Magdalena and the Children

About the Book

Magdalena and the Children starts out in a peaceful setting. The heroine is one of the ordinary people, in pursuit of hope and ambition. She falls in love, marries, has children and generally enjoys life until World War One disrupts everything. The 'protector' of the family is called to battle and she must cope alone with upcoming adversities: food, coal, clothing shortages and violence.

Somehow she and the children manage to survive and eventually start over until forced to endure yet another war. World War Two is worse than the one before, because now death rains from heaven and mercilessly victimizes civilians: women, children and the aging. In the same process homes and livelihoods are destroyed, too. What's that like? A valid question!

Magdalena's story primarily focuses on the triumphs and trials in a women's life, before, during and after war.

Unlike men soldiers, women and children civilians, were not honored with medals and or public commendations for their heroic deeds. Neither did they ever receive 'Purple Hearts' for injuries, no matter how severe. The hardships of women and children were simply taken for granted.

About the Author

Having been born before Hitler came into power, the author lived through World War II in its entirety. But even long before the war, she was inadvertently affected by insidious clandestine maneuvers employed by his regime against those of 'undesirable' ancestry; two dear family members were of this category. The consequences of the Third Reich era extend far beyond the years of 1933-45.

"Geographical orientations matter little when terror, pain, hunger and deprivation reign. I focus on German women and children only because I'm one of the survivors of WWII--because of personal experience."