Thomas F. (hardtack) -
This is the story of a very young girl from Slovakia who was brought to Germany by her aunt, even before World War II began, to be trained to work in the German resistance. Some of her early training was to learn four languages.
My biggest problem with the book is some of the time lines. In the latter part of the book she mentions it is June, 1944, and a couple of pages later she is expecting American troops to come to her town in Germany, which they do. That was a big leap.
But the biggest problem was when she states that in March, 1940, her uncle gave her a "train and boat ticket, so that I could travel to London, England." Two problems here: Germany and England were already at war, and her continual mention that her uncle didn't know about her resistance work.
Then she writes, "On July 16th, my tutor and I left for London and arrived there three days later." Whoa! What a fast trip, especially as she states she traveled through Italy, Spain and Portugal to get to England. Either her memory is faulty, or the young girl had no concept of time. Or she just made this up. I have no idea why the book's editor didn't question this.
During the war she helped her aunt help Jews escape Germany, and later she was also helping shot down Allied air crews and escaped POWs escape. She also covers her life after the war in Germany and the United States. While most of her story makes sense, the problems mentioned above cast some doubt on her story.
My biggest problem with the book is some of the time lines. In the latter part of the book she mentions it is June, 1944, and a couple of pages later she is expecting American troops to come to her town in Germany, which they do. That was a big leap.
But the biggest problem was when she states that in March, 1940, her uncle gave her a "train and boat ticket, so that I could travel to London, England." Two problems here: Germany and England were already at war, and her continual mention that her uncle didn't know about her resistance work.
Then she writes, "On July 16th, my tutor and I left for London and arrived there three days later." Whoa! What a fast trip, especially as she states she traveled through Italy, Spain and Portugal to get to England. Either her memory is faulty, or the young girl had no concept of time. Or she just made this up. I have no idea why the book's editor didn't question this.
During the war she helped her aunt help Jews escape Germany, and later she was also helping shot down Allied air crews and escaped POWs escape. She also covers her life after the war in Germany and the United States. While most of her story makes sense, the problems mentioned above cast some doubt on her story.
