I'm old enough that the generation before me grew up after the war, or in the case of my ex-mother-in-law, her longterm partner fought in the war, for Germany.

Here in Austria it was very much the same as in Germany. Those unlucky enough to live in the workers' districts of Vienna (the capital was divided into 4 zones as was the rest of the country) had it harder, sometimes much harder, under Soviet occupation than the other districts.

Life in Austria during the 10 years of allied occupation was one mostly of survival.

If you want to get a good look at how post war life was like, I highly recommend the classic film, "The Third Man" by and with Orson Welles. It was filmed in and around Vienna in the mid-late 40s (released in 1949). For those of us who live here, it is shocking to see rubble and wasteland where now clean streets and restored or replaced buildings stand. Vienna was spared some of the worst of the WWII Allied bombing and the city is still destroyed.