Description
Book SynopsisExpertly contextualized by two leading historians in the field, this unique collection offers 13 accounts of individual experiences of World War II from across Europe. It sees contributors describe their recent ancestors' experiences ranging from a Royal Air Force pilot captured in Yugoslavia and a Spanish communist in the French resistance to two young Jewish girls caught in the siege of Leningrad. Contributors draw upon a variety of sources, such as contemporary diaries and letters, unpublished postwar memoirs, video footage as well as conversations in the family setting. These chapters attest to the enormous impact that war stories of family members had on subsequent generations. The story of a father who survived Nazi captivity became a lesson in resilience for a daughter with personal difficulties, whereas the story of a grandfather who served the Nazis became a burden that divided the family. At its heart,
Family Histories of World War II concerns human experiences in supr
Trade ReviewThe stories in this anthology are gripping … This book will make an excellent text for courses on World War II, especially ones focusing on the social history of the conflict … Historians and social scientists seeking to document the current war in Ukraine should definitely add this work to their bookshelf. * Journal of Family History *
An interesting, unusual and often moving book. This draws on family memories of the Second World War mainly from amongst people, with many national origins, who now work at the tranquil campus of the National University of Ireland at Galway. Edited by experienced historians but written by a wide range of people (mainly but not exclusively academics),and recounting the experiences of an even wider group of people from an earlier generation, it combines the immediacy of personal experience with scholarly rigour. It will be a stimulating book for any undergraduate class as well as being a compelling work for many general readers. * Richard Vinen, Professor of History, King's College London, UK *
Historians have spent far too little time studying the impact of war on families through the generations. This wonderful volume fills that gap with dignity, intelligence, and compassion. * Michael S. Neiberg, Inaugural Chair of War Studies, United States Army War College, USA *
The power of Healy and Barry’s book lies in the way the stories are told. ... the essays are moving and fascinating in equal measure, and can help the reader understand how the war impacted on individual lives in a way that traditional narrative histories often fail to achieve. * Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine *
Table of ContentsList of Figures List of Tables Acknowledgments Notes on Contributors 1. From Generation to Generation: World War II Narratives in Transition,
Róisín Healy (NUI Galway, Ireland) and Gearóid Barry (NUI Galway, Ireland) Part I. Lives in Uniform: Enduring Combat and Captivity 2. Nothing Spectacular to Remember? Dealing with Wartime Memories in a German Family,
Hans-Walter Schmidt-Hannisa (NUI Galway, Ireland) 3. The Returning POW and a Wartime Volunteer: A Love Story,
Sheena Fennell (NUI Galway, Ireland) and Gill Fennell (Independent Scholar, Ireland) 4. Educating Friends and Enemies: An Irishman’s Experiences in Wartime Britain,
Patricia Scully (NUI Galway, Ireland) 5. The Diary of an Italian Officer in Nazi Concentration Camps, 1943-1945: The Forgotten History of Italian Military Internees,
Marina Ansaldo (NUI Galway, Ireland) 6. Behind Enemy Lines: The Story of an American Soldier and the Italian Family who Saved Him,
Colleen Maloney Williamson (Independent Scholar, USA) and Maureen Maloney (NUI Galway, Ireland) 7. From El Alamein to Bergen-Belsen: An Irish Dental Officer's War,
Ciara Boylan (NUI Galway, Ireland) 8. Recording the War in Connemara: A Guianese Sailor in the Eastern Mediterranean,
Cormac Ó Loideáin (NUI Galway, Ireland) Part II. Lives under Seige: Coping with Occupation 9. A Spanish Communist in the French Resistance: Uncle Luís and a German Map,
Sara Farrona (NUI Galway, Ireland) 10. A Boy in Small-Town Germany from Home Front to Allied Occupation,
Hermann Rasche (NUI Galway, Ireland) 11. A Child’s View of War: Nazi Occupation, Resistance, and Civil War in Northeastern Italy, 1943-1945,
Enrico Dal Lago (NUI Galway, Ireland) 12. A Greek Tragedy: A Small Village at War,
Constantinos G. Efthymiou (NUI Galway, Ireland) 13. A Russian Jewish Family Remembers the Siege of Leningrad,
Irina Ruppo (NUI Galway, Ireland) 14. Slave Labour and its Legacies: My Maternal Grandparents' Journey from Ukraine to Germany to Belgium,
Sylvie Mossay (NUI Galway, Ireland) Select Further Reading Notes Index
