The Road Remembered

by Kaye D. Schmitz

Love and humanity triumph amid the atrocities of World War II. In the final months of World War II, Sam Ryan takes his place as a new soldier in the 89th Infantry Division on the front lines in Europe. He's trained to kill but struggles with the thought of taking the life of another human being, a contradiction with the way he was raised. How, he wonders, will he ever reconcile the action his head dictates with the way his heart feels about it?  On the other side of the war, Gerda Ziegler's heart aches over the monster her beloved Germany has become. But she confronts the Nazi soldiers who guard the Jewish-only sector in Zwickau and is appalled to learn that a Jewish baby will be killed because of a large birthmark. Can she manage to whisk the child away right under the noses of the brutal Nazis?Sam and Gerda face their enemies head-on, but they also battle internal elements on their own sides of the fighting that violate their shared values of humanity. They meet under the worst of circumstances but find a way to help each other through the trauma of war.

Genres: Historical Fiction

410 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2021

About the author

I've been writing all of my life and was first published at the age of ten. My poem, "The Garden," was a flower-filled fantasy that so surprised my parents and teacher, they all insisted I send it to the local newspaper editor. I lived in a very small town--without a lot of local news--so my poem got published!

I continued writing and had a number of poems and short stories published in my high school newspaper, as well. Whenever the editor had an empty spot, in fact, he would contact me and I would dash off a poem or short story to fill the space. My writing time dwindled during college and marriage and children and careers--other than the obligatory term papers, then corporate proposals and later, grant requests--but I still found time to write poems from my heart.

Along with constant fiction reading, singing with a group, Christmas baking and aerobic dancing, I also got a kick out of occasionally visiting psychics with my friends on Saturday afternoons. Every single psychic I ever saw looked at my palm and said, "Oh...you're a writer." While I had always believed it, I finally began to act on it and when, years later, I visited an ancient cemetery in the lowlands of Georgia, one of the spirits there reached out to me and my first novel, THE CONSORT CONSPIRACY, A Covington Family Mystery, was born.

I now live in St. Augustine, Florida, and I'm still ten-years-old inside...until I start to write, that is. At that point, tales of murder and mystery take over my being and demand to be told .

I love--in addition to my darling husband, my two awesome grown children and my four perfect grandchildren--Christmas, cartoons, circuses, carousels, and chocolate.

Reviews

[Patricia Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Kaye D. Schmitz's books, and think this is the best one yet! She tells a story that needs to never be forgotten. So thankful for men like her father who wanted to stop evil.

Schmitz has captured the spirit of those who served and those who wanted to stop Hitler. I loved the characters and the way she wove in the difficulties each one faced--what they endured and what they accomplished. It's a book you won't be able to put down or forget.

[Chelsie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a well written WWII novel! Another amazing story of the heroes who helped save the innocent, and helped to end the war. Based on the various true stories of the authors father and his buddies during their time over in France and Germany over the course of less than a year. Told through the alternating story lines of US solider Sam Ryan and German Gerda. Sam Ryans story begins with some family background and then basic training, his journey across the Atlantic, through his time on the front lines and his return. 9 months may not seem like a long time, but it was an eternity to these soldier and this story has such detail of everything they encountered and your heart just hurts for the horrors they saw.

Gerda comes from a family of bakers, and when their neighbors and her best friend get taken away to a camp for being Jewish. Gerda does all she can to try and help her friend when an unfathomable favor is asked of her, but she cannot turn her back and it takes that one split second decision to change her life the lives of thousands of others. Also based off of a true person who helped to save over a thousand Jewish children escape to a new safer life.

The author really did an amazing job writing these two story lines and how she then connected them was brilliant. I love how much of this novel was based on true people, events and places that happened during WWII. I am still amazed that every WWII novel I read, I learn something new I had not known. I loved that she included a map, as well as photos and lots of additional background about the novel afterwards. I want to thank BookTrib and the author for the free novel and I cannot wait until the next one comes out!

