Book Description

What they're saying about AAMIE'S WAR "Profoundly moving I couldn't put it down!" Zella Brown, Cofounder of One By One Jewish German Reconciliation Through Dialogue "A compelling and sensitive personal account, at times charming and tender, at times grimly upsetting Honest, painful and necessary, this book offers an important perspective rarely read in America. An important addition to the human saga of war and the tragic condition of mankind in all it's paradoxical complexity." Lawrence Lowenthal, Director of the New England Region American Jewish Committee "Marga Dieter captures so well the thinking and heart of a little German girl caught in the ravages of the Second World War." Joan Ecklein, Former Co-Chair of the Boston Chapter Women's International League for Peace and Freedom "These poignant experiences of an innocent, bright and lively young girl, acutely remembered by an adult woman, and told with sensitivity and a wonderful sense of drama, will fill the void left by the silent generation of Germany's war children." Barbara Eskin, Moderator of the German Book Club Goethe Institute, Boston Bombs, destruction and emotional devastation form the backdrop for Aamie's childhood on the homefront in Germany during World War II. What might seem crushing to most little girls is just everyday life for her. In a neighborhood where the walls are plastered with posters proclaiming "THE ENEMY IS ALWAYS LISTENING!" and people live by the secrets they keep, any revelation of her mother's sentiments against the Nazis is a danger to her family's very survival. Her father, in the Navy, is eventually captured and serves as a POW, until Aamie is nine years old. Her mother's struggle to maintain their family and raise two teenage boys, who are members of the mandatory Hitler Youth program, within the turmoil of war-torn Germany drives her to physical and nervous breakdown. Yet Aamie, with the support of her Greek Chorus of celluloid dolls, ponders and overcomes these obstacles with an irrepressible tom-boy spirit. An intensely told story of a wartime childhood, this book is a reminder of how children's emotional lives play out against the horror and destruction of war.