Gertrude Goetz's Books

Memory of Kindness

Growing up in War Torn Europe

By: Gertrude Goetz

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Memory of Kindness

Growing up in War Torn Europe

By: Gertrude Goetz

This personal account chronicles the story of a young Jewish girl growing up in Fascist- and, later on, Nazi-occupied Italy. More than a personal account, it is a testimony that amidst the horror and the deprivations of war kindness and humanity could prevail. As seen through the eyes of a young child, the book gives a brief account of the Nazi annexation of Austria, the ensuing drastic measures undertaken against the Jewish community in Vienna, and, in the aftermath of Kristallnacht, the fathers deportation to Dachau Concentration Camp. In February 1939, armed with temporary entry permits to Italy, and having obtained the fathers release from Dachau, young Gerti and her family leave Austria, giving up all their possessions, and make their way to Italy and an uncertain future. As foreign Jews and political refugees, the family settles in Milan as wards of the Jewish community. In June 1940, with Italys entry into war, Gertis father is imprisoned once again and, two months later, interned in a remote and isolated village in central Italy. It is not until 1942 that Gerti and her mother are also interned in the same rural community and reunited with their father and husband. It is in this little village, Castilenti, where eight-year old Gerti finds, for the first time in her young life, acceptance, kindness, and gestures of humanity. Notwithstanding the many deprivations, lack of food, her mothers near fatal illness, and insecurity about the familys ultimate fate, Gerti finds a haven, not only among the humble farmers, but also among the leading fascist families in the village. With the 1943 Armistice and in the wake of German occupation, Gertis family is alerted by the village fascist secretary that orders had been received to have the family transferred to a collection camp in Modena for a final resettlement in Poland. Aware of the dangers and the tragic fate awaiting them, Gerti and her family, with the fascist secretarys blessing, go into hiding in the forested and mountainous areas of central Italy. Living in stables, suffering from the inclement weather and malnutrition, the family makes its way into hiding, under threat of being apprehended by the German occupying forces. Liberation comes in June 1944; Gerti, by now eleven-years-old, spends the next four years in various displaced persons camps. By 1949 the family had to separate once again as Gerti and her mother obtain permission to come to the United States. Her father must wait another two-and-a-half years before being able to rejoin the family in the United States. Gertis first years in her new homeland were years of adjustment and hard work, but they also offered the opportunity to resume a normal life and obtain an education. Reminiscences of hardship and deprivations suffered while growing up, are always tempered by the benevolence and compassion extended to Gerti and her family by the Italian people.

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Page Count

134

Publisher

Xlibris Corporation

Published Date

ISBN 10

1462818994

ISBN 13

9781462818990

Memory of Kindness

Growing up in War Torn Europe

By: Gertrude Goetz

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Memory of Kindness

Growing up in War Torn Europe

By: Gertrude Goetz

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

134

Publisher

Xlibris Corporation

Published Date

ISBN 10

1462818994

ISBN 13

9781462818990

The Letters of Gertrude Stein and Carl Van Vechten, 1913-1946

By: Gertrude Stein,Edward Burns,Carl Van Vechten

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The Letters of Gertrude Stein and Carl Van Vechten, 1913-1946

By: Gertrude Stein,Edward Burns,Carl Van Vechten

Surveying the expanding conflict in Europe during one of his famous fireside chats in 1940, President Franklin Roosevelt ominously warned that "we know of other methods, new methods of attack. The Trojan horse. The fifth column that betrays a nation unprepared for treachery. Spies, saboteurs, and traitors are the actors in this new strategy." Having identified a new type of war--a shadow war--being perpetrated by Hitler's Germany, FDR decided to fight fire with fire, authorizing the formation of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) to organize and oversee covert operations. Based on an extensive analysis of OSS records, including the vast trove of records released by the CIA in the 1980s and '90s, as well as a new set of interviews with OSS veterans conducted by the author and a team of American scholars from 1995 to 1997, The Shadow War Against Hitler is the full story of America's far-flung secret intelligence apparatus during World War II. In addition to its responsibilities generating, processing, and interpreting intelligence information, the OSS orchestrated all manner of dark operations, including extending feelers to anti-Hitler elements, infiltrating spies and sabotage agents behind enemy lines, and implementing propaganda programs. Planned and directed from Washington, the anti-Hitler campaign was largely conducted in Europe, especially through the OSS's foreign outposts in Bern and London. A fascinating cast of characters made the OSS run: William J. Donovan, one of the most decorated individuals in the American military who became the driving force behind the OSS's genesis; Allen Dulles, the future CIA chief who ran the Bern office, which he called "the big window onto the fascist world"; a veritable pantheon of Ivy League academics who were recruited to work for the intelligence services; and, not least, Roosevelt himself. A major contribution of the book is the story of how FDR employed Hitler's former propaganda chief, Ernst "Putzi" Hanfstengl, as a private spy. More than a record of dramatic incidents and daring personalities, this book adds significantly to our understanding of how the United States fought World War II. It demonstrates that the extent, and limitations, of secret intelligence information shaped not only the conduct of the war but also the face of the world that emerged from the shadows.

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