Book Description

‘On Wings of Hope - From Berlin to Caracas’ is set in Europe, the Middle East, East Africa, and Venezuela. The book chronicles the adventures and misadventures of the family and follows the life of young daughter Ruthmarie. Her father, James Goerke, though Aryan, is involved in anti-Hitler activities and thrown into concentration camps on three different occasions. After his release the third time, he is forbidden to exercise his trade. This proved to be the proverbial ‘last straw that broke the camel’s back’. He makes the decision to flee from the horror that was Germany in the 1930s. Goerke is 37 years old. Priority number one is to look for a car, - though he doesn’t know how to drive. A ten-year old Chevrolet convertible coupé catches his eye and, because he can’t afford anything better, he puts down the money. His is a daring venture, to say the least. He packs his family of five into the car and they leave in the dark of night because he doesn’t dare inform the landlord, lest he in turn inform the authorities. On their way to a waiting job in Afghanistan, they travel through Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey. The all-too-small car becomes home for many months. Along the way they overcome difficulties, problems and anti-German sentiment, but nothing deters Goerke. He focuses only on the future and never laments leaving his homeland. In Turkey their travels almost come to an end when he is offered a job to build a zoological garden in Ankara. Within a few months the project is well underway. Unfortunately Kemal Pascha, the Head of State, dies and the nation is plunged into mourning. The sad part for the family is that the new ruler is is pro-Hitler and eventually terminates the family’s resident visa. They are deported. Lebanon offers them asylum and Goerke gets a job as curator in the museum of natural history at the American University in Beirut. Two wonderful years come to an end when WW II breaks out. The family falls into British hands and they are interned. Goerke repeatedly asks for permission to help the Allied Cause, preferably in Agriculture. The first camp the family is sent to is in Palestine. There Goerke is summoned to the Camp Office and informed that the family would be sent to Africa. He was shown the order, which clearly stated that he was NOT TO BE INTERNED. On the uncomfortable train trip to Suez, German bombers dropped several bombs on the transport. In Suez, together with hundreds of other refugees, they are herded onto a ship, men and women separated, the former making the trip in the hold of the ship. They reach Mombassa and are ferried by truck to a waiting train, which takes them to the first of many crude and inhospitable camps. The first thing they see is barbed wire and Goerke realizes the deception. Instead of FREEDOM, they are interned during the following seven years. Two years after the war ends they are declared ‘free citizens’, though they have nowhere to go. Goerke refuses to be repatriated. Venezuela offers them asylum, but other challenges greet them: A new language and surprising customs, a different culture, as well as lack of employment and money. - - They struggle to make ends meet and gradually climb out of hopelessness. The seemingly impossible dream of having their own nevertheless becomes reality and Goerke shirks no job. He builds an access road and accomplishes the feat of building their home single-handed! The day they move in is a proud day! even if they had to sleep on the bare floor. One by one the youngsters get married, have children and move away from the ‘old home’. However, the bond formed through the difficult years is strong and keeps them united, at times in spite of new in-law ‘interference’. Ruthmarie’s is a happy marriage, producing three children who become the center of her life. But the years weighed heavy on the old patriarch. He died at 75, leaving a big void in Rut