A German Name

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