Flight of Remembrance: A World War II Memoir of Love and Survival - Softcover

Kirsch, Marina Dutzmann

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0983565341 ISBN 13: 9780983565345

Publisher: Kirschstone Books, 2011

Synopsis

An award-winning finalist in the narrative non-fiction category of the 2012 USA Best Book Awards, this is a true story from the losing side of the war that includes two German veterans. Against the backdrop of World War II tragedy and devastation in Latvia, occupied Poland and Germany and three tumultuous decades of European history, it provides a window into the palpitating heart of wartime upheaval through the lives of Rolf Dutzmann and Lilo Wassull--a young Latvian aeronautical engineering student and the young woman he meets in 1940 Berlin after being forced to flee Latvia.

In December of 1939, swept along on a threatening tide of dire circumstance due to the imminent Soviet takeover of the Baltic States, Rolf and his family flee to Germany to save their lives, but Germany is fully under Hitler's control and already waging war. While the story follows Rolf's pursuit of his technical dream against daunting wartime odds, it is first and foremost a poignant love story that plays out against a panorama of worldwide chaos and destruction. The reader will experience the chain of cataclysmic events including Rolf's draft into the Luftwaffe and his father's assignment as chief inspector of V-2 rocket production; the bombing of Berlin; the destruction of their homes; the desperate, cross-country escapes from the bombing, the advancing Soviet troops from the east, and other Allied forces from the west; the POW camp hardships; and the deprivation of the postwar years. Despite the immeasurable evil, suffering, and desolation of World War II, a synchronistic chain of events provides a chance for a new beginning and a key role for Rolf in the US space program.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Against the backdrop of World War II tragedy and devastation in Latvia, Poland and Germany and three decades of European history, this true narrative provides a window into the palpitating heart of wartime upheaval through the lives of Rolf Dutzmann and Lilo Wassull--two people fatefully positioned "on the other side."

In December of 1939, swept along on a tide of dire necessity and circumstance due to the imminent Soviet takeover of his homeland, Rolf, a young Latvian aeronautical engineering student, flees with his family to Germany, a country fully under Hitler's control and already engaged in a brutal war. While the account chronicles Rolf's pursuit of his technical dream against daunting wartime odds, it is first and foremost a poignant and enduring love story that plays out against a panorama of worldwide chaos and destruction. It is also a story of the seen and unseen forces that coalesce to keep Rolf and Lilo alive after they meet in 1940 Berlin, leading them through a chain of cataclysmic events including Rolf's draft into the Luftwaffe and his father's assignment as chief inspector of V-2 rocket production; the bombing of Berlin; the destruction of their homes; their numerous desperate, cross-country escapes from the bombing, the advancing Soviet troops from the east, and other Allied forces from the west; the POW camp hardships; and the deprivation of the postwar years.

Despite the immeasurable evil, suffering and desolation of World War II, a synchronistic chain of events provides an uplifting reminder that love and hope may arise even out of the ashes of life's most terrifying adversities.

About the Author:

MARINA DUTZMANN KIRSCH is the daughter of the protagonists, Rolf and Lilo. On the brink of their odyssey to the New World in 1951, she was born into the postwar Old World in Zurich, Switzerland. Graphic designer by profession, and now a speaker for her WWII family story and an officer of a local chapter of Toastmasters International, she resides with her husband in southern New Hampshire. Read more at www.kirschstonebooks.com.

About this edition

• Publisher: Kirschstone Books
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0983565341
• ISBN 13: 9780983565345
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 358