[Sarah Woodhouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Road Remembered is an absolutely exceptional book written with such emotion and such humanity that even though there was so many of the things that I knew about in here that it was like I was learning it again for the first time. I was able to be able to read it with an almost long lost sense of wonder that so many of us have forgotten. Your heart just breaks for what happened to the Jews and to the innocent people who only tried to survive to live another day. Nothing that any of the rest of us wouldn't have done ourselves. Your heart also swells with pride at the fact that so many people were abled to be saved and rescued. Pride at being an American especially.

You know so many people go on and on about trying to have the 'American Experience'. Kaye D Schmitz showcases that in this book. This truly is the quintessential American Experience. The reason that we have the country we have today. Whether you hate it or love it you have that right because of the greatest generation and those that came before them. I do not think that most young people these days have any idea or clue what this world would be like if it hadn't been for those wonderful people who gave up so much so that people can prattle on and complain about things these days.

My heart is full of so many things right now after having read this amazing book: pride, heartache, longing for a simpler time, appreciation, humility, a love for those long past, and also togetherness. I feel so much pride to be an American. I am honored to be so indebted to that generation of people and all of those that have come before and after. And, it has also helped me feel whole. You see, on my Mother's side of the family we are mostly German. In fact, from my understanding I still have relatives over there. And because of this it has always been hard for me to understand how to feel when it comes to the world wars because of this.

It has been so hard to understand the feelings and the actions (or lack thereof) of the people that I spring from. Now in saying this, my great great grandparents were killed in a car accident in Germany and so their children were sent over here to live in America with their American relations. However, so much family history was lost since they had passed away that way that I have no idea if they came over before or after World War 1. So, as I am sure you can understand it has been hard to hear about how awful the Germans were and the thing with the Nazis, etc. etc. Do not get me wrong, I am fiercely proud of all of my heritages (of which there are many lol Heinz 57 has nothing on me lol) I am now able to understand better how my family must have felt and what they had to endure to survive. And I am completely indebted to this author for that.

This book is absolutely fantastic and it has been able to portray what a lot of other books and documentaries haven't been able to: heart. I feel the love and passion the author has for her father and for the other families that had to withstand all of this and it is written with such love and understanding. I am now able to look at things from this era in a new light that I haven't been able to before. As I said before this book is poignant, profound, and heartachingly agonizing but in such a way that I feel more human than I have in a very long time.

I cannot express how thankful I am for the love and abiding spirit that is in this book. My heart is so full right now I think it might burst. The ability to see and feel for both sides is truly amazing. The emotions that grip your heart the entire reading of this book are so complex and so palpable that you feel like you are truly one within these characters. They are characters no more as they become real and made flesh in your mind. You are transported to a place in which you can smell the acrid smells of gun powder, the burning flesh, and all the other horrors of war.

However, in all of the awful horridness, there is also something else that emerges: hope. Hope that takes you as a prisoner, as once you start on this journey you are shackled to it until you reach it's end. You must see this through as otherwise there is nothing more left than bleakness and evil flowing out of men's hearts. But hope must prevail. The goodness in people must show through and it must thrive. Good must overcome evil and in this book it does. We are here in this amazing country because of that undying hope and goodness. Evil reared it's ugly head and we as a people joined together to fight against it and won.

The good in humanity won and the evil was chased back into the shadows once more. This is not just a story of triumph but it's about we as a people. As long as hope exists then evil will always be dealt with and chased back. I cannot recommend this book enough. I cannot even express how much it has touched my heart as a person and has made me feel such burgeoning pride and hope in the human spirit. We prevailed then and we will again as long as we keep the faith in the good of humanity.

[BookTrib.com]

THE ROAD REMEMBERED is a moving tribute to the men and women who fought to save lives from the clutches of evil, whether as civilians or soldiers. By blending true stories into vividly rendered scenes, Schmitz not only honors the memories of brave soldiers from diverse backgrounds, but also illuminates the “grey” nature of war — not everyone on “the other side” is the enemy

Read our full review here:
https://booktrib.com/2021/11/08/love-...

