When I Was a German, 1934-1945: An Englishwoman in Nazi Germany [Paperback]

Christabel Bielenberg (Author), Klemens von Klemperer (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1998

This fascinating glimpse of Nazi Germany is provided by an Englishwoman who was fluent in German and at home in German society, yet not entirely of it. Christabel Bielenberg moved from passive to active resistance as Hitler seized power and the Nazi dictatorship clamped down.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Among the flood of war memoirs . . . there has emerged one very different account. This is the story of a young Englishwoman who married a young German law student and went to live in Germany in 1935 and stayed there, witnessing the rise of Hitler and enduring the horrors of war as a wife and mother struggling to keep her family alive. Her experiences were those of a German . . . [but] of course she was not a German. Her judgment remained cooler and more compassionate than that of her husband and friends—Germans who were filled with revulsion and despair at the crimes their own countrymen were committing. . . . Peter Bielenberg was arrested in 1944, suspected of being involved in the July Plot. His wife . . . may have saved his life by her brave confrontation with his interrogator."—Times Literary Supplement

(Times Literary Supplement )

About the Author

Introducer Klemens von Klemperer is the author of several books, including German Resistance against Hitler: The Search for Allies Abroad, 1938–1945.

Product Details

• Paperback: 285 pages
• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press (November 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803261519
• ISBN-13: 978-0803261518
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #158,613 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Put this account of life in Nazi Germany right up there with, March 23, 1999

By 

Tim Hare (Seattle, Washington) - See all my reviews

This review is from: When I Was a German, 1934-1945: An Englishwoman in Nazi Germany (Paperback)

Victor Klemperer's "I Will Bear Witness". Christabel informs and entertains us, her writing is engaging and a world beyond the simple "diary entry" accounts. She is very perceptive, and her impressions from inside Nazi Germany, as a non-German, help us to better understand the people who brought Nazism to the world. Her writing style puts you right there in the minds and hearts of simple villagers, Nazi officials and those opposed to them. It also brings us a fresh perspective, one perhaps not encountered in other books on the subject. I have read numerous books, diaries and accounts of life in Nazi Germany (and Europe in general) and can highly recommend this one.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, important, and beautifully written, March 17, 2007

By 

Thomas B. Gross (Winchester, MA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: When I Was a German, 1934-1945: An Englishwoman in Nazi Germany (Paperback)

Fascinating account of life in Nazi Germany as told by an Englishwoman who had married a German aristocrat in 1934. Not as profound as Victor Klemperer's "I Will Bear Witness" but still one of the best of its genre. I liked it even more than Iris Origo's "War in Val D'Orcia" which I also highly recommend.

Bielenberg writes beautifully, and although the narrative can be a little confusing at times, certain passages of "When I was a German" read to me like bits of "found poetry." Unfortunately a few typographical errors mar this edition; an historical document this important deserves better.

There was a British television series produced in 1988 based on this book, called "Christabel" and shown in the United States on Masterpiece Theater. Bielenberg also testifies in various episodes of the "World at War" television series, which I am now looking forward to seeing again.

29 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars WHEN I WAS A GERMAN, August 23, 2000

By 

Mike Davis (Deltona, Fl USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: When I Was a German, 1934-1945: An Englishwoman in Nazi Germany (Paperback)

Until I read this book I never realized there were British (and American) women who had married Germans prior to the outbreak of WWII and actually lived in that "enemy" country while we were at war with them. The author suffered along with the German cicil population as the allies methodically bombarded Nazi Germany into submission. The constant fear of daily aerial bombings,hunger, and the fear of the Gestapo make this an epic story of survival.Better than fiction!