That is where Garmaine Pitchon was when Hitler ascended to power and unleashed a diabolical scheme to annihilate the Jewish race. Follow along as Eli Gonzalez tells Garmaine story in a vibrant, chilling, and compelling narrative. Always a rambunctious, curious girl, Garmaine found a way to not wear the yellow Star of David and got to experience more than most before Garmaine experienced loss at an epic proportion. Her entire family was murdered, beginning with her grandmother, killed in her own grocery store by a Nazi officer who forced her to make him a sandwich as she walked over her just-murdered beloved grandmother’s warm, flowing blood. Experience the horror of the 9-Day train ride to Auschwitz and become a first hand witness to when it was only Nazi’s and Jews and the veil was pulled off and absolute evil abounded. Yet, there is something about Garmaine’s story, something divine that happened. What was meant to destroy her strengthened her. What was meant to stop her lineage became a force to help desperate mothers years after. When there is a divine purpose for your life and that of your family, no one and nothing can stop it.

    The youngest daughter, Kieks, joined the Resistance, delivering illegal newspapers, guiding British parachutists around The Hague and preparing safe houses for Special Forces who were dropped in from England. As the War continued, she fell in love with a Resistance commander, and worked with him to rescue wounded colleagues, steal weapons from German arms dumps and move weapons around the country. They had a tumultuous parting and she continued her work, acting as a courier with a two hundred km bike ride to the north of Holland. When she returned home, she appreciated how much the war had changed her and her boyfriend, and prepared to try a reconciliation.She escaped a firing squad four times, and survived the war, mentally scarred by her experiences. She sought help, but the help she was offered came in a poisoned chalice, and she kept her secret to herself for almost fifty years.Her family in Holland was recognised by Yad Vashem, the Israeli organisation that records those who saved Jews from the Holocaust, and she was awarded a pension for her work in the Resistance by the Dutch foundation Stichting 1940-1945. It was only when these organisations acknowledged the truth of her claims that she had the confidence to tell her family of the events from long ago.

    His only clues are an old photo and the bedtime stories his father used to tell him. The Storyteller follows Samir’s search for Brahim, the father whose heart was always yearning for his homeland, Lebanon. In this moving and gripping novel about family secrets, love, and friendship, Pierre Jarawan does for Lebanon what Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner did for Afghanistan. He pulls away the curtain of grim facts and figures to reveal the intimate story of an exiled family torn apart by civil war and guilt. In this rich and skillful account, Jarawan proves that he too is a masterful storyteller

    Newly-edited corrected version. Danzig is a gripping historical novel in the grand tradition. It has generated rave reviews (90% 4 and 5 stars) for its authenticity and its realistic portrayal of high pressure diplomatic clashes between Hitler and Western nations in the 1930s. The story encompasses fast-paced events in Geneva, Berlin, Warsaw and London, as well as Danzig itself, capturing the drama of unfolding crisis that engulfed Europe on what we now know was the path to war. * "A smartly written, engrossing read. * “Channeling the best of Alan Furst, Danzig, is a must read for the any lover of well written historical fiction. * “Mr. Walker's descriptions made this reader feel as if she were in the middle of the historic drama. The novel builds in intensity until the dramatic ending. It's a terrific read.” * “Danzig is a must read for any lover of riveting historical fiction dealing with Hitler’s rise. Walker makes the saga of the city and the Polish Corridor come alive. The tensions of the time are vividly described in human terms, making for gripping reading.” * “Danzig is an amazing book, putting the reader in the middle of pre WW II in Europe. The time and scene were painted in detail and to perfection. The characters were presented in such a way I felt I knew them and worried for them throughout.” * “Superb historical fiction; good story, good atmospherics. Danzig is a sophisticated journey into European power politics during a time of high drama. I think it bears comparison to the best authors in the popular interwar historical fiction genre and I rate it a very successful effort.” * “The author does a great job of making the reader feel what it was like to be in the center of pre-WWII Europe, with Germany flouting the Treaty of Versailles, England following an ill-fated policy of appeasement and the League of Nations powerless and ineffective in dealing with Hitler and his aggression. For anyone interested in WWII history, especially the lead-up to the war and the dysfunction among the European Allies, this is a great read! The website www.authorwilliamwalker.com offers a link to Amazon Kindle as well as a synopsis, photos and more information.

