War Is Just a Word

War is just a word To young Anna that's all it is, just a word, it's where Pappa goes to work, until one day, the War comes home. WW II, the world's most horrific War was on its way and they had no idea of its coming. No one could have foreseen that so much madness would erupt from such a small country, a land of the Fairytales and Legends, nor could they have imagined that their "Fuehrer" Adolf Hitler, whom they had raised to glorious heights, would take them to the depth of hell. Through the horror, amidst the chaos, emerges the story of a family, of Ludwig, his wife Marta and their high spirited young daughter Anna, who wake up one morning, to find their lives threatened by the outbreak of WWII. It takes Ludwig to distant lands, to fight for his Fatherland, while Marta and Anna learn to live with the pangs of hunger. They survive the hell of the air-raids with their falling bombs, only to find survival after the War, as difficult as the War itself. There however were also extraordinary times, who could ever forget the American Soldiers? Though coming as conquerors, their kindness and compassion, soon made them friends, especially to the children, who followed them around like the "Pied Piper" This is a story of historical reality, whose purpose it is to share part of an era that destroyed so many millions of people, along with an entire Continent.

Born and raised in Europe, Johannes and Ingeborg Gysen, together, brought this story to life, and although it is she who lived it, without his encouragement, his guidance and help, it would never have been told. Together they worked on it, compassionately and endlessly, until it was completed. However, shortly before the printing of their book, Johannes, her beloved husband was killed in a tragic automobile accident, and although, no longer by her side to share in the joy of the completion of their work, his spirit lives on forever within Ingeborg, who is dedicating this story to him and their great, undying love, all the way to Heaven, where he is waiting for her and where love never dies.