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A Long Silence: Memories of a German Refugee Child, 1941-1958, by Sabina De Werth Neu
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After more than sixty years, the nightmarish sufferings of so many victims of Germany’s Nazi regime have been documented extensively. Rarely, however, does one hear about the experiences of German children during World War II. Coming of age amidst the chaos, brutality, and destruction of war in their homeland, they had no understanding of what was happening around them and often suffered severe trauma and physical abuse.�
This haunting memoir tells the riveting story of one such German child. Born in Berlin in 1941, Sabina de Werth Neu knew little during her earliest years except the hardships and fear of a war refugee. She and her two sisters and mother were often on the run and sometimes homeless in the bombed-out cities of wartime Germany. At times they lived in near-starvation conditions. And as the Allies stormed through the crumbling German defenses, the mother and children were raped and beaten by marauding Russian soldiers.
After the war, like so many Germans, they wrapped themselves in a cloak of deafening silence about their recent national and personal history, determined to forget the past. The result was that Sabina spent much of her time wrestling with shame and bouts of crippling depression. Finally, after decades of silence, she could no longer suppress the memories and began reconstructing her young life by writing down what had previously seemed unspeakable.
Illustrated by vintage black-and-white family photographs, the book is filled with poignant scenes: her abused but courageous mother desperately trying to protect her children through the worst, the sickening horror of viewing Holocaust footage on newsreels shortly after the war, the welcome sight of American troops bringing hot meals to local schools, and the glimmer of hope finally offered by the Marshall Plan, which the author feels was crucial to her own survival and that of Germany as a whole.
This book not only recalls the experiences of a now-distant war, but also brings to mind the disrupting realities of present-day refugee children. There is perhaps no more damning indictment of war than to read about its effects on children, its helpless victims.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
- Sales Rank: #642443 in eBooks
- Published on: 2011-02-28
- Released on: 2011-02-28
- Format: Kindle eBook
From Publishers Weekly
In her first book, De Werth Neu, a retired therapist born in "Berlin, Nazi Germany" at the start of WWII, recounts her nightmarish experiences as a refugee child from her native land. Forced from home as part of Hitler's efforts to strengthen the Eastern front, de Werth Neu, along with her mother and two sisters, endured countless relocations, assault and rape by Russian soldiers, never-ending hunger, and a horrific train ride during which babies died and toilet buckets overflowed into the crammed cars; "we were the lucky ones," she points out, "no one was trying to exterminate us." Such a sobering perspective is indicative of the author's amazing sense of gratitude, which resurfaces each time she recalls moments of great happiness: receiving an unforgettably delicious apple from a farmer's wife, having a tube of toothpaste all to herself, watching her mother dance. The constant back-and-forth between thrills such as these and the unimaginable suffering she endured has a bit of a wearying effect, but creates an engrossing account of the consequences of war and diplomacy for a single child. (Feb.)
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Review
"An engrossing account of the consequences of war and diplomacy for a single child."
–Publishers Weekly
"Compelling and thoroughly readable."
–Larry McMurtry, author of Lonesome Dove
"A poignant and powerful memoir, filled with horror, joy, and sorrow. It ought to be read by every American, for it is, in the author's words, ‘my thank you to the American people for their kindness, generosity, and the sacrifices they made during those hard postwar years in Europe.’"
–Gordon S. Wood, Alva O. Way University Professor Emeritus, Brown University
About the Author
Sabina de Werth Neu, now an American citizen, is a retired therapist who lives in Miami.
Most helpful customer reviews
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Five Stars
By Andrew R. Appleton
Amazing account of a traumatic childhood
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful.
