‘Abandoned and Forgotten,' one woman's tale

Summit Daily News Friday, September 4, 2009

Evelyne Tannehill's book depicts the other side of World War II — what German children went through
By Kimberly Nicoletti

Evelyne Tannehill never discussed her abusive past, growing up in Germany during World War II and losing her family. She tried, once, as a young wife who revealed a couple horrors of her past to her mother-in-law. The response: disbelief.

And so, she clammed up, until several years ago, when she returned to Germany when the Berlin Wall came down. As she sat on a bus with German tourists sharing experiences about growing up during Hitler's reign, she realized her story was unique: She had been caught under the abusive power of the Russians and Poles after the war ended and lost her parents in the process.

While her tale is unique in that it depicts the German side of the Holocaust, it's particularly powerful in its compassion. Though she suffered terrible atrocities as an orphan after the war, she writes from an evolved place — one void of hatred and resentment toward her oppressors. She admits experiences like hers leave scars, but she sees that the situation “tested everyone's capacity for good and evil … cruelty of war spares no one, and atrocities were committed on all sides (regarding the Russians and the Germans, not the Jews).”

Her father was born a U.S. citizen but moved to Germany when he married her mother. He opposed Hitler and was singled out as a conspirator and placed in a concentration camp. Later, he was released, only to be forced into a labor camp in Siberia when the Russians invaded Germany after the war. Within a year, Tannehill had lost her father to the labor camp and her mother to typhoid fever, because the region no longer had good sanitation, doctors or hospitals.

“The Russians appear and unleash uncontrolled violence on us, their first German victims,” Tannehill wrote. “They rape the women and torture the men.”

Tannehill became a “street urchin,” without schooling, for three years. She eventually ended up back at her family's farm, but her parents were gone, and an abusive Polish family had taken over not only her home, but also everything in it, down to the dishes and medicine in the cabinets.

The 431-page book portrays her life, starting at about age 5 and ending a few days before her 16th birthday, as she is on her way to North America.

Still, Tannehill describes the true story as not one solely about her, but one about “a family and how we navigated these troubled waters — the war, the loss of the war, the invasion of the Russians.” But she adds, “You learn what happens when a child loses the protective web of her parents.” The four sections of her book describe life under Hitler, the Russian invasion, the Polish takeover and how Germany rebuilt itself.

Tannehill has talked to almost 100 book clubs and churches since the release of her book.

“The reaction I usually get is, ‘We didn't know all these things happened. We just thought in 1945 the war was over and it was business as usual,'” she said. “But even after 1945, it was years before the Germans could rebuild their lives. There were no jobs and there were food shortages into the 1950s.”

She's even had two Jewish women contact her, one to say the book caused her to reevaluate her entire attitude toward German people, and another to say she never thought of any Germans suffering — she thought of them as getting what they deserved — until she read Tannehill's account.

It took Tannehill six years to write her story and another four years to let it “sit.” For the first three years, no one knew she was writing a book — not even her family. But through the process, she persevered.

“It is my belief that history is best told by those who lived it,” she said. “I had a very important story to tell, especially for the American reader because it's a slice of history that very little is known … it's a story of war. This story could happen anywhere, any time. Even today, it is happening.”

Summit Daily News, Friday, September 4, 2009

‘Abandoned and Forgotten,' one woman's tale
Evelyne Tannehill's book depicts the other side of World War II — what German children went through By Kimberly Nicoletti

Evelyne Tannehill never discussed her abusive past, growing up in Germany during World War II and losing her family. She tried, once, as a young wife who revealed a couple horrors of her past to her mother-in-law. The response: disbelief.

And so, she clammed up, until several years ago, when she returned to Germany when the Berlin Wall came down. As she sat on a bus with German tourists sharing experiences about growing up during Hitler's reign, she realized her story was unique: She had been caught under the abusive power of the Russians and Poles after the war ended and lost her parents in the process.

More to come!

From Lavonne

Your book was both devastating and poignant. I was not aware of the plight of the Germans during and after the war. It gave me a completely different lens from which to view the happenings of that terrible experience. I have since shared the book with a friend of mine who belongs to a book club. She read the book is just a few days and told me she was unable to sleep and read well into the dawn until she had finished it.

Poignant Story

This poignant story of tragedy and survival demonstrates that in war the innocent suffer also. An authentic and gripping reading.In today's world we must learn from the past that war is not the answer to resolving problems.

Evelyne's book announces the exciting debut of a new author.

Dr. Lawrence Janus, M.D.

BOOK CLUB SPECIAL

I have spoken to over 80 book clubs about my book; ABANDONED AND FORGOTTEN – An orphan Girl’s tale of survival during World War II. These meetings and interviews have been rewarding both for me and the members of the clubs.
This human interest story is geared to those who do not know of the suffering of innocent German people. Not only readers with German heritage but also the next generation of those who experienced World War II or any war in any part of the world will gain much from the experiences detailed in my true story. The book has a lighter vision that could only be presented through the eyes of a resourceful little blond girl, and is appropriate for readers of all ages. When your club reads my book I will be happy to talk with them either through a phone interview or in person. For a list of book club questions and other information, see: abandonedandforgotten.com

From another reader

Not many books get into my head like this one did. This is the true story of a nine year old girl who lost both of her parents and was separated from her siblings during WWII. Even though it was a very tragic experience, the writer does not try to sensationalize it. Mrs. Tannehill is an exceptionally talented writer. It is a hard book to finish, you feel like you have lived the experience with her and want to know more. I hope she writes another book about her life after she was reunited with her brothers and sister in America. It would be a shame if this was her only book

Expulsion -- "not a humane procedure"

My story covers a little known slice of history. I am referring to the ruthless expulsion of all Germans from the country's lost territories after the war. It was not a humane procedure. But then what was humane about that terrible war, or any war. Few people knew how the German populace struggled for survival long after the war was over. Nobody realized outside of Germany how long it took the German people to put their lives back together. And as my Aunt Elsbeth said, we East Prussians lived in the wrong part of Germany and paid more dearly for the war. But that is the fallout of war, the innocent pay for their power hungry, and all too often evil leaders' mistakes and ambitions, especially the children.