    Most families must rely on arranged marriage just to survive. But free-spirited Maren Luersen doesn’t care for riches—her heart belongs to handsome but poor Thies Heinen. He may not have prospects or fortune to offer, but Maren knows their intense love can overcome any obstacle, and she is determined to be his bride.The wealthy and mysterious Captain Rune Boyse has other plans. He shocks Maren with a startling marriage proposal, and even though he can give her family a better life, her love for Thies is too powerful to deny. But when tragedy strikes, she finds herself in debt to the captain and must set sail with him on a dangerous whale hunt—with no promise of a safe return.If Maren survives, will life be the same back on shore? Or will her heart change course somewhere over the icy swells of the Arctic Sea?

    Czentovic easily defeats him, but during the rematch a mysterious Austrian, Dr B., intervenes and, to the surprise of everyone, helps the underdog obtain a draw. When, the next day, Dr B. confides in a compatriot travelling on the same ship and decides to reveal the harrowing secret behind his formidable chess knowledge, a chilling tale of imprisonment and psychological torment unfolds. Stefan Zweig’s last and most famous story, ‘A Game of Chess’ was written in exile in Brazil and explores its author’s anxieties about the situation in Europe following the rise of the Nazi regime. The tale is presented here in a brand-new translation, along with three of the master storyteller’s most acclaimed novellas: Twenty-four Hours in the Life of a Woman, The Invisible Collection and Incident on Lake Geneva.

    Rifcha and her family were living normal, happy lives. There was school, work, family dinners, outings and vacations. That was until 1938 when the first bit of turmoil started to hit their village located in the Sub-Carpathian mountains - anti-Semitism started running rampant like a disease. It began taking ahold of everyone around them. Those who were once friends now became vicious enemies. Rifcha began to realize that her world was about to crumble.On April 18, 1944, Rifcha and her family were ripped from their home and taken by gunpoint to the Mukacheve Ghetto. The conditions were harsh and virulent but the entire family was alive and together. Their stay in Mukacheve Ghetto was brief. One month later they were loaded into cattle cars and taken to Auschwitz II- Birkeneu.Selections were made as soon as the family was pulled from the train. There were no last hugs. No good-byes. As Rifcha's mother and her youngest siblings were being torn away and taken to their final death march, Rifcha's mother made her promise to take care of her sisters, to survive and to make sure she told the world of the atrocities of the Holocaust. At the gates of Auschwitz, Rifcha decided to become someone new. She gave herself a new name: Edita with the meaning: Spoils of war.Over a million people, lost their lives in Auschwitz II - Birkenau, mostly in gas chambers; today, it is the world's largest Jewish graveyard. At the height of the selections, the murders would peak at 10,000 a day. This camp was home to Dr. Josef Mengele. This was where he did all of his medical experiments. Edita fell prey to Dr. Mengele several times, even becoming victim to his knife, which ended up saving her life. When selections were being made for the eviction of Auschwitz-Birkenau II, Edita once again came in front of Mengele and he once again saved her life, but her battle wasn't over.When the Russians started nearing the concentration camps she was moved to the Flossenburg work camp. The living conditions were much better but the risks remained. It was here that she befriended the Hauptsrumfuhrer (the Commander of the camp). He ended up helping both Edita and Joli survive the next six months.In April 1945, Edita was moved again to the Terezin Ghetto. It was here she spent her time waiting for the Russian's, American's, or simply - a miracle. On May 4, 1945 that miracle happened she was Liberated.Edita's father, three brothers and one sister survived the war. They were eventually all reunited. Edita married a Russian soldier and had two daughters. When Edita made her way to America she changed her name again to Edith, meaning happy - because she was happy because despite the worse of circumstances, life goes on and she survived and now she is telling her story, just as she promised her Mother she would.

