In the vast literature on World War II, the human story of Germany's postwar crisis remains largely untold. While history books, films, and documentaries often focus on the war itself, the daily realities of life in the war's aftermath—political fragmentation, economic collapse, and profound social upheaval—are frequently overlooked. Elisabeth Haggblade's award-winning memoir, Trauterose, aims to fill that gap with a deeply personal account of growing up in postwar Munich.
Orphaned at birth during World War II, Haggblade spent her first eleven years in the household of a former SS officer and his family. Her memoir offers a rare, intimate view of a nation struggling to survive amid uncertainty and loss. The book has earned the 2024 IndieReader Discovery Award in the Memoir category and First Place Non-Fiction in The Authors Show 2024 Book Cover Awards.
Haggblade wrote Trauterose as a corrective to what she saw as incomplete portrayals of the postwar years. "I wrote this book as a reaction to reports and pictures of that time that I saw: Glamorous portrayals in German magazines of the postwar years," she stated. "More importantly, I wanted to respond to positive comments I kept hearing from Americans about their understanding of the postwar years. Both impressions were in contrast to my experience growing up and those I came in contact with. They told only one side of the story."
Her narrative details the physical and psychological scars of war, both in her own life and in the lives of those around her. Against a backdrop of fragile institutions and scarce resources, even ordinary routines demanded resilience. "One had to make an effort to establish a routine, to bring some kind of order into one's life," Haggblade recalled in a recent talk for AAUW book club members in Santa Barbara, California. "What was it like to get up in the morning, trying to find soap, comb, toothbrush, warm water—not a small task in those times. We had to find food and ways to cook it. One still had to go to school, without public or private transportation, in all seasons. Find a place to do homework. Find proper clothes and shoes to wear; gear for rain, clothes for winter; Find thread for mending clothes. And we had to deal with sickness and death in the family."
Yet her story also shows how faith and community helped people endure. She writes of a hand-written letter from the late Pope Benedict XVI, then known as Herr Joseph Ratzinger, her fourth-grade catechism teacher in the 1950s, who advised: "If one buttons one's coat the wrong way, one would have to undo all of it and start over again to make it right. So it is with life."
Reviewers have praised Trauterose for its unflinching honesty. Craig Jones of IndieReader called it "an uncompromising, moving, and elegiac memoir of a deprived childhood in postwar Germany." Midwest Book Review noted that "libraries seeking powerful, personal memoirs that hold political and social lessons and insights will find Trauterose a study in adaptation, survival, and growth." Amazon reviewers have similarly embraced the book, with one writing that it "offers an unforgettable window into a time and place that few Americans know about."
The memoir's significance extends beyond personal history. By looking back, Haggblade argues, we learn how Germany has reckoned with its past and can trace the changes the country has undergone. As she puts it, quoting Baruch Spinoza: "To understand, not judge." Trauterose serves as a cautionary tale on the inherited guilt created by rampant nationalism and a painfully honest, often humorous view of a young woman's search for freedom and purpose.
Trauterose is available in print, ebook, and audiobook formats at Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/stores/Elisabeth-Haggblade/author/B0CTRXLF9G. More information is available at her website at https://www.trauteroseauthor.com.
