Review: When I as German is written with bravery and heart
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 16, 2013
When I Was German" by Alan Wynzel is a touching look into a child’s life who was brought up by a German mother and a Jewish father. This in itself caused confusing and difficult circumstances.This coming-of-age story was written with a great deal of honesty and heart. There is a realness in the dialog and the raw emotion hurts like a knife at at times. The descriptions are crystal clear as the author takes you back in time where sacrifices are made only just to survive. This heavy memoir touched me deep down inside. I could feel the pain the engulfed this boy and his mother. At times I considered the author brave for sharing so much vulnerability. But that is what really pulled me in. The honesty and the raw emotion.  Beautifully written I was absorbed into the story from the very first sentence.What happens when you are living in the past because your present is too hard but then you come to realize the past is now gone? Sometimes there is no one to blame and you just have to live with the consequences of your life."It is a sound I will always hear. A part of me will always run across a shattered, smokey landscape, where the earth leaps to meet the sky. Shells will scatter across my path, and I will dodge, and fall, and get up again, gripping my riffle tighter. And run faster. The war plays on, and I am there, I was there, and I will always be there."