    As mothers, wives, daughters, and sisters, female Polish forced laborers faced a unique set of challenges and often unspeakable conditions because of their gender. Compelled to learn more about her own mother's experience as a forced laborer, Sophie Hodorowicz Knab embarked on a personal quest to uncover details about this overlooked aspect of World War II history. She conducted extensive research in archives in the U.S., London, and Warsaw for over 14 years to piece together facts and individual stories.Knab explains how it all happened, from the beginning of Nazi occupation in Poland to liberation: the roundups; the horrors of transit camps; the living and working conditions of Polish women in agriculture and industry; and the anguish of sexual exploitation and forced abortions--all under the constant threat of concentration camps. Knab draws from documents, government and family records, rare photos, and most importantly, numerous victim accounts and diaries, letters and trial testimonies, finally giving these women a voice and bringing to light the atrocities that they endured.

    Vera Socha's adversities started at age three when a painful epidemic plagued her village. At the age of six, starvation stalked the village almost claiming her life. As a teenager, she endured the chaos of living in a war zone and the German occupation of her land. At sixteen she was forced to leave home to work in Germany, where times of rest were few and labor was rigorous. She endured being arrested and beaten by police. For six years following the war, Vera lived in Germany's Displaced Person's Camps. Here she married and bore four children. Notable life difficulties continued after she immigrated to the United States in 1951. Those struggles included her travel back to Ukraine and the emotional reunion with her family she hadn't seen for thirty-five years, In the midst of her life struggles and often in hours of desperation, angels (as she calls them) were sent to rescue her. In this story, you will enter the life of a woman with a tenacious spirit who overcame extreme adversities and made the best of her very difficult life. Most of her contemporaries with similar and often more dramatic stories are deceased, and their stories are irretrievable. Vera's story, on the other hand, will live on well past her years.

    It makes visceral the fear, the filth, and the cold that were his constant companions. Kafak is a reluctant hero who intentionally pisses off the brass to avoid promotion because he has seen too many of his commanding officers get blown to pieces and he doesn’t want to be next. He fights from the beaches of Anzio in Italy and battles up through the South of France toward Germany, facing one terrible heart-pounding encounter after another. Seen through Kafak’s thick-lensed army-issued glasses, the wider implications of the war remain blurry while he focuses on the simple, urgent needs of survival: keep your head down, keep your feet dry, gain the next six feet of ground, and concentrate on what tomorrow will bring.

    When the Führer's troops march across Europe, Hedy is determined to help the soldiers by becoming a physical therapist. The Nazis, however, have other plans. Suddenly she finds herself assembling airplanes, dodging bombs, battling hunger, and standing up to invading tanks.As the pride in her country is shattered with the news of the Nazi atrocities, her father reminds her, "The darker the night, the brighter the stars." Is her star the charming American Counter-Intelligence Agent who keeps appearing in the oddest places? Hedy must decide between her love of country and her newfound desires.Each chapter of Darker the Night begins with a historical quote or piece of propaganda to place the reader alongside the German population experiencing the effects of the war. Discussion questions and a glossary of German terms are also included.

    While other books plot out the battles and examine the participation of the German divisions on the Westfront, there are no books that discuss the shared experience of both sides. The result of a close collaboration between a British and a German military historian, this history examines the commonality of frontline experience. Drawing upon unique archives, Peter Doyle and Robin Schäfer examine the soldiers’ lives, and examine cultural and military nuances that have so far been left untouched. Mapping out the lives of the men in the trenches, it concludes that Fritz and Tommy were not that far apart, geographically, physically, or emotionally. The soldiers on both sides went to war with high ideals; they experienced horror and misery, but also comradeship/kameradschaft. And with increasing alienation from the people at home, they drew closer together, the Hun transformed into "good old Gerry" by the war’s end.

    She has survived British and American bombs and witnessed the destruction of Aachen, her ancient and beautiful city. How will a German woman cope in austere post-war Britain, where she is still regarded as the enemy?Illustrated with almost 100 images and original documents, The Bride’s Trunk describes the adventures of an unremarkable piece of luggage and three generations of its owners, whose journeys across Europe are determined by the turbulent events of twentieth century history.

