Between Two Homelands: Letters across the Borders of Nazi Germany,Used

Review'Between Two Homelands offers a distinctive perspective on the history of Naziera Europe. The letter collection and the more newly discovered diary allow the reader to watch events unfold as they are happening and through the eyes of people who are living in the moment and don't know how the story turns out. The letters allow readers to see, for example, how people weighed career ambitions against ethical scruples in deciding to participate in Nazi projects while trying to convince themselves and others that they were 'good' or 'civilized' people. There is really nothing else quite like this book.'Mary Jo Maynes, coauthor of The Family: A World HistoryRevealing and deeply disturbing. . . . This is useful but sad and frustrating commentary on ordinary people living their lives while the world around them is on fire.Booklist'A captivating book and an important contribution to the vast body of literature on Third Reich Alltagsgeschichte (history of everyday life). This rate collection of letters provides an honest depiction of the everyday lives of Germans living through economic travail, political violence, dictatorship, and war.'HGerman'Seen from beginning to end, these collected letters and diary entries help explain why Hitler and the National Socialists found broad support in Germany Perhaps above all else, this collection of letters reveals how this tragic global conflict reverberated in the most intimate spaces and relationships.'HISTORYProduct DescriptionIn 1920, at the age of thirteen, Irmgard Gebensleben first traveled from Germany to The Netherlands on a 'warchildren transport.' She would later marry a Dutch man and live and raise her family there while keeping close to her German family and friends through the frequent exchange of letters. Yet during this period geography was not all that separated them. Increasing divergence in political opinions and eventual war between their countries meant letters contained not only family news but personal perspectives on the individual, local, and national choices that would result in the most destructive war in history.This important collection, first assembled by Irmgard Gebensleben's daughter Hedda Kalshoven, gives voice to ordinary Germans in the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich and in the occupied Netherlands. The correspondence between Irmgard, her friends, and four generations of her family delve into their most intimate and candid thoughts and feelings about the rise of National Socialism. The responses to the German invasion and occupation of the Netherlands expose the deeply divided loyalties of the family and reveal their attempts to bridge them. Of particular value to historians, the letters evoke the writers' beliefs and their understanding of the events happening around them.This first English translation of Ik denk zoveel aan jullie: Een briefwisseling tussen Nederland en Duitsland 19201949, has been edited, abridged, and annotated by Peter Fritzsche with the assent and collaboration of Hedda Kalshoven. After the book's original publication the diary of Irmgard's brother and loyal Wehrmacht soldier, Eberhard, was discovered and edited by Hedda Kalshoven. Fritzsche has drawn on this important additional source in his preface.About the AuthorHedda Kalshoven is the daughter of Irmgard Gebensleben. Peter Fritzsche is W. D. and Sara E. Trowbridge Professor of History at University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign and author of Life and Death in the Third Reich and many other books.Excerpt. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.Between Two HomelandsLetters across the Borders of Nazi GermanyBy Hedda Kalshoven, Hester Velmans UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS PRESSCopyright 2014 Board of Trustees of the University of IllinoisAll rights reserved.ISBN: 9780252079856ContentsPreface by Peter Fritzsche, ix,Introduction, xxiii,Note to the American Edition, xxxiii,To Holland (19201929), 1,The Parents (19291937)