Audrey Hepburn

Today we visited the largest open-air museum in Europe in Bokrijk as well s Belgium's oldest city: Tongeren.

However, at this point I am completely burnt out from tours. So instead of discussing what I saw there, I want to mention what I have been reading the last two days. This summer I had hoped to bring a few books along with me that I felt represented the countries I would be visiting. I struggled to say the least. I really did not know any Belgium writers. But right before I came to Belgium I learned that Audrey Hepburn was born in Brussels. I have had a biography about her on my bookshelf for a few years, and I have not gotten the chance to read it. I felt my study abroad would be the perfect chance.

While the book has little to do with Belgium, I have enjoyed it immensely. It is called Enchantment: The Life of Audrey Hepburn and is by Donald Spoto. While it is not especially well written, I have enjoyed all the insights into her life that a biography offers (keep in mind this is the first biography I have ever read on my own...I know, sad, but I am a fiction girl, so this is a big step for me). Wow. I came in to this book knowing very little about Audrey (yes, we are on a first name basis now) besides the various films that she starred in. But now 2/3 done with the book, I am thoroughly impressed by the struggles she endured.

I first started this book yesterday. It was a wonderfully coincidence that it happened to be the day when we were visiting the cemetery of WWII victims. To me WWII has always been rather removed. We learn about it in the classroom, I watch movies about it, and I read depressing fiction about people who did not really live. This is the first time I have read a narrative of someone's personal experience (well that's a lie, I realize I have read Night).  Audrey experienced the war first hand as she was living in Arnhem, Netherlands. Her mother was a baroness, but the war immediately stripped the family of its money and not just into poverty but near starvation. The biography tells of Audrey's close escapes from the Nazis and her active support of the Resistance even as a teenager. She put on secret ballet shows to raise money for the Resistance and relayed information between American and Dutch soldiers. For instance, an American was wounded in the forest and needed information as to how to contact the Dutch Resistance for safety and medical assistance. Audrey had spent much of her childhood at an English boarding school, and she was fluent in both languages. As such she was sent to the American soldier to rely messages. On her way into the forest she collected wildflowers in case she was questioned by the SS. She managed to find the American and successfully deliver the message. But on her way out she was confronted by Nazi soldiers. Innocently, a young Hepburn presented them with the flowers she had collected and they allowed her safe passage.

The first few chapters are filled with similar situations. One time Audrey was carted onto a train, but miraculously managed to jump off and slip under the train across the tracks.

One of the more tragic scenes was when the Americans finally arrived in Arnhem. By that point the family had essentially no food. Audrey was incapable of caring herself up the stairs she was so weak. Her skin had turned yellow from jaundice, and she had to sleep to keep away the pangs of hunger. When the Americans saw her small frame they gave her 5 bars of chocolate and a cigarette.  While she devoured the chocolate, she immediately threw up. The cigarette she tried but stopped after the coughing overwhelmed her. However, she would forever have an affinity for smoking.

Anyway. I just wanted to share what an incredible life Audrey lived. This is only a snippet of the things that I learned about her childhood, which was incredibly traumatic and accounted for her chronic depression.


While this is an amazing story that I had to share, there is also the realization of how vital the US was in WWII. Yes, I knew the basic things about the war and that the US was important in the ultimate success of the Allies. But it is something completely different to read about someone's life that was actually affected by the war. It makes history feel personal rather than removed. The US involvement in the war turned the tide. What would have happened if England had fallen before the US joined? Germany just quickly took over all of England (Belgium was lost in 9 days I believe) and was marching towards global dominance, obliterating the lives of the people it thought unworthy not just with death but starvation. The combination of visiting a WWII cemetery after reading about Audrey's personal experience during WWII and the arrival of American troops at her house really had a strong impact on me as to the true heroism if the American soldiers. Which if you have ever had a serious conversation with me about wars, soldiers, and the States foreign involvement you will no that this is quiet out of character thinking.