Pia Wolf



Elka's maternal grandmother, and part of Pauli's extended family. She did whatever work she could find, before taking early retirement to help raise her two grandchildren, Elka and Luca. Annika is her daughter and only child. She believes in hard work, determination and dedication above everything else.

Pia Wolf, maiden name Pichler, was born around nine months after the end of the first world war, to a working class couple in a rural part of Austria. Her childhood was surrounded by the rebuilding which occurred after the war, although she paid it little heed.

In her teenage years, she fell in love with Gerhard Wolf, the miller's son. He in turn courted her. She recalls the summer of 1937 fondly, staying up late and dancing in the streets. With rumours of chaos coming, very slowly trickling into their little village, he proposed to her that November. Both families approved the match, and they were married the next February.

With the Anschluss falling the next month, both of them settled into the new regime. With the call to bear arms, Gerhard willingly signed up and Pia set about making the most of her life, making herself useful in whatever ways possible.

He returned home safely and fine in the July of 1939, only to return to active service later that same year.

By the time Pia's letter announcing her pregnancy arrived in Poland, Gerhard was dead. Their daughter, Annika, was born the following February, on what should have been their second wedding anniversary.

Pia raised Annika with the help of her parents and the local people, taking whatever work they would let her have. This continued even after Annika left home and even after she married. By the time Luca was born, Pia's parents were dead. As such, she moved to her daughter's home in Saltzburg, and took up childcare as her full time occupation.