The Children's War

by Gawenda, Peter Bodo

• ISBN13: 9781934812709
• ISBN10: 1934812706
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-11-18
• Publisher: Brown Books Pub Group

Summary

Author Peter Bodo Gawenda draws on his own first-hand experience as a child living in Germany during WWII to reflect on the impact the war had on children.  Born in the Third Reich under Hitler, Gawenda, through a child¿s point of view, invites readers to share his family¿s heartbreak, joy, humor, and cunning during their days in Oberglogau before their desperate flight from Russian conquerors to the safety of Bavaria. Peter and his brothers saw the war not as military or national history, but as the adventure of everyday living. They experienced bombs dropping, soldiers occupying their home, and prisoners of war marching through the streets¿all of which seemed like mere intrusions to their childhood existence. They not only survived, but thrived, during the ¿Children¿s War.¿ The strength of family ties carried the Gawenda boys through the War and shaped the author¿s perspective, making The Children¿s War an uplifting reading experience.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Author's Note	p. xi
The Old Home, Oberglogau, 1939-1945	p. 1
Unmarked Graves	p. 3
Oberglogau in the War Years	p. 9
Stark Lessons	p. 21
World War II	p. 29
Before the Flight	p. 37
Children's Games	p. 45
Making Ends Meet	p. 53
The World Closes In	p. 61
The Two Uncles	p. 73
The Greeks and Iko	p. 79
Bombs, Cannons, and Aircraft	p. 85
Weapons of War	p. 93
The Injury-and the Injured	p. 101
What Fell Out of the Sky	p. 109
Many Classrooms	p. 115
The Last Christmas	p. 123
Preparing for the Worst	p. 131
Oberglogau, Winter 1944-1945	p. 139
Life in Gleiwitz	p. 151
Opa's Factory	p. 161
Living in a Time of War	p. 167
Air Raids and Chicken Soup	p. 175
The Fate of Gleiwitz	p. 187
Flight and Occupation, 1945-1949	p. 191
Leaving Oberglogau	p. 193
Chaos on the Road	p. 203
Russkis and Partisans	p. 211
A Deadly Train Ride	p. 217
The Fortunate Ones	p. 227
Austria: A Children's Dream	p. 235
The War Approaches	p. 243
Chaos Grows	p. 251
Big Black Men in Big Green Tanks	p. 257
Kohut the Teacher	p. 263
Displaced	p. 271
Uncle August Finds Us	p. 279
Memmingen	p. 291
White Bread and Coca-Cola	p. 299
Now We Will Survive	p. 305
The Man with the Sad Eyes	p. 313
Epilogue: After the War	p. 317
The Gawenda/Müller Families	p. 319
About the Author	p. 321
Photographs	p. 323
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