Forgotten Lives
Anyone who lived in Germany from 1945 to the the late 1950s will have memories of Germany in rubble, the black market, and oceans of bicycles blocking the roads for the occupiers' large automobiles. I arrived in Germany in 1950 and lived there for three years (and again in the mid-60s). I learned to speak German and played with my only peer, young Dieter, from the house opposite my family's house. My family ranged from the mid-30s down to my younger brother, only a year old. I grew up loving Germany and Germans but with a huge hole in my understanding of the German experience in those same years. Colonel Samuel's book gives the reader a tremendous story of the experience of the survivors of the German war. It is a lesson that all should take and appreciate. We know how terrible the war was. But, to know how terrible the peace was is equally important. Wolfgang Samuel will tell you his family's story and help you appreciate the complete horror of war and the glimmers of opportunity that survived for ordinary people.
