World War Two WWII WW2 Women Berlin Germany.

Actually it is, and it happened in a unique and dangerous time. Most readers laughed and cried. A lot could not stop reading and read through the whole night.

My autobiography is written with a positive, even cheerful attitude. That was our only way to survive. The book brings history from the point of view of a female. But most of all it presents the face of the ordinary German, which had been distorted by Hitler's atrocities, and it shows that we Germans suffered under that monster as cruelly as many other victims. The Hitler time and the war destroyed a lot but also gave us an overwhelming gratitude just to be alive and thankful for everything life has to offer. It has put money and all earthly possessions in the right perspective.

Born in 1919 soon after the First World War, I describe my life from childhood until our immigration to the United States iin 1955, a happy childhood in Berlin where our grandmother was part of a loving family, reading the bible and telling fairy-tales. I also tell about my near-death ordeal at the hands of an escaped killer. Then came the devastating depression and the sudden poverty of my family. In 1933 Hitler took over. Soon the rule of the Führer became a grim nightmare, and the came the war, the horrible war with the merciless bombing. In the midst of it all was love and marriage, the crib death of a child, and the murderous taking of Berlin.

After that we encountered the Russians, first the nice ones who were followed by the savage, cruel ones, who raped nearly all the women. Later we endured the terrible starvation. Finally, we made our flight to the Americans in the West of Berlin. Next was our financial struggle and miraculous success, soon ruined by our inexperience. And then came the scary blockade and the blissful airlift, and eventually, economic recovery. I also describe the heartbreaking story of Wassil, a Russian soldier who fell in love with me and probably paid for his life when he tried to desert the Russian army.

We are among the few Germans still alive who hated the Nazis, lived through it all and are still able to tell the tale.

My story speaks for the tremendous resilience of that generation. There was such intense life with love and laughter that not even Hitler and that gruesome war could not extinguish it. Fritz, my husband, was drafted right at the beginning, made the retreat from Stalingrad, and lost a leg in the war. We went through the bad and the good times together. Our love not only survived but thrived on the never-ending challenges of an unusual century. We are still joyfully married for 59 years. My writing proves that you can be happy with very little, even in the worst of circumstances.

Excerpt 1 About The "Gnädige Frau" My Little Sister Ellen And Other Things Hitler Hitler Hitler	Excerpt 2 The Jews in Berlin The War	Excerpt 3 Cupid The Wedding Bombing Buried Alive
Excerpt 4 The Beautiful Apartment Of My Parents In Law Wounded The Hoping and the Waiting The Fear The Russian Army Stands by for the Kill Leaving the City on Time	Excerpt 5 The Arrival Of The Russians In Woltersdorf The taking of Berlin Starving	Excerpt 6 Raping Journey To The Town Of Halle The Dear Money Alice in Wonderland Emigration