Gunter Nitsch's Blog
February 20, 2011
Eine lange Flucht aus Ostpreußen
Eine lange Flucht aus Ostpreußen (the German-language translation of my first book Weeds Like Us) will be published by the Ellert & Richter Verlag in Hamburg, Germany, in late March 2011. In April I will be giving book talks in northern Germany in Hamburg, Potsdam, Luneburg, Elmshorn, Uelzen, and Flensburg.
December 25, 2010
Refugees in Post-War Germany
People often fail to realize that the effects of a war, particularly for those on the losing side, do not end when the peace treaty is signed. My book WEEDS LIKE US vividly describes for readers of all ages the hardships faced by civilians -- especially women and children -- in the aftermath of war. Written more like a page-turning adventure story than a memoir, and told from a child's point of view, WEEDS LIKE US gives the reader a chance to share in the hardships my family endured and to meet the strong-willed adults whose faith and courage in the face of overwhelming odds held us together.
As readers of my first book know, by the time I was reunited with my father at the age of thirteen, I had lived in Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, and in both the Soviet-Occupied Zone and the British-Occupied Zone in Germany.
STRETCH: COMING OF AGE IN POST-WAR GERMANY, brings my story forward over the next thirteen eventful years. Coming straight from a refugee camp to my new home in West Germany, with less than four years of formal education, I, like millions of my fellow refugees, faced the challenge of making up for lost time and adapting to unfamiliar surroundings and customs while living in the shadow of the country's recent Nazi past.
Although both of my books deal with the displacement of the people living in the eastern German provinces following WWII, I hope that they will lead to a greater understanding of all of the families who have faced and are now facing a similar plight to mine.
As readers of my first book know, by the time I was reunited with my father at the age of thirteen, I had lived in Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, and in both the Soviet-Occupied Zone and the British-Occupied Zone in Germany.
STRETCH: COMING OF AGE IN POST-WAR GERMANY, brings my story forward over the next thirteen eventful years. Coming straight from a refugee camp to my new home in West Germany, with less than four years of formal education, I, like millions of my fellow refugees, faced the challenge of making up for lost time and adapting to unfamiliar surroundings and customs while living in the shadow of the country's recent Nazi past.
Although both of my books deal with the displacement of the people living in the eastern German provinces following WWII, I hope that they will lead to a greater understanding of all of the families who have faced and are now facing a similar plight to mine.
