Abstract
Escape into Danger tells the remarkable story of a young girl’s perilous adventures and coming of age during World War II. Born in Kiev to a Catholic mother and a Jewish father, Sophia Williams chose to be identified as Jewish when she was eligible for a Soviet passport, mandatory at the age of sixteen, little realizing the life-changing consequences of her decision. Only seventeen when Germany invaded Russia in 1941, Sophia left Kiev, unwittingly escaping the Babi Yar massacre. On her journey into Russia, she fled from flooding, dodged fires and bombs, and fell in love. At Stalingrad, Sophia turned back in a futile attempt to return home to her mother. Stranded in a Nazi-occupied town, accepted as a Russian, she found work with a sympathetic German officer and felt secure until a local girl recognized her as a Jew. Within days, Sophia’s boss spirited her to safety with his family in Poland. Soon, though, Sophia was on the run again, this time to Nazi Germany, where, befriended by Germans and Hungarians, she somehow escaped detection through the rest of the war. She met and married a like-minded German soldier and started a family and business. The business thrived in post-war Germany, but the marriage deteriorated. She divorced her adulterous husband, but the vindictive, even homicidal Guido continued to dog her steps. Throughout, Sophia maintained her grit, charm, and optimism, the qualities that saved her as she time and again made her “escape into danger.”
Schlagworte
Women's History Genocide & Holocaust Studies Genocide Studies- 231–278 Part VI. POSTWAR GERMANY 231–278
- 279–288 Epilogue 279–288
- 289–292 Postscript 289–292
6 Treffer gefunden
- „... already on my way.It galled me to see the Germans so well organized. Within two days of occupation, they ...” „... soldiers, the German occupational authorities had established army brothels. Initially they intended to ...” „... Part IIIGERMAN OCCUPATION11-472_Williams.indb 87 11/16/11 2:52 PM11-472_Williams.indb 88 ...”
- „... . Ukraine—History—German occupation, 1941–1944. 5. Ukraine—Biography. 6. Ukrainian Americans—Biography. I. Title. D811.5 ...” „... Enemy 8111-472_Williams.indb vii 11/16/11 2:52 PMviii ContentsPART III: GERMAN OCCUPATION14 ...” „... German Studies 12019 A Lamb in Spring 12620 Rescued 131PART IV: EYE OF THE HURRICANE21 On a Nazi Train ...”
- „... Hershey bar.Life under the American occupation was no hardship. The American servicemen were friendly and ...” „... , I asked for a baby car-riage. The American with close-cropped hair laughed and said in German ...” „... German might react when he learned his wife was half Jewish. But I believed that the man I had married ...”
- „... painfully obvious how hungry she was, how hungry Kiev was during the German occupation. Mother considered ...” „... possibility of a German victory. Two winters had passed, and though the Wehrmacht had lost a major battle at ...” „... our non-German palates but healthful and plentiful. The Polish girls and the men—one Czech, two Poles ...”
- „... stop the Germans?”“Oh yes,” I said resolutely. “We can. And we will. Hitler hasn’t got a chance. He ...” „... _Williams.indb 33 11/16/11 2:52 PM34 Escape into DangerGermans have to choose this Sunday to attack? The ...” „... put the Germans on the run.” He was a reserve Red Army officer, but I hadn’t known it.Father reported ...”
- „... proceedings because Guido had threatened to return to Germany with them the day I did. He was a German ...” „... lost her possessions in the war after all: the Germans confiscated them. But she needn’t have worried ...” „... the opening. The entire team was wiped out during the occupation, killed by the Nazis because the ...”