Elisabeth Haggblade's eyewitness account, winner of the 2024 Indie Reader Discovery Award, will likely be regarded as one of the best accounts ever written about post-World War II Germany.
After the dust settled from World War II in 1945, Germany found itself in the eye of a storm. The country grappled with profound challenges —political fragmentation, economic devastation, and societal upheaval.
While numerous books explore Germany's wartime history, few delve into the profound struggles of its people in the aftermath of World War II.
'Trauterose' is the compelling first-person account of Elisabeth Haggblade, who was orphaned at birth at the height of World War II and spent the first eleven years of her life under the care of a former S.S. officer and his family. History enthusiasts will be captivated by this book, as very few books can offer a view of post-war Germany from the perspective of one who lived through the storm.
'Trauterose' garnered critical acclaim, winning the 2024 IndieReader Discovery Award in the Memoir category and securing First Place Non-Fiction in The Authors Show 2024 Book Cover Awards. It is a compelling story that transcends the ordinary and offers a fresh, profound look into a pivotal era in our history.
Like many she knew and met during her formative years, Elisabeth was marked both physically and psychologically by the traumatic events of the war and its aftermath, where negotiating daily life during the most tenuous time in Germany's history often felt like a balancing act. Yet through it all, faith and the help of others prevailed.
Elisabeth writes, “One person aiding and delivering faith: The late Pope Benedict XVI, known then as Herr Joseph Ratzinger, teacher of catechism in our fourth-grade class in the 1950s. After he left our school, his hand-written letter spelled out the proper path to follow in growing up : ‘If one buttons one’s coat the wrong way, one would have to undo all of it and start over again to make it right. So it is with life,’ admonishing us ‘to choose the right beginning.”’
“I wrote this book as a reaction to reports and pictures of that time that I saw: Glamorous portrayals in German magazines of the postwar years,” Haggblade stated. “More importantly, I wanted to respond to positive comments I kept hearing from Americans about their understanding of the postwar years. Both impressions were in contrast to my experience growing up and those I came in contact with. They told only one side of the story.
“On a personal level, I wanted to bring the reader into the picture: How life had to go on, war or no war. I let the rooms and the furniture be witnesses to our family’s daily struggle.
“By looking back, we learn how Germany has reckoned with its past. We can trace the changes the country has undergone and what it has become politically, sociologically, and economically on account of its size and influence in Europe and in the world today. Baruch Spinoza exhorts us: ‘ To understand, not judge.’”
In short, 'Trauterose' is the account of one person's search for humanity in existence—a cautionary tale on the inherited guilt created by rampant nationalism, and a painfully honest and often humorous view of the world through the eyes of a young woman who found her way to freedom and purpose.
Readers and reviewers have expressed praise for Trauterose. Craig Jones of IndieReader wrote, "TRAUTEROSE (Growing Up in Postwar Munich) by Elisabeth Haggblade offers an uncompromising, moving, and elegiac memoir of a deprived childhood in postwar Germany." Midwest Book Review said, "Libraries seeking powerful, personal memoirs that hold political and social lessons and insights will find Trauterose a study in adaptation, survival, and growth. It also deserves attention from young adult and adult book clubs seeking memoirs that reflect not just individual experience, but a sense of the culture and times."
One Amazon review stated, "The book is extremely well written, and I would recommend it highly." Another said, "I highly recommend this book. It will touch your heart." Another wrote, "It offers an unforgettable window into a time and place that few Americans know about."
Elisabeth Haggblade is available for media interviews and can be reached at don@freepublicitygroup.com. 'Trauterose' is available in both print and ebook forms at Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/stores/Elisabeth-Haggblade/author/B0CTRXLF9G?. More information is available at her website at https://www.trauteroseauthor.com.
About Elisabeth Haggblade:
Elisabeth Haggblade holds a B.A. in German, a B.A. in Russian, a Master's in Linguistics from California State University, Fresno, and a PhD in English Philology from the Freie Universität Berlin. She retired from teaching part-time English and Linguistics at California State Universities and the Freie Universität Berlin. Her publications began with academic articles and book reviews as well as book reviews of fiction in The Los Angeles Times. She resides in California.
Contact:
Elisabeth Haggblade
don@freepublicitygroup.com
https://www.trauteroseauthor.com
Posts