    Get involved in their adventures, heartaches, love, and passions. Get to know Willy Oswald Geheb, a German American immigrant, who would not settle for what little Germany had to offer and left home to pursue his dreams. Join Willy Geheb in military training in Germany in 1918. Follow his adventures, endeavors, and conflicts in Brazil, Mexico, and the United States. Discover what ordinary Germans lived through after the First World War as the Kaiser abdicated, a new government was formed, and money totally lost its value. Follow Hitler's rise from a private in WWI to full dictator and see how it affected the German people. Watch as the Geheb family grows and develops only to be taken to their knees after WWII. Experience the vast differences between Germany and America as the stories are revealed through photos and the actual letters written at the time events were happening. You will be inspired by the never ending love and devotion that Willy Geheb had for his family.

    date: 05/18/2016"--Title page verso.

    Through personal narrative and letters preserved for decades, Béla’s Letters tells the remarkable story of a large Eastern European family torn apart by war and the Holocaust, the extraordinary circumstances that each family member endures, and the survivors’ struggle to come to terms with the feelings of guilt, hatred, fear, and abandonment that haunt them.

    As a Women Airforce Service Pilot (WASP), Trudy is one of the most knowledgeable flyers of the P-51 Mustang. She is in full command of one of the fastest airplanes ever made, but she is forbidden from going into combat because of her gender. Trudy is shocked when her dream of going to the front lines is fulfilled. The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) needs a pilot to sneak into German-occupied Lithuania and rescue a professor whose work could have international implications. But first, Trudy will have to get there. As Trudy crosses the United States and Canada with her handsome traveling partner, Major Rod Jackson, she sees the many different ways Americans and Canadians are helping on the home front. Her new base of operations in Duxford, England, will also give her a front-row seat to the violent, deadly aerial battles of the European theater. Trudy is determined to fight to protect the Allies, but will she make it out of her first operation alive?

    The following months culminated in the Year of Horror, with mass arrests, executions, and deportations of fifteen thousand Latvians to Siberia. Though Nazi Germany drove off the invaders and in turn occupied Latvia, in 1944 the Soviets gained the upper hand once more. Some Latvians joined the German forces to fight the Soviets, others who could, formulated plans for escape, wondering if there was hope left for their country.Flight from Latvia is a true narrative of an extended family's exile and journey through refugee camps to find a safe home once more. The narrator, only a youngster at the time, derives details from family stories and periodicals to relay this significant chapter of her family's history.Children, parents, even elderly grandparents flee together as a family-though conditions for food and health are abysmal.Now, having come this far, who would be selected for emigration?

    The rest of the world… was stunned at the overrunning of sixty thousand miles of courageously defended terrain in only twenty-six days.” In the winter of 1918, Germany’s conquerors set about rendering the Reich forever incapable of waging war. The existing German Air Service of nearly 15,000 planes was to be scrapped - the treaty of Versailles would ensure that no military aircraft would ever be flown in Germany again. But less than a generation later Europe shook before the threat of the Luftwaffe, believed to be the most powerful air force in the world. The Rise of the Luftwaffe tells how it happened. Denied warplane factories and flying schools in their homeland, the Germans built them in Russia and it was there that they trained an elite pilot corps. At home state-sponsored gliding schemes gave a new generation of pilots their first taste of the air, and clandestine factories, ostensibly making perambulators or washing machines, turned out warplanes. As confidence grew, and the actual restrictions on German aviation eased, so a new dimension was added to the bluff. Germany’s re-occupation of the Rhineland was carried out under cover of planes lacking guns and ammunition; the Luftwaffe’s apparent capability was exaggerated by the use of stripped-down versions of fighters in speed-record attempts. Now, instead of concealing the existence of their air power from the rest of Europe, the Germans were concealing its limitations. Herbert Molloy Mason charts every step of the subterfuge and ingenuity by which the transformation was brought about. He describes the pioneering of new developments such as the Stuka dive-bomber, and the proving of this secretly trained and created air force first in the Spanish Civil War and later against Poland and France. At the same time he explodes some of the myths of German technical and organizational superiority: meddling by Hitler, bickering between designers and bureaucrats, and ineptitude by the morphine-addicted Goering cost the Luftwaffe a war-winning strategic bomber force and jet fighters even before World War II began. Praise for Herbert Molloy Mason ‘Worth taking seriously.’ - Earl F. Ziemke Herbert Molloy Mason (1927-2013) was a noted writer of military history, and wrote sixteen books, including The Lafayette Escadrille and To Kill Hitler. He lived in San Antonio, Texas with his wife who was an artist.

