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    A War Bride’s Journey: A Memoir
    A War Bride’s Journey: A Memoir
    A War Bride’s Journey: A Memoir
    Ebook93 pages1 hour

    A War Bride’s Journey: A Memoir

    By Helen I. Donovan

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Jesus urges us to be “a light to the world.” Helen Donovan takes that command seriously, especially in the darkest of times. Helen’s journey through life ran parallel to the rise and fall of the Third Reich in Germany. Raised under Nazi tyranny, Helen experienced firsthand the terror of air raids and the sound of bombs falling outside.

    Despite fear and violence, Helen’s light never dimmed thanks to her faith. Her faith is now an inspiration as she shares both her most heartbreaking and heartwarming moments in A War Bride’s Journey.

    Helen reveals a time that may soon be forgotten as a whole generation slowly passes into eternity. She hopes to keep the memories alive and warn against the trap of dictatorship in the future. Leaning heavily on Jesus, Helen shares her story—or, perhaps, “His-story”—inspiring others to remain strong in adversity with God’s help.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArchway Publishing
    Release dateFeb 14, 2020
    ISBN9781480886650
    A War Bride’s Journey: A Memoir
    Author

    Helen I. Donovan

    Helen Donovan grew up in Germany at a time when Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich came into power. She eventually married an American soldier who brought her to Nyack, New York, where she started a new life, raised a family, and became involved in her community.

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      Book preview

      A War Bride’s Journey - Helen I. Donovan

      Copyright © 2020 Helen I. Donovan.

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

      Archway Publishing

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      www.archwaypublishing.com

      1 (888) 242-5904

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

      Cover photo © Beth Capuano Photography, West Nyack, NY.

      Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

      ISBN: 978-1-4808-8666-7 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4808-8664-3 (hc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4808-8665-0 (e)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2020901295

      Archway Publishing rev. date: 2/13/2020

      Contents

      Foreword

      Introduction

      Chapter 1: A Banker Finds a Treasure

      Chapter 2: The Journey Began in Flossmuhle

      Chapter 3: Adventures in Nuremberg

      Chapter 4: The Challenges of War

      Chapter 5: A Bride, a Widow, and a Mother

      Chapter 6: Three Days on Foot with a Baby Carriage

      Chapter 7: Picking Up the Pieces

      Chapter 8: A Song and a Cup of Coffee

      Chapter 9: The Journey Across the Atlantic

      Chapter 10: A Warm Welcome into a New Family

      Chapter 11: Overcoming Postwar Trauma

      Chapter 12: The End of the Journey … For Now

      Epilogue

      Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed,

      for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

      —Joshua 1:9

      Success in life must be built up, step by step, until we reach

      the top. There we see sunshine and evening glow, the gate into

      heaven opens for us, and the hand of God welcomes us in.

      —Helen I. Donovan

      Foreword

      Jesus urges us to be a light to the world. Helen Donovan takes that seriously, as this enlightening and inspirational book shows us. Yes, she had a lot of darkness in her life, raised as she was under Nazi tyranny. Yes, her faith helped her through, and that faith of hers is now a light for us. Thanks, Helen, for sharing your history, which you believe is His-story, with all of us.

      — Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York

      Introduction

      Lynn and Andy will be flying to Nuremberg in September to celebrate Uncle Ernst’s eighty-fifth birthday.

      We just finished our prayer before the meal, in German. I’m now twirling a string of spaghetti around my fork as I share the news with Mom in a local Italian restaurant.

      Without raising her head, while buttering her bread, Mom replies, Where will they be staying? They should stay at the Hotel Rother Hahn in Nuremberg, on Konigstrasse.

      Where did you hear of that place? I ask.

      My grandfather’s brother owned it.

      This little dialogue shows you three things about the way this memoir came to be. The first thing is the stories are always spontaneous, usually a reflection upon the topic of the moment. The second thing is that we hear most of her stories at the dinner table. Take Mom to her favorite restaurant, or any restaurant for that matter, order up a salad, veal piccata, and a glass of Merlot, and prepare to be entertained! The third thing is that, throughout her life, God has been part of the picture. Mom is not the type who shows her faith by preaching or devotions to be seen by all. Hers is the quiet faith evidenced by a life of prayer, faithful attendance at churches of two denominations, visits to the sick, care of the cemetery, and reading scripture every morning.

      The stories within are a collection of memories from Mom’s journey through life as it ran parallel to the rise and fall of the Third Reich and her recovery after it. They reveal a time that may soon be forgotten because she represents a whole generation that is slowly passing into eternity. The experiences and lessons learned in the early to mid-1900s are too recent to be interesting to younger generations who are too busy trying to create a history of their own while making the same mistakes that were made a century ago.

      One cannot overlook Mom’s wanderlust. I always thought it was a word she made up, but it truly defines her passion for exploration and travel. We counted close to thirty countries that Mom visited, mostly with Dad, over the sixty-three years of their marriage. Many of these trips were connected through cruises on the high seas, beginning at age sixteen.

      The details in this memoir have been verified as much as possible. Through conversations with her brother, reading actual news clippings kept in a binder, or a perusal of the internet, I’ve been able to verify that the people, places, and things she experienced are real.

      The most reliable sources of information are found in Mom’s collection of treasured memories in photo albums. Pull out one of those, such as her wedding album, and

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