa has a crate of oranges at his feet.
The personal part of the scene was the figure representing my grandfather. A few years ago I had found a photo of his DP identification card in the Arolsen Archives (below). I’ve been getting better with my digital sculpting of heads to 3D print for my model figures, so I created a likeness of my grandfather.
Presenting this to my dad as a Father’s Day gift this year was a special moment. I got a big hug and he wept a bit. I make lots of things all of the time, but rarely do they make a personal connection like this did and I was really happy with how it turned out.
Next up will be something for my mom’s brother and sister, both of whom served in Vietnam.
Information on the kits I used and some more photos can be found on my Scalemates project page.