    Only later did he learn that the women were his father’s mother and sisters, photographed in Berlin in 1937, before they were killed in the Holocaust. Steven’s father, who had fled Nazi Germany before it was too late, never spoke about the fate of his family who remained there.Steven became obsessed with finding out what happened to the women, but had little to go on. In time he stumbled on official facts in museums in Washington DC and Berlin, and later he discovered over a hundred letters sent to his father and uncle from the family in Berlin between 1936 and 1943. The women who before had been unnamed faces in a photograph could now tell their story to future generations.Letters of Stone tracks Steven’s journey of discovery about the lives and fates of the Robinski family. It is also a book about geographical journeys: to the Karoo town of Williston, where his father’s uncle settled in the late nineteenth century and became mayor; to Berlin, where Steven laid ‘stumbling stones’ (Stolpersteine) in commemoration of his relatives; to Auschwitz, where his father’s siblings perished. Most of all, this book is a poignant reconstruction of a family trapped in an increasingly terrifying and deadly Nazi state, and of the immense pressure on Steven’s father in faraway South Africa, which forced him to retreat into silence.

    Many historians have noted the instrumental role Marie played in the creation, development, and particularly in the posthumous editing and publishing of Clausewitz's opus, On War, which remains the seminal text on military theory and strategic thinking. Highly intelligent and politically engaged, Marie was also deeply involved in her husband's military career and advancement, and in the nationalist politics of 19th-century Prussia. Yet apart from peripheral consideration of her obvious influence on Clausewitz and on the preservation of his legacy, very little has been written about Marie herself. In Marie von Clausewitz, Vanya Eftimova Bellinger proposes to address this oversight, capitalizing on the recent discovery of a vast archive of material―including hundreds of previously unknown letters between Marie and Clausewitz―to produce the first complete biography of this understudied figure. Delving into the private correspondence between the two, Bellinger shows how Marie, a highly educated woman of Prussia's upper echelon, broadened Clausewitz's understanding of the cultural and political processes of the time; provided him with insights into the practical side of daily politics; sharpened his writing style; and served as the catalyst for his ideas. The depth of her influence on and contribution to Clausewitz's theoretical writings, Bellinger argues, is greater than historians have previously suggested. Bellinger also establishes Marie as an impressive figure in her own right, both politically outspoken and socially adept at moving among the ranks of Prussian nobility. The marriage between Marie, an intimate of the royal family, and Clausewitz, an obscure young lieutenant with dubious claims to nobility, allows Bellinger to engage in a broader discussion of gender and class relations in 19th-century Europe; and her study of their epistolary debates also sheds light on the political climate of the time, particularly incipient German nationalist fervor.

     The short stories are divided into easy-to-follow chapters, and each story is followed by summaries, vocabulary lists and translation on words as well as on collective and popular phrases so you can grow your vocabulary and improve your comprehension of the language. In this book you find a variety of fascinating and compelling genres, cultural oriented fiction, romance, mystical and suspense, so you’ll have fun reading, whilst learning a wide range of new vocabulary and phrases. The short stories suitable for beginners and intermediate level, the material can be used to study the language or just for reading fun and interesting stories. Additionally, the collection includes five classic German short stories (novella) from famous German writers and their most captivating tales. In this book you'll find: 1. Abenteuer in der Sauna - Adventures in the spa 2. Eine religiöse Familie - A religious family 3. Crowdfunding für eine neue Küche - Crowdfunding for a new kitchen 4. Die alte Trinkerin - The old drunkard 5. Eine Kreuzfahrt und der Millionär - A cruise trip and the millionaire 6. Der Grillabend - The barbecue evening 7. Import & Export - Imports & exports 8. Ein Besuch aus Amerika - A visit from America 9. Der Einsiedler - The hermit 10. Der Schatz im Wald - The treasure in the woods 11. München ist auch eine schöne Stadt - Munich is a beautiful city too 12. Der Schrebergarten - The allotment garden 13. Der Käse stinkt von allen Seiten - The cheese stinks from all sides 14. Der Flüchtling aus Fernost - The refugee from the Far East 15. Eine endgültige Abmahnung - A final warning 16. Studententreffen - Student meeting 17. Aupair in England - Aupair in England 18. Der historische Kunsthändler - The historic art dealer 19. Der Rezesions Club - The review club 20. Ein Michelin Stern ist nicht genug - One Michelin star is not enough

