Sigmar Gabriel has described his family history as a "wild story of flight and expulsion" and noted that his parents dealt with the trauma of expulsion in different ways. According to Gabriel, his father was physically and emotionally abusive to him and was an enthusiastic supporter of the national socialist ideology "until his dying breath;" However, Walter Gabriel never saw active service during the war due to suffering from polio. His mother was involved in relief and solidarity work for Poland during the period of martial law in Poland.