A German Name Poem by Paul Warren

My maternal grandfather's name was Gleissert
A German name from the town of Posen in Prussia
They had come to South Australia
For religious freedom in the 19th Century

I have just found out what they put up with
In The Great War and the Second World War
They were pointed out as enemy aliens
And questioned as their loyalty to Australia

I remember my mother saying that
She was taken out to the front
Of her classroom by her teacher
And paraded as a person with a German name

She said that she cried when it occurred
The teacher had delighted in her embarrassment
This occurred when her only brother
Was wearing the uniform of the Australian army

People have their reasons I suppose for doing these things
But I wonder how this sort of thing
Was patriotic in its call and what these people thought
When they were Australian by choice.

© Paul Warren Poetry