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A Singular Education: A German Bachelor in New York
A SINGULAR A German Bachelor in New York (1964-1974) recounts the turbulent first decade that German-born author Gunter Nitsch spent in New York City. Fresh off the boat in April 1964 as an idealistic twenty-six-year-old confirmed bachelor with just $400 to his name and no prospects, his journey of discovery eventually takes him to elegant receptions and white tie events at fine hotels, as well as to a Head Start classroom in Harlem, to the home of an unrepentant Nazi on Staten Island, to a wild clothing optional party in Greenwich Village, to sit-ins at Hunter College, and even to a cockfight in the South Bronx. Along the way several people unexpectedly offer him help; many others insist on blaming him for World War II. With self-deprecating humor and the unique perspective of a recent German immigrant, A SINGULAR EDUCATION is set against a backdrop of the prejudices -- against African-Americans, Jews, anyone, in fact, considered "the other" -- that remained deeply ingrained in the American psyche at the time.
465 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 25, 2013
4 people are currently reading
12 people want to read
About the author
Gunter Nitsch
5 books14 followersI am the author of three books: Weeds Like Us (which was published in German translation in Hamburg as Eine lange Flucht aus Ostpreussen), STRETCH: Coming of Age in Post-War Germany, and A Singular Education: A German Bachelor in New York (1964-1974).
My first book, Weeds Like Us, vividly describes my strange childhood in Russian-occupied East Prussia following World War II.
STRETCH: Coming of Age in Post-War Germany brings my story forward over the next thirteen eventful years. Coming 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, had to make up for lost time in order to adapt to unfamiliar surroundings and customs while living in the shadow of Germany's recent Nazi past.
My latest book, A Singular Education: A German Bachelor in New York (1964-1974), picks up my story from the moment I stepped off the boat in New York City in 1964 with just $400 to my name and no prospects. What I experienced and learned over the next ten years on my way to making myself at home in the Big Apple was, in its own way, as challenging as anything I had experienced before.
My wife and I live in downtown Chicago, Illinois, USA
My first book, Weeds Like Us, vividly describes my strange childhood in Russian-occupied East Prussia following World War II.
STRETCH: Coming of Age in Post-War Germany brings my story forward over the next thirteen eventful years. Coming 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, had to make up for lost time in order to adapt to unfamiliar surroundings and customs while living in the shadow of Germany's recent Nazi past.
My latest book, A Singular Education: A German Bachelor in New York (1964-1974), picks up my story from the moment I stepped off the boat in New York City in 1964 with just $400 to my name and no prospects. What I experienced and learned over the next ten years on my way to making myself at home in the Big Apple was, in its own way, as challenging as anything I had experienced before.
My wife and I live in downtown Chicago, Illinois, USA
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April 1, 2021
Mr. Nitsch's remarkable journey concludes with his arrival in New York in 1964. Starting with no job prospects besides a letter of recommendation from an American family and a dream, he travels from New York to San Francisco and back again and seems destined to return to Germany. However, he finds employment and finds an interesting assortment of friends and lovers throughout the book that make for consistently entertaining reading.
Race is a common theme throughout the book. From his first eye opening trip to Harlem to the coworker and Nazi sympathizer that tried to set him up with his daughter, it made for compelling if not uncomfortable but honest reading. I was impressed throughout the book by his commitment to his values and not giving into societal pressures regarding his multiple interracial relationships. I found myself asking if I would have conformed during that time or stood my ground?
His interactions (whether plutonic or romantic) were intimate and made me feel like a bystander throughout the books. Discussions are reguarly quoted and thorough. I assume he must have kept a diary throughout the period to provide so much detail? Towards the end of this book, you get a sense of growing loneliness as friends marry and start their own families. He sprinkled references to his wife throughout the series but it wasn't until the very end that he meets his future wife, Mary. I'd be interested to learn about his life since he married. Will a fourth book be written about his life after 1974?
My initial interest to read 'Weeds Like Us' started after reading 'Witnesses to War' by Nicholas Stargardt. The later focused on children's lives under Nazi rule. I was interested in getting a first hand perspective from someone that lived through the period and found his books on Amazon. After finishing the first book, I knew that I had to read the other two. The fact that he was from East Prussia and forced from his homeland, experienced the war, its chaos and subsequent Soviet captivity made his story even more interesting and a valuable resource for future generations to learn from.
I read all three of Mr. Nitsch's books and found them excellent. By the end of the trilogy, I felt like I knew the man and could strike up a conversation with him like he was an old friend. I highly suggest them for anyone interested in learning more about the war from a child and refugees perspective, its aftermath (including the postwar period) but also seeing American society through an immigrants eyes. Well done.
Race is a common theme throughout the book. From his first eye opening trip to Harlem to the coworker and Nazi sympathizer that tried to set him up with his daughter, it made for compelling if not uncomfortable but honest reading. I was impressed throughout the book by his commitment to his values and not giving into societal pressures regarding his multiple interracial relationships. I found myself asking if I would have conformed during that time or stood my ground?
His interactions (whether plutonic or romantic) were intimate and made me feel like a bystander throughout the books. Discussions are reguarly quoted and thorough. I assume he must have kept a diary throughout the period to provide so much detail? Towards the end of this book, you get a sense of growing loneliness as friends marry and start their own families. He sprinkled references to his wife throughout the series but it wasn't until the very end that he meets his future wife, Mary. I'd be interested to learn about his life since he married. Will a fourth book be written about his life after 1974?
My initial interest to read 'Weeds Like Us' started after reading 'Witnesses to War' by Nicholas Stargardt. The later focused on children's lives under Nazi rule. I was interested in getting a first hand perspective from someone that lived through the period and found his books on Amazon. After finishing the first book, I knew that I had to read the other two. The fact that he was from East Prussia and forced from his homeland, experienced the war, its chaos and subsequent Soviet captivity made his story even more interesting and a valuable resource for future generations to learn from.
I read all three of Mr. Nitsch's books and found them excellent. By the end of the trilogy, I felt like I knew the man and could strike up a conversation with him like he was an old friend. I highly suggest them for anyone interested in learning more about the war from a child and refugees perspective, its aftermath (including the postwar period) but also seeing American society through an immigrants eyes. Well done.
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