    With World War Two at its height, the Nazis invade her homeland with a mighty force, and now Sofia and her family must flee to avoid certain death. Hiding in a forest in the middle of a harsh winter, they find that hunger is as much an enemy as the fascists. Starving and almost freezing to death, they eventually discover an abandoned place where they can take refuge until winter is over. Then one day a young soldier enters Sofia’s life in the most unlikely circumstances. He is an attractive, charismatic and enigmatic young man, Adrian turns Sofia’s world upside down. She quickly realizes how enticing he is, and she finds herself battling her own demons. Should she listen to her common sense or to her heart? But soon the past comes hunting them again. Will they have enough time to escape or will they succumb to their enemies?

    What she did with the truth changed history.As a founding member of the White Rose student resistance in Munich during World War II, Sophie Scholl helped write, produce and distribute thousands of anti-Nazi leaflets all over Southern Germany and Austria.Sophie's boyfriend, Captain Fritz Hartnagel, served on the Western and Eastern fronts. Fritz witnessed SS and army atrocities and wrote Scholl about them. This information propelled Sophie deeper into political activism against their country's dictator. Sophie Scholl and Fritz Hartnagel's relationship demonstrates the moral complexity of living in a totalitarian society, and is ultimately, a love story.

    With him is Eva Braun, a healthy, vivacious, warm-hearted, beautiful young woman of thirty-three, who has been by his side for the last sixteen years and has vowed she will never live in a world without him. If he dies, she will die. Her love and loyalty are beyond doubt. Yet she longs to survive. Alone in her bunker room, questions torment her. Why is this happening? Where has the man she loves gone so wrong? How has she come from living a dream to this hell? However did an ordinary middle-class girl, destined for a respectable middle-class future, instead become against all odds the consort of the man now branded the greatest criminal who has ever lived? Desperate for answers, Eva thinks back – to her difficult childhood in deprived and bitter interwar Germany; her rebellious girlhood; her improbable first meeting and stormy early days with the terrifyingly charismatic man who would lead his country out of its post-war nightmare then make such a cataclysmic impact on it. With bombs exploding constantly above her, staring her own death in the face, she begins her memoirs....

    Radax interwove the monologue with a variety of metaphorically resonant visual techniques—blacking out the screen to total darkness, suggestive of the closing of the observing eye; cuts to scenes of cameramen, lighting and recording equipment; extreme camera distance and extreme closeup. Bernhard had not yet written his autobiographical work Gathering Evidence, published originally in five separate volumes between 1975 and 1982, and his childhood remembrances were a revelation. This publication of Bernhard’s monologue and stills from Radax’s artful film allows this unique portrait of Bernhard to be savored in book form.

    It's 1940 in Norway, and one Jewish family would rather be thinking of anything else. Budding artist Rebekka Davidson sketches the soldiers filling the school and streets, while her cousin Harald Rosenberg learns that he'd rather read about Hitler's politics than experience them. Talented musician Ingrid Rosenberg prepares to go to her dream school while experiencing the wonders of first love-with the nephew of the leader of the local Nazis. Together, the family will do whatever it takes to return to normal life...but will it be enough? By the end of the war, Norway had lost a higher percentage of its Jews than almost any other country in Europe. This story, inspired by the author's own experience growing up Jewish in 1940s Norway, brings readers both young and old into the touching struggles of one incredible family. Norway wasn't too small for Hitler, and for some families, it was everything.