Elsebeth Schoenberger

I was only ten years old when I watched Hitler's troops march into my native country of Denmark and into my hometown of Randers, a small city on the banks of the great river, Gudenaa. The memory of that day is still with me and it is as fresh and terrible as though all that happened last year - or last Tuesday. This memory has shaped my story of "Birgitte's War". You grow up awfully fast in war time and you learn to appreciate each day you are allowed to live as the precious gift it is. I went back to Randers just a month ago to talk about the book and because of the warm welcome the book received on Danish TV as well as in the print medium I have decided to translate the book into Danish. In this, my adopted country, there has also been much interest in learning about what happened in a small town in a small country caught up in a big war. Apart from TV and newspaper interviews, I have also been invited to speak to middle and high school classes. As I look into the young fresh faces of my audiences I have only one fervent wish in my heart: that these young people will never have to live through the times that Birgitte - and I - had to endure.