Christa Hermann was a witness to the Germany of World War II. But unlike most novels, histories, poems or visual examinations of the rise and fall of Hitler's Germany, Hermann writes her memoirs as seen through the innocent unbiased eyes of a child, discovering the facts of life in a world of delicate balance with a focus on those things which matter most to a six-year-old: family, maternal protection, the phenomenon of death of a peer, the terror of wartime whether internal or external. The result is a fresh insight into a tragedy as perceived through nascent eyes.
1943, Hamburg, Germany. Margrit, her 3 siblings, mother, father and grandmother live in the shadow of frequent bombings and firestorms. Hamburg is being decimated and Margrit's father sends his wife and children off to Bavaria where they might find protection in foster care. Margrit and her brother Werner, though frightened, find ways to avoid the terror of the world at large in games, making daisy chains, etc. Margrit is accepted into a farm home with Frau Hedwig where she finds the quiet joys of calf-birthing, new friends, the disbelief of funerals, the bonding with friends only to have one of them fall victim to the war machine. For two years Margrit absorbs her new life and new discoveries in Bavaria until the Americans defeat Hitler and occupy Germany and Margrit gathers her experience learned about life and death and priorities and is recognized as the village Angel.
This short book is a tender memoir of innocence disturbed: 'Margrit' is in fact Christa Hermann and she writes this touching simple story as a means of closure of memories of the war. Her writing style is as uncomplicated as the tabula rasa mind of a 6-year-old and that is why it succeeds. Perhaps the book is not meant to be an anti-war document, but in its sincerity and non-judgmental way, it is as powerful as any of the angry novels related to the great tragedy of War. Margrit's view from within a country at odds with the world most likely is like that of the children of Vietnam, of Afghanistan, of Iraq, of Bosnia etc. The wisdom of children is shatteringly strong. Grady Harp, January 06 |
Margrit's World War II Books In Print, Audio Books.