When I Was a German, 1934-1945: An Englishwoman in Nazi Germany

by Christabel Bielenberg, Klemens von Klemperer

Overview

This fascinating glimpse of Nazi Germany is provided by an Englishwoman who was fluent in German and at home in German society, yet not entirely of it. Christabel Bielenberg moved from passive to active resistance as Hitler seized power and the Nazi dictatorship clamped down.

Introducer Klemens von Klemperer is the author of several books, including German Resistance against Hitler: The Search for Allies Abroad, 1938-1945.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780803261518
Publisher:	Nebraska Paperback
Publication date:	11/01/1998
Pages:	285
Sales rank:	261,471
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Introducer Klemens von Klemperer is the author of several books, including German Resistance against Hitler: The Search for Allies Abroad, 1938–1945.

Editorial Reviews

"Her survival is miraculous. . . But even more miraculous is the tale she spins. . . . What makes When I Was a German such a stunning memoir is the fact that Christabel Bielenberg comes across as a fine, thoughtful, sometimes funny, always questioning person. . . . This kind of story-telling seems to be almost unheard of in the modern-day book biz. I know of maybe twenty-five works that have come to us over the years that have such a stunning story to tell, told so stunningly. Now it's twenty-six."—Lolita Lark, The Review of Arts, Literature, Philosphy, and the Humanities

The Review of Arts, Literature, Philosphy, and the Humanities - Lolita Lark

"Among the flood of war memoirs . . . there has emerged one very different account. This is the story of a young Englishwoman who married a young German law student and went to live in Germany in 1935 and stayed there, witnessing the rise of Hitler and enduring the horrors of war as a wife and mother struggling to keep her family alive. Her experiences were those of a German . . . [but] of course she was not a German. Her judgment remained cooler and more compassionate than that of her husband and friends—Germans who were filled with revulsion and despair at the crimes their own countrymen were committing. . . . Peter Bielenberg was arrested in 1944, suspected of being involved in the July Plot. His wife . . . may have saved his life by her brave confrontation with his interrogator."—Times Literary Supplement

Times Literary Supplement