Author Description

Rosemarie von Bl cher was born in 1920 in the Prussian Baltic province of Pomerania (Pommern). Coming from the same family of German nobility as the illustrious general who led the Prussians at the Battle of Waterloo, she grew up in her very own paradise on her father's estate - an idyllic world of peace, harmony and beauty. But sinister forces would soon shatter her world forever. Hitler came to power during her high school years, and the perverse policies of the new regime soon changed her life. As a medical student in occupied Poland, Rosemarie witnessed some of the atrocities inflicted on the population by the SS. Although courted by the wealthy Count Werner von der Schulenburg - owner of a large estate in Saxony-Anhalt - her fairy tale wedding provided no escape from the terrors of the time. Members of Werner's family were involved in the Valkyrie plot to assassinate the F hrer, and Rosemarie later endured occupation, expropriation, and house arrest by the Russians. Following her miraculous rescue, she escaped with her husband to the West where, unlike many of their class, they managed to rise above the ruins to embrace a new life of service in post-war Germany. Werner eventually became a pastor, believing that his country would only find its way back from the pseudo-religion of National Socialism by turning to its Christian roots. Rosemarie's is a story of how inherited spiritual values survive the loss of a childhood paradise to nourish a new happiness through family, friendships, and community. As an unvarnished first-hand account of a time when European civilization suffered one of its most savage assaults, it is still ultimately uplifting, filled with lyrical - and sometimes comical - surprises. "Rosemarie first wrote this story for her grandchildren, who wanted to know about her tumultuous life in 20th-century Germany. It has been translated into English by Norman Diffey, a friend of hers for nearly fifty years."