Overview

Trauterose: Growing Up in Postwar Munich is the compelling first-person account of Elisabeth Haggblade, who was orphaned at birth at the height of World War II and spent the first eleven years of her life under the care of a former S.S. officer and his family. Like many she knew and met during her formative years, Elisabeth was marked both physically and psychologically by the traumatic events of the war and its aftermath, where negotiating daily life during the most tenuous time in Germany's history often felt like a balancing act. Yet through it all, faith and the help of others prevailed. Trauterose is the account of one person's search for humanity in existence-a cautionary tale on the inherited guilt created by rampant nationalism, and a painfully honest and often humorous view of the world through the eyes of a young woman who found her way to freedom and purpose.

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9781957917344

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Compelling, layered, sophisticated, and gorgeous. Haggblade masterfully depicts her struggles as a young woman who transcends hardships to turn her life around in her remarkable memoir. Told in Haggblade's first-person voice, the narrative follows her journey learning English, adjusting to new norms, and fighting racism along the way. The story takes readers back to Germany during World War II, showcasing what life was like for those who lived through the war and its aftermath. Haggblade's birth father had been enlisted in the Hungarian military and departed when her mother declined to go with him to Budapest, leaving his daughter behind. Her mother wanted to be independent and chose not to raise a baby, so Haggblade was raised by a foster family led by a former SS Officer. After her foster mother died, she was transferred to a children's home operated by Catholic Sisters. She emigrated to the United States at age eighteen without any family support or knowledge of English. Haggblade recounts events that shaped her life in both Germany and America, diving into how she grew past her childhood influences and beyond the confines of her homeland. This dual focus gives this memoir an added layer of depth and complexity. She also observes the intricate ties between music and religion, as well as how Munich's environment influences its culture, delving into her thoughts on social isolation and its effects. The book stands out for its ability to show how personal, familial, and societal problems are interconnected. An affecting, first-rate exploration of cultural fusion and the struggles that come with it. -The Prairies Book Review An uncompromising, moving, and elegiac memoir of a deprived childhood in postwar Germany In her memoir TRAUTEROSE (Growing Up in Postwar Munich), Elisabeth Haggblade meditates on the countless moral ambiguities of post-war Europe. Haggblade has a clinical eye and a concise way with words, which not only accounts for this slim volume's brevity (157 pages) but also the heft that she inserts into each line. The result is a powerful and harrowing account of life in the years after Germany's debilitation in 1945. A memoir that is sometimes shocking and often sad, but always riveting. -Craig Jones for IndieReader

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