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Luzia Dorothea Niessen Karson was born on March 5, 1926 to Hubert and Maria (Neihsen) Niessen in Stolberg, Germany. Stolberg is an industrial town in western Germany near the borders of Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg, not far from northern France. Stolberg has been famed for its copper works for centuries. It is also noted for the historic Stolberg Castle at the central heights of the town, built by the emperor Charlemagne. She was the eighth sibling of ten Niessen children. Eight of the ten siblings were females: Grethe (d.2006), Klara (d.1916),Agnes (d.1981), Maria (d.2005),Kathe (d.), Luzia, Martha, and Marlene. Brothers were Peter (d.1988) and Johanes (died at birth). Dorly (which was Luzia’s nickname in her family) was born during the start of the depression in Europe, but her father, Hubert, was a bricklayer, and with odd sewing jobs for the daughters, the family managed to make ends meet. But other parts of Germany were seeing hard times for many families. The political climate grew restless and eventually dangerous. On the west border of Germany, young Dorly’s life was happy. She spent time with her father and siblings in the parks and woods surrounding Stolberg. Memories were good of those times. She attended a Catholic school in town, as education was important to her parents. Her mother had attended college and worked in an office, not common for a woman at the time. Dorly was very good at math and was a very good swimmer and diver. She remained good with numbers all her life and swam for exercise into her seventies. Around the age of 8, Dorly remembered when the crucifix in her Catholic school classroom was suddenly replaced by a picture of the new Chancellor of Germany, who had just declared himself Fuhrer of the country. Students started to be asked at school about the activities of their parents at home. Questions regarding who they talked to, what they listened to on the radio and political discussions at home were asked. At times, she noticed that some neighbors and parents of other students were not around any more, where they went to or moved to was not apparent. It wasn’t talked about. Hubert, her father, left Germany with the oldest son, Peter, because of fear about his political leanings. Maria, the mother, took over for the family. Hubert remained away from Stolberg for a few years, returning in the late 1930’s. He returned to work to support the family, was injured and died of stomach cancer in 1940. In the meantime, Peter, as the oldest and only son, was enlisted in the army and left for the Russian Front. By the early 1940’s Dorly’s three older sisters were married and their husbands were soldiers, also on the Eastern Front. She was now the oldest of the three sisters at home with their mother. The prosperity of the rejuvenated 1930’s German economy started to fade as the winds of war rose and then exploded. With their father gone, the family fell on tougher times and moved to an apartment house. Air raids became common and the war on the Russian Front deteriorated. Two brothers-in-law P. 2 died there and brother, Peter, became a Russian prisoner. Damage to Stolberg from bombings increased as 1944 approached. As Stolberg is at the western border of Germany, it became the gateway of the battles between the Allies and German Army that followed. With the Allied invasion of Europe in 1944, the western border of Germany, including Stolberg, became the first entry point into Germany for the Allies. Stolberg and nearby Aachen were attacked and the towns exchanged hands, in fierce fighting, from Allied to German control regularly for weeks. Dorly’s mother refused to evacuate with her 3 daughters Dorly, Martha and Marlene, despite warnings and threats from soldiers on both sides. The next oldest daughter, Agnes with her son Josef, were seized by German soldiers and forcibly evacuated away from their family. The three sisters and mother remained holed up in their basement for weeks, with little food, water and warmth. Lice and malnutrition were horrible. The girls snuck out at night to forage for food left by the soldiers, Allied or German, who had occupied their street that day. When they emerged at the end of the battles to the victorious Allies, they found the town above was destroyed to the ground. The family faced American soldiers who did not trust them and faced scorn from fellow Germans if they fraternized with the Americans. Townspeople were moved to the basement of the famous Stolberg Castle which was also destroyed to the ground. Conditions were not better there as it was crowded with many people. As the oldest daughter at home, Dorly’s mother sent her from Stolberg to find her other sisters. She was gone for six weeks, surviving on her own, traveling with others she met for safety. She vividly remembered the utter devastation she saw of all buildings. She also remembered the horror of seeing burned bodies in the rubble and witnessing others hurt by exploding land mines on her journey. Miraculously, she found all of her sisters safely alive. However her brother, Peter, remained a prisoner in Russia for many years. The family assumed he was dead until he suddenly returned a few years later, greatly malnourished but alive. Dorly herself was severely malnourished and, having returned to Stolberg, she sought treatment at a clinic staffed by American soldiers. A young medic, named Pete Karson from Arnold, Pennsylvania, was taken by this German beauty. He took to calling her Doris, a name that stuck. Doris and Pete started a friendship that resulted in her being ostrascized by fellow Germans and disrespected by Pete’s comrades. Doris, her family, and the other surviving townspeople set about the pain-staking work of rebuilding their town. Today, Stolberg with its famous castle and cozy neighborhoods is restored from the devastation of war. The Americans stayed in the area into the 1950’s. Pete was assigned P. 3 to the area and he and Doris spent much time together. They fell in love. Doris’ family spent time with the couple and liked and accepted Pete into their family, but worried about her choice to become serious about an American soldier. Pete was a big help to the Niessen family helping them get food and medical care in the war-torn region. Doris was anxious to find a better part of life than what she had just experienced the last few years in war-torn western Germany. Pete re-enlisted in the Army to stay in Germany, deciding to make a career of his service. Doris and Pete were married in Stolberg in 1949. Their first daughter, Linda, was born there in 1950. In 1952, Pete was assigned to return to the United States, taking his new family with him. While Pete was in American military camps being re-processed upon his return Doris and Linda left her family in Germany and moved to Arnold, Pennsylvania, Pete’s hometown. She lived with Pete’s parents for half a year, while Pete waited for a long-term assignment in the U.S.. It was hard for Doris to leave her family but she had a new family and life to follow. As a war bride, new to America with a German accent and anti-German sentiment high in the States, it was not an easy transition. Pete’s parents, Ukrainian immigrants themselves, were kind to her but it was hard with a young daughter while her husband was away from them. Pete received an assignment to a home base at Fort Meade, Maryland, where Doris and Linda joined him. They finally settled in as a family in the housing for Army families. Doris stayed at Fort Meade as Pete was sent on assignments out of country in Korea and other areas. On leaves, he returned to their home on the Fort Meade base. During this time, Martha, their second daughter, was born, joining Linda in the family in early 1954. The next year, Pete was assigned to Camp Zama near Tokyo, Japan. Doris travelled with Linda and Martha to Seattle by train and then boat to Japan to meet Pete. In Japan, near the base of Mount Fuji, the reunited family lived in local housing instead of barracks. There, Doris was the leader of the after-school Brownie troop that Linda joined at her school They stayed in Japan for 2 years and returned to Maryland upon Pete’s assignment to the Edgewood/Aberdeen Army complex. They stayed there as a family until 1961. While there, their only son, Pete, was born in 1960. Their family was complete. In 1961, Pete was assigned back to Germany, this time to the Vogelweh Army base near Frankfurt. Doris was able to reconnect with her mother and family in Stolberg and introduced her children to them. Doris, Pete, Linda, Martha and Petey enjoyed 3 years in Germany, until Pete was reassigned to the States to Fort Ord, California in 1964. They stayed there, with the children attending base schools, as before, until 1966, when Pete retired after 21 years of service to his country. The family returned to live in Pete’s hometown in Arnold, PA, near Pittsburgh. Pete worked at the local VA hospital and Doris worked at cleaning jobs in the area, while raising her children. They attended local schools while living in a close-knit neighborhood, near Pete’s parents.

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