"For us the war was just beginning"
By Erik Gfesser
The memoir that Sabina shares here is very much reminiscent of "German Boy" (see my review) by Wolfgang W. E. Samuel, and "Barefoot in the Rubble" (see my review) by Elizabeth Walter, and follows in the footsteps of "Bread on My Mother's Table" (see my review) by Ingrid Andor, because she provides a psychological dimension in her writings that the other works lacked. The author recounts how as a child her life was put on hold after hordes of Russian soldiers started to flood Germany like swarms of locusts following the end of World War II, with a gang of them entering her home, raping both her and her mother, and leaving them helpless over shouts of laughter. Reading her words is extremely painful. Although her pain is in words, what she shares is just as visual as what the protagonist endures in the silver screen rendition of "Woman in Berlin" (see my review) by Anonymous, and is not meant for the faint of heart. Like Wolfgang W. E. Samuel, Sabina makes her way with family from eastern Germany away from the Russian armies to western Germany, finally making her way to the United States, expressing heartfelt thankfulness to the American people for their acceptance of her, beautiful words for any American who no longer sees their country as unique, especially for those who are not familiar with the millions who endured the undeserved persecution that often included murder following World War II. As a descendant of a Donauschwaben concentration camp survivor, this is the type of memoir that I would have liked written for me, albeit with a large element of fear, were it not for the stumbling block of grief which quickly arose when such experiences were revisited. Sabina credits the love from her second husband, Charles, as the source of courage to finally write this memoir. Thank you Charles.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
Surviving the Red Army rapists and life in post-WWII Germany
By R. Miller
Sabina de Werth Neu has written a memoir that is one of the most fascinating books I ve ever read. I could not put it down and read the entire book in 2 days. The author captures the unique difficulty of being German in the post WWII world early on. At Loc 100 she writes "I am German-there, I have said it. I can never be anything else. I have been hiding from this burdensome truth for most of my life and running from the nightmare of a war and the industrialized barbarism of an evil regime that I could not and did not want to accept, let alone try to understand. "
The author was born on September 26, 1941 in Berlin. Her family was moved to East Prussia, the worst place to be when the Soviet Red Army arrived. The family was evacuated to Czechoslovakia before the Soviet takeover. On May 8, 1945, the author, her sisters and mother were raped by Russian soldiers, the mother repeatedly. The author was not even 4 years old at the time of this sexual abuse. Her description of this event is ghastly. I have often come across comments on amazon that the expulsion of the Germans from Czechoslovakia was relatively peaceful or that these rapes were isolated - nothing could be further from the truth. These rapes were routine and in the case of Eastern Germany continued for years. Both Russians and Americans are in denial about this.
What is remarkable is that this family survived these events, and the post-war deprivations. The family was expelled from Czechoslovakia into East Germany. The mother (obviously) was so uncomfortable in Russian occupied East Germany and took her children to the west. She did not want to be anywhere near the Russians which was understandable.
The author is an unabashed pro-American cheerleader. She is enormously grateful to General George Marshall for the Marshall Plan and the assistance she and her family received from the Americans. At (kindle) loc. 943 the author writes; "In writing these pages, I am aware now that I never felt at home in Germany, nor did I feel a shred of national pride." Author Eckhart Tolle described a similar feeling. As a child, Tolle would play in the ruins of buildings from the war. He described feeling depressed by his experience of "pain in the energy field of the country" He too left Germany like de Werth Neu, at an even earlier age. My experience is different than these authors. I was born years after the war ended, and was fortunate to spend time in Germany in the 1970's and early 80's. I did feel at home there, and found the people, especially the young people, to be warmer, friendlier, and not at all superficial and cruel like many of the people I grew up with here in the USA.
There is a paranormal episode in this book too. The author's sister Tina talks Sabina into going deep into the woods near Stuttgart, ostensibly to a lover's lane to watch couples have sex. Instead, Tina digs up a skull of a woman. It is a graphic and gory episode - paranormal because Tina had been having repeated dreams about a man murdering women in the woods and seemingly knew where to look. The skull belonged to a woman who had been raped and murdered by a serial killer. Tina was not only psychic, but from the author's description must have been an empath as well.
The author does an excellent job describing the changes and improvements in life in West Germany. I enjoyed the section she wrote about the death of Stalin. I can imagine the relief her mother felt at the death of that monster. His death, like Hitler's, must have been celebrated throughout Europe.
This book is about the triumph of the human spirit. The author had a very difficult life, in spite of which she accomplished a great deal. It is also about the emotional damage inflicted by some very negative male figures including Red Army rapists, the author's father and an arrogant jerk of an ex-husband. It's a wonder that the author and her family survived as intact as they did despite their contact with the Soviets.
I absolutely love this book and this author for sharing it with us. I see reflections of friends and family in much of what she writes. I can only give this book the highest recommendation. Absolutely fascinating glimpse into post-war Germany.
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