War is Just a Word

By I.J. Gysen

"War is just a word." To young Anna that's all it is, just a word, it's where Pappa goes to work, until one day, the War comes home. WW II, the world's most horrific War was on its way and they had no idea of its coming. No one could have foreseen that so much madness would erupt from such a small country, a land of the Fairytales and Legends, nor could they have imagined that their "Fuehrer" Adolf Hitler, whom they had raised to glorious heights, would take them to the depth of hell. Through the horror, amidst the chaos, emerges the story of a family, of Ludwig, his wife Marta and their high spirited young daughter Anna, who wake up one morning, to find their lives threatened by the outbreak of WWII. It takes Ludwig to distant lands, to fight for his Fatherland, while Marta and Anna learn to live with the pangs of hunger. They survive the hell of the air-raids with their falling bombs, only to find survival after the War, as difficult as the War itself. There however were also extraordinary times, who could ever forget the American Soldiers? Though coming as conquerors, their kindness and compassion, soon made them friends, especially to the children, who followed them around like the "Pied Piper." This is a story of historical reality, whose purpose it is to share part of an era that destroyed so many millions of people, along with an entire Continent.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B007BEH394
• ISBN13: 9781465336323
• Release Date: December 2011
• Publisher: Xlibris Corporation LLC
• Length: 398 Pages
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 0.2" x 0.3"

Customer Reviews

A beautifully written, authentic account of one girl's experiences during WWII

Ingeborg herself came through my checkstand at work and told me about her book because my own name is Anna! This is a wonderful book, and an excellent firsthand account of the lives of ordinary Germans under the Nazis and the subsequent Allied occupations during WWII. She gives readers a real sense of the fear, loss, and pain of war, paints beautiful pictures of a near-idyllic life in the countryside, and makes you really feel the strong love she had (and still has) for her family. The pictures she included, of both family and locations, do a great job of bringing the story to life, and now I want to visit southwest Germany! While reading, you can tell that English is not the author's first language, but it doesn't detract from the story at all - if anything, it makes it feel more raw and authentic. Would highly recommend!