[Peg - The History Shelf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read my full review at BookTrib: https://booktrib.com/2021/11/08/love-...

[D.K. Marley · Rating 5 out of 5]

“What you and your fellow soldiers did during World War II hasn't happened in any wars since. Your entire generation had a common purpose. Have you ever thought about that?”

This book is definitely one of memories, of recalling the past and of lives lost, and how World War II changed lives forever. The author introduces us to Sam Ryan, an elderly man in his nineties, traveling with his daughter, Suzanne, to attend a gathering of his former 'band of brothers', those still surviving, in a remembrance of their days fighting near the end of WWII. For her entire life, Suzanne never heard the stories, since her father remained quite tight-lipped about his experiences, focusing instead on his life after the war instead of those painful memories of the past.

But now, while traveling back to Zwickau, close to the Czech border, the last town they freed from the Germans, Sam's recollection spills out as he tells his daughter all about his time there. He fills in his story with an account of basic training, of meeting his fellow bunkmates, and of falling in love with a gorgeous USO girl, who became his wife before he left for the front, as well as his eye-opening indoctrination into combat as their troupe fought on the front lines.

But nothing could have prepared me for the devastation I witnessed. Empty shells of former homes bared their souls to us through the remaining one or two walls and exposed the remnants of lives cut short. Black filth covered everything except the trash, unearthed and blowing in the cold wet wind.

Next, we meet a young German girl named Gerda, whose parents run a bakery in Zwickau right at the cusp of the outbreak of the war, and whose best friends live and run a store right next to theirs, but who are also Jews. During the preliminary years of the war, Gerda watches in horror as her friends are forced from their homes into the nearby “caged” area reserved for the Jews, and then onward to the camp at Buchenwald. Even though Gerda and her family are innately German, she determines in short order to find a way to help not only her friends, but to help the children corralled into this horror. Before long, Gerda finds herself working shoulder to shoulder with the resistance, helping hundreds and hundreds of children escape the camp... but, jn the meantime, she also finds herself falling in love with a young German soldier who guards the camp.

For a while, the reader is left wondering how these two stories relate, but Ms Schmitz does this seamlessly, entwining Sam's past history with Gerda's rescue efforts. Not only do you get an honest picture of life for the soldiers, some mere inexperienced boys taking their first steps from home, but you also get a look at the pained heart of many Germans who did not agree with the things happening to their country or with Hitler's ideologies.

In every sense of the word, both Sam and Gerda are naive to the realities, until both are forced to face some horrific truths – Sam, with the gritty, stark, cold, bloody, “kill or be killed” landscape before him, and Gerda with the evil, black, inhuman nature of the Nazis, and that of her own husband. And both come face-to-face with their own future, which transforms them both from innocent to worldly-wise, practically overnight.

The Road Remembered is a true “band of brother” story, reminiscent of “Saving Private Ryan”, which oddly, is the same namesake as the character in this story – Sam Ryan – as well as a touching story about the underground resistance groups who fought to save countless thousands of children, trekking them through dark tunnels and dangerous forest paths to safety in France and other parts of the world. Bravo to Ms Schmitz who weaves Gerda and Sam's story together in the end (no spoilers) in a way that is quite unexpected, but one that leaves the reader quite satisfied with a heart full of touching moments in stark contrast to the griminess of the Nazi ideals. The author truly brings these two characters to life, using real life stories from real soldiers and resistance fighters to flesh them out, and giving the entire story a beautiful arc worthy of five stars. Not to mention, the descriptive passages immerse the reader into the setting in a very skillful way. Highly recommended.

Then the anger set in, first at Rudy, who brought us to view these appalling areas. But my anger transformed very quickly into understanding that he wanted witnesses to the brutalities he had lived with for years. That I didn't want to see it, or even acknowledge it, didn't change the fact that it had happened. Showing us these horrible tings was his way of ensuring the world found out about it and never forgot. Much like Eisenhower's press corps taking pictures for posterity.

