Gretel Hirsch-Richardson

Gretel Richardson nee Hirsch is a German-Jew from 1944 discovered by characters when they were thrown back in time. She is a key figure in the only 'past plot' in ST_Deep_Space_9 that was started in 1944 and has been continuing. She is currently living with her husband and children and her original destiny altered before of decisions made in the future.
==Background Information==
No information exists at this time.
==Current Spouse(s)==
===Michael Richardson===
Gretel met her husband, Michael Richardson, when he was accidentally tossed into the past, Michael saved her from the Hofler family, Nazi's whom Gretel was living with but was secretly Jewish. Saving her and going to Brussels, Michael returned to his time only to realize they conceived a child together. Going back to see her, he kept up the lie until caught by the temporal police. Finally, he made his way back to the past for good, using his knowledge of the past to make a life for himself. He and Gretel were married. Six months later in June of 1945, temporal police came once again and a trial was held determining in his special circumstances since he was originally from the past that he be allowed to remain.Gretel remains under the impression Michael was arrested for war crimes but was found innocent. They have two children together.
===Jeffery Sullivan===
Gretel met her alternate reality husband, Jeffery Sullivan, because Michael had not gone back in time. They were married and had three children - none of which survived WW3. They had three children together.
==Children==
Gretel has three children with Michael Richardson named Marcus Richardson, Isaac Richardson and Dean Richardson (1947). Please see the links for more information.
During the temporal trial in 2401, Michael was permitted to return on the idea that Gretel and her children/progeny from Jeffery Sullivan did not survive the war to make a considerable impact on history and would therefore not be missed if they failed to exist. Her alternate children include Benjamin Sullivan, Catherine Sullivan and Elizabeth Sullivan (1955-2035).
==Original History==
===Hamburg===
Born and raised in Hamburg, Germany, Gretel's childhood was a good one. Her father was an accountant and her mother stayed at home. They had a modest means, but were comfortable and happy. When Gretel was 9 years old, her sister, Malka, was born. In 1938, when the Nazi's seized control of Isak's business, he feared that the anti-semitism was reaching a dangerous peak. He did not know that the worst was yet to come. Rumors came that entire Jewish populations would be transported else where. Some believed this to be propaganda, but Isak feared that if they did not act, that his family could be in danger. In 1940, he urged Gretel to take her sister and flee. Gretel, born with blond hair, and could pass as an Aryan.
Gretel made her way to Munich, Germany, far away from where she could be identified as a Jew. She found a family that would allow her sister in hide in a barn in exchange for most of her pay and provided that she take care of her sister's food and clothing needs. Gretel found work as a house maid for Franz Hofler, a high ranking Nazi officer. To provide for her sister, she was able to steal a food booklet that allowed her to have extra food rationed to her. She often thought of her parents, but knew that she could not communicate with them safely, and could only hope to be reunited with them at the war's end. Until then, she would keep her word to take care of her sister.
In 1944, Hofler took in a German officer by the name of Markel Lindemann (in reality, Michael Richardson). He came to the home with a head injury, that Gretel helped treat. Hofler had sponsored German officers before, and she was accustomed to seeing to their needs. Markel struck her as different than the other Nazi officers. He did not have the reverence for Hitler that other soldiers did, and did not openly speak out against the Jews.
One night, when Gretel was slipping out the food rationing book from its hiding place, Markel walked in on her. Discovered as a Jew, she begged that he not tell anyone. Markel had a secret of his own though. A couple nights later, he came to Gretel's bedroom door in the middle of the night, asking if she wanted to leave with him. Fearing that she may be discovered as a Jew by the Hoflers, she agreed on the condition that they pick up her sister as well. During their escape, Markel reveals himself as an American soldier by the name of Marcus Richardson, and the two share a moment that was a defining point in Gretel's life.
===Brussels===
True to his word, Marcus helped Gretel and her sister escape. Marcus stayed behind in Germany, while Gretel and her sister drive the stolen Hofler car to near the Belgium border. There, they abandon the car and cross the border through the woods. Nine months later, she gave birth to her son, Marcus Richardson Hirsch. Upon reaching Belgium, Gretel was able to find work in a bakery with a baker who had taken pity, and allowed her to live in the storeroom with her sister and son. There they stayed until the war's end.
After the war, Gretel learned from an old family friend that her and her sister were the only survivors of her family. Her parents, uncles, aunts, and cousins had all been deported to Auschwitz, and never seen or heard from again. With nothing left in Germany, In 1947 Gretel and her sister immigrated to America. She went to Montana in hopes of being reunited with her long lost love. It was there that she learned that he too had been lost in the war.
===America===
Gretel reached out to Marcus's family and learned that he had been married with four children. His wife did not want to accept that her husband had taken a lover while on duty and sired a child. Marcus's siblings though were more open to the idea, especially since Marcus Hirsch had striking similarities to the Richardson family. Years later, a DNA test would confirm the relation.
As a single mom during the late 1940's, Gretel found work in a factory while her sister went to school and helped take care of Marcus. As she walked home each day, she had caught the attention of a man who daily drank outside of a small cafe. One day he asked her to join him, and from there courted her. Gretel was worried when he learned that she had a child and took care of her sister, that he would not be interested. He continued to court her though, and on June 26, 1949, Gretel married Jeffrey Andrew Sullivan. She left the factory job to raise her family. Malka continued to live with Gretel and Jeffrey until she too was married to William Cochrane, the great grandfather of Zefram Cochrane, inventor of the warp drive.
At last, with a husband and four children, Gretel had found the American dream. In 1981, seeing how much the world had changed in just a few decades, Gretel felt the time had come to write down her experiences so that future generations would not forget what had happened to millions of victims of the Holocaust. Her memoir, Living Under Their Nose: A Holocaust Survivor's Story was published in 1983. The book is dedicated to Marcus Richardson.
==Altered History==
Because Michael went back in time, everything under 'original history' is only known to those outside of time, namely Michael and Ashley Moss who read her book. Gretel is unaware of this possible future since she never had the opportunity to meet Jeffery due to Michael's decisions about remaining in 1945. It is possible in this new future she will write a memoir as well, but this time to include the Richardson family.
2 Gretel Hirsch-Richardson
Category:United Federation of Planets
Category:Terran
Category:Civilian
Category:Past Plot
Category:N/A Mirror Universe
Category:First Generation
Category:December
Category:1921
Category:All Characters