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“Surviving Hitler, Evading Stalin” by Mildred Schindler Janzen with Sherye S. Green
When you think you can’t read another World War II story, a gem like this comes along!
This past September, this book was featured as the Henderson Mennonite Heritage Park “One Book, One Heritage Park” selection. The 95-year-old author, Mildred Schindler Janzen, held an author’s discussion and book signing at the Heritage Park on September 28th. I couldn’t attend, but I heard rave reviews about her talk, and now, after finally getting around to reading her memoir, I’d love to meet her.
Mildred’s memoir shares her family’s story of how their peaceful lives were disrupted and changed forever by the Nazi occupation and the invasion of the Russian army in Radach, Germany, during World War II. She gives readers a different perspective and the daily nitty gritty of what it was like for rural folks in Germany during the Nazi takeover and the horrors of the Russian occupation.
While Mildred’s story is compelling, with many harrowing twists and turns, the author’s attention to providing the historical context of the time is very well done. Not only do you get a sense of her family’s perilous situation, but how wartime decisions completely disrupted their life as they knew it.
Living on a farm, she didn’t have any close contact with Jews, and her parents shielded her and her brother Horst from the truth. They only had a radio for news, and she remembered when her Papa voiced his disappointment when assassins missed killing Hitler again. Their farm was valuable to the Nazis, but their lives became complicated as rationing and quotas for their crops had to be given to the government.
Unfortunately, the war’s end was only the beginning of her family’s troubles as the Russian army invaded Germany. Mildred had just turned 15, and her world was soon to be turned upside down when her Papa was abducted by the Russians, supposedly to herd and feed cattle for a few days. He never returned.
Mildred’s mother, Mutti, realized quickly that her young teenage daughter would not be safe with the many Russian soldiers lurking around. They had already been removed from their home and had moved to a nearby village. Soon, Mildred was forced to work in a nearby laundry camp for the Russians when her mother decided it was time to take action.
What happens next in the story is nearly miraculous, but Mildred’s faith, courage, and love of her family shine throughout her story. This compelling memoir is a must-read for discovering how Mildred made her way to central Kansas and built an amazing life worth sharing.
The book is still available at the Henderson Mennonite Heritage Park General Store, or you can find it on Sherye Green’s website. The book is generously filled with photographs, documents, and newspaper articles that help make the story come alive.