*****

The Road Remembered by Kaye D. Schmitz received five stars from The Historical Fiction Company and the “Highly Recommended” award of excellence.

[Elaine Sequeira · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I could have my way, I’d make this book recommended reading for all.

Against the setting of the darkest and gloomiest decade in all of human history, when World War II raged on with savage intensity, ‘The Road Remembered,’ pens in “scarlet,” a touchstone for future generations, of the incalculable cost of freedom.

What makes this historical novel so special is the extent and depth of Kaye Schmitz’s investigation and research. Her canvas is the European Theatre of Operations (ETO) in the final throes of the war, which she captures in astounding detail, historical accuracy and keen sensitivity. Observations like, “Tiny new green shoots disappeared daily, ground into the earth by muddy boots …” thrust into vivid clarity, the battle-ravaged killing fields of springtime in Germany and the futility of war.

Most of the characters were real life people, bearing their own names. Others were not. Schmitz’s late father, Herman Dykes was the inspiration for the protagonist, Sam Ryan. Irena Sendler was the woman behind Gerda. Yet the story felt like a hundred percent true despite being, technically, a work of fiction. Most of the events, the wars, and the men and women who inhabit this book, are for real and that makes all the difference; ordinary people, ordinary lives, yet extraordinarily living proof that wars are also won at a microcosmic level, by individuals inspired by their values, faith and a moral compulsion to fight evil with love.

Particularly admirable is the author’s ability to refrain from painting any army all black or pure white. On both sides of the war are both sides of humanity; good and bad. This is not ‘another war book’ but one that comes alive in amazing reality and emotion. At the end, like me, you too may truly want to pick up the phone and speak to those still living, Erwin Davis, Joe D’Aloia, Gloria Porter Bowie … and say thanks for the freedom they won, that we enjoy today.
Buy this book. Read it and be inspired. When threatened by “isms”, ideologies, divisions and global conflict, this book is a reminder that no cost is too high to pay for the most precious gift of all.

Loved this story. Richly deserves five stars.

[Amy Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magnificent read!

Schmitz pens a magnificent story in The Road Remembered, I have read work from this author before, and I really enjoyed it. This author brings the story to life, the life of her late father. Schmitz writes, "So there we were, the day of the trip, preparing to fly overseas to attend the seventieth anniversary celebration of V-E Day—the end of World War II in Europe. We’d join several of his former Army buddies from K Company in the 353rd Regiment of the 89th Infantry Division at Le Havre, France, where the former soldiers first touched the European mainland on their way to join the war," and then he told her the story. What an amazing and intriguing, yet fearing the battles, the story shows that determination, loyalty to one's country, and the secret of not showing the story. Simply awe-inspiring. Very impressive story telling. The Road Remembered is a definite recommendation by Amy's Bookshelf Reviews. I look forward to reading many more stories by this author.

[Sally Pitts · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Road Remembered is a well-researched story cloaked in the hard times of World War II and based on incidents that really happened. Masterfully written, the plot line weaves experiences of certain American, German and Jewish families during the war. Seventy years later, participants in the war who are still living converge to reminisce and are surprised to discover their impact on the generations that followed. This captivating novel brings the reality of triumphs and tragedies in war to life.

[Becky Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story started slow but quickly picked up speed. I had read the story of the courageous woman who had saved so many children using her bakery wagon so it was interesting to see this woven into the narrative. I thought the story a bit long, tedious in places and the ending suspect ~ what are the odds? But for the most part it was entertaining with well developed characters and a good story line.

[Delores Topliff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I believe this is Kaye Schmitz's best book yet and I am so proud of her dedicated research and sensitive handling of gritty history. I applaud the depth of this far-reaching narrative and the wonderful human record. I'm so proud of Kaye's writing accomplishment and am cheering her on.