A Child in Berlin: The Poignant Story of Heidi Posnien and Her Mother During the Fall of Germany

by Rhonda Lauritzen

A gripping true story of childhood mischief and deprivations in Nazi-infested Berlin, a mother’s courageous choices, and a young girl’s ultimate resilience to survive alone.

A Child in Berlin is the true story of a mother, a daughter, and their courage in the face of Nazi terror. Käthe is a mother who must choose between her dreams as a rising star in the opera and her conscience. She discovers the truth about her Jewish friends around the time she attends a dinner party presided by Adolf Hitler himself. She realizes she cannot remain among Nazi society and makes the gut-wrenching choice to leave the opera. To support herself and young Heidi, she joins Berlin’s black-market network and ends up dealing with more than just food. As others evacuate the capital, Käthe harbors a secret that anchors them in the epicenter of danger.

While Käthe becomes ever more preoccupied with survival, Heidi and a roving pack of friends make mischief in Berlin’s rubble. The war devolves, and Heidi braves hunger, cold, and feelings of abandonment as shuttles between Berlin and the Polish countryside. Heidi’s ultimate test comes when she must survive alone in a bombed-out apartment during the final weeks of World War II. Her moxie shows how children are capable of far more than adults realize.

Genres: Nonfiction

238 pages, Paperback

Published October 28, 2024

Reviews

[Janae · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautiful inspiration story about a young child during the war. All the events, it’s fascinating to see the war through the eyes of a child!

[Lynnae Pulsipher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such an interesting book. I’ve read or heard accounts of what it was like to be in Berlin during WWII, but never such a thorough account, seen through the eyes of a child. Heidi Posnien has a sharp memory of her childhood experiences and observations, and Rhonda Lauritzen has captured and preserved this memoir beautifully.
Lauritzen has recorded Heidi’s memories in accurate detail, without literary embellishment. But the truth of the story that rises out of these pages is poignant and tragic. It is the story of children at wartime. Children hiding in fear and hunger, children playing and making games of wreckage in the streets, children being shuffled about to locations deemed ‘safe’, separated from family with the fear of never reuniting.
The experiences of Heidi and her mother are rich and though provoking. And thanks to Rhonda Lauritzen her story will live on for lifetimes to come.

[Mikayla Robins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very well done. I appreciated learning about the events that took place in Berlin during WW2. It’s a perspective that I haven’t had a chance to learn about before. Heidi’s and Käthe’s story was incredible, and I appreciated being able to learn about all of the hardships that they endured, and about the experiences of the people in Berlin, as well as those of surrounding countrysides at the time.

[Sam Baldazo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting story of a child growing up through a war with the traumas and fears that brings. Writing felt like reading a history book, would have read this as a longer book with more details of events and elaboration, especially since I’m sure some things were elaborations or inventions beyond the primary sources

[Rebecca Dehart Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is such a compelling story especially because it's all TRUE. The author did a great job writing Heidi's story in such an engaging way. It was heartbreaking yet inspiring.

[Eliot Sutter- · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a truly amazing book full of breathtaking bravery. In this day and age it is a very important thing to remember history and what has happened and how we can’t let things happen again. This book was a great read!

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was interesting if not well written, as I grew up, knowing Heidi and John.