Une écrivaine britannique qui épousa un avocat allemand et adopta la citoyenneté allemande. Son œuvre offre un récit vivant et profondément personnel de la vie en Allemagne pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Elle capture magistralement l'atmosphère de l'époque, explorant des thèmes tels que la persécution politique, la résilience personnelle et les complexités de naviguer dans des temps périlleux. Ses récits se distinguent par leur honnêteté brute et un engagement inébranlable à dépeindre la capacité de l'esprit humain à endurer et à faire preuve de courage face à l'adversité. Par son écriture, elle offre une lentille unique pour comprendre l'impact profond des événements historiques sur les vies individuelles.
The Past is MyselfChristabel Bielenberg, a niece of Lord Northcliffe, married a German lawyer in 1934. She also tells of life in her newly adopted country, Ireland, her involvement with the Peace Women of Northern Ireland, and with characteristic modesty and gratitude, looks back on a rich, full life.
Following her wartime memoirs in "The Past is Myself", Christabel Bielenberg continues her story from the end of the war. Germany was devastated by war and its aftermath, while to the author Britain seemed grey and exhausted. She was soon appointed "The Observer"'s special correspondent in Germany and, reunited with her husband - technically an enemy alien - she joined the struggle for reconciliation with, and the rebuilding of, a defeated nation. A near-fatal accident to her husband, and her own illness, persuaded the young couple to turn their backs on England and Germany, and make a new start farming in Ireland. Although life was harsh at first, the beautiful scenery of the Wicklow Mountains provided a haven for the family and for the hosts of young people from all over the world who joined them each summer. Christabel became involved with the Peace Women of Northern Ireland, and learned as much as she could about her adopted country.
Christabel Bielenberg, a niece of Lord Northcliffe, married a German lawyer in 1934. She lived through the war in Germany, as a German citizen, under the horrors of Nazi rule and Allied bombings. Closely associated with resistance circles, her husband was arrested after the failure of the plot against Hitler's life on 20th July 1944, and she herself was interrogated by the Gestapo. Not only do we meet her friends whose tragic bravery shines from the book, but dozens of everyday Germans, from the simple-minded Nazi official who was also her odd-job gardener, to the good-hearted Black Forest villagers who sheltered her till the liberation. They are presented with humour and sympathy, allowing the reader a remarkable insight into their character. All the more haunting, then, is her night-time encounter with an SS man from Riga who searches desperately for death on the battlefield. The human dimension of her writing brings about an unforgettable portrait of an evil time.
The personal account of someone who lived through the war in Germany, as a German citizen, through Nazi rule and Allied bombings.