The Lion's Bridge: A Girl's Life In Hitler's Wurzburg

by Wallace Rowan

This is a book about family bonds and how they endure throughout the worst struggles of the world's worst war. Rosemarie Scheller grew up in war-torn Germany, in one of the prettiest and most sheltered regions of the country. She watched the progression of the war and its effects on her friends, her family and her country as the war continued to grow worse and worse for Germany and its citizens. She and her family survived those harrowing times as they watched Germany and their hometown be bombed until there was little left to bomb. They were a happy family in simple and relatively primitive times compared to today, until war was thrust upon them. This is her story of her life in those times and it offers a unique view of how a family coped with the deprivation and suspicion of Hitler's Germany. From watching dear friends and their family doctor who all happened to be Jewish either be forced to leave or disappear, to foraging for moldy potatoes in an effort to keep from starving to death in the waning days of the war, Rosemarie has written a compelling story of what life was like in those times through the eyes of a young girl. As a family, they huddled together from the safety of the far side of the Main River as they watched their beautiful city be reduced to rubble in a bombing and resulting firestorm every bit as devastating and shocking and sadly unnecessary as the Dresden fire. With the help of the Americans, whom they were so grateful to, Rosemarie and her family emerged from this devastation to help rebuild their city and their country and strengthen those loving family ties. This is the story of a family whose love for one another surmounted everything.

188 pages, Paperback

First published June 8, 2006

Reviews

[Christiana · Rating 5 out of 5]

My grandmother wrote this book so I’m probably biased but I loved it. I think it really gives good insight into the lives of the German people when Hitler was in reign.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to read this because my wife was born in Wurzburg. The city was spared from bombing until March 16, 1945 ... right before the end of the war in Europe. It is focused on one very average family in Wurzburg and their struggles living with no electricity and very little money. This story is told through the eyes of an innocent little girl living through WWII so there is no talk of military battles or concentration camps or politics. The whole book is based in the city of Wurzburg, so one complaint I have is there is no street map of Wurzburg or pictures.