Veteran's Day is a time for reflection to commemorate and honor those who fought in World War II, those who lost loved ones in the war, and those who lived through it. Peter Bodo Gawenda, Dean of the College of Applied Studies for The University of Texas and Texas Southmost College in Brownsville, Texas reflects on his life as a child of World War II in his book The Children's War: Germany 1939-1949... Bombs dropped, soldiers occupied homes, and prisoners were marched through villages. Parent, grandparents, and extended relatives may have comprehended the War on a grand scale, but for children it was merely the adventure of everyday living. Veteran's Day serves as a reminder to others who were not yet alive to understand its impact and ramifications to avoid something of this nature from ever happening again.
Dallas, TX (PRWEB) November 11, 2011
Richly detailed, Gawenda’s compelling memoir about his childhood in Nazi Germany fills a niche largely overlooked by other accounts of that dark period. The Children’s War is an unforgettable chronicle of how ingenuity and courage enabled a family to survive in unthinkable circumstances.
Separated from their soldier father, who had disappeared on the Russian front, the Gawenda family watched with horror as the revenge-bent Red Army smashed Germany’s collapsing defenses. Gawenda recounts how his mother, Gertrude, gathered her young children and fled on a perilous wintertime journey.
“The most difficult part of telling the children’s tale is to avoid introducing interpretations of the grown-ups, to remember what the child felt, how the child perceived, and how the child reacted, “said Gawenda. “As children, we made it our mission to be cautious and suspicious. We also thought that we had to make it our task to help our families survive, to escape death and destruction - that’s how it became our war, the Children’s War.”
An uplifting reading experience, The Children’s War is a tribute to the adults who protected and nurtured youth during WWII, particularly the Gawenda parents, grandparents, and those who gave them refuge. The strength of those family ties carried them through the War and shaped Gawenda’s childhood perspective. While the family journey lasted only eight month, its lasting impact remains to this day.
Peter Gawenda resides in Brownsville, Texas where he is Dean of the College of Applied Technology and General Studies for The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College.
For further information visit: http://www.thechildrenswarbook.com
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WORLD WAR II THROUGH THE EYES OF A CHILD
THE CHILDREN'S WAR: GERMANY 1939-1949
The True Story of Peter Bodo Gawenda
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Cindy Birne
Brown Books Publishing Group
972-381-0009
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