Summary of Nina Willner's Forty Autumns

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

#1 After World War II, my grandmother, Oma, was one of the first people in her village to emerge from the underground cellar. She and her children moved back into the family house. As women in the village waited for their husbands and sons to return, they became alarmed when stories began circulating that the Soviets were raping and killing German women.

#2 The Americans arrived in Schwaneberg in mid-May, and the village was quickly enamored with them. The soldiers sent the village children into fits of giggles when they botched German phrases, and they called everyone Schatzi, an endearment reserved for parents or for those in love.

#3 The Americans established calm and control over Schwaneberg, and the villagers began to trust them. But they had to leave suddenly, and the villagers were scared of the Soviets coming.

#4 Hanna had come into the world on a bitterly cold, dark winter night in Trabitz, a tiny hamlet on the Saale River. Outside the schoolhouse, the winds had kicked up enormous snowflakes that had wildly flown about all evening long and never seemed to settle. The rooftops and trees were covered in a thick white blanket of snow.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Apr 15, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669386230

IRB Media

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Insights on Nina Willner's Forty Autumns

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

After World War II, my grandmother, Oma, was one of the first people in her village to emerge from the underground cellar. She and her children moved back into the family house. As women in the village waited for their husbands and sons to return, they became alarmed when stories began circulating that the Soviets were raping and killing German women.

#2

The Americans arrived in Schwaneberg in mid-May, and the village was quickly enamored with them. The soldiers sent the village children into fits of giggles when they botched German phrases, and they called everyone Schatzi, an endearment reserved for parents or for those in love.

#3

The Americans established calm and control over Schwaneberg, and the villagers began to trust them. But they had to leave suddenly, and the villagers were scared of the Soviets coming.

#4

Hanna had come into the world on a bitterly cold, dark winter night in Trabitz, a tiny hamlet on the Saale River. Outside the schoolhouse, the winds had kicked up enormous snowflakes that had wildly flown about all evening long and never seemed to settle. The rooftops and trees were covered in a thick white blanket of snow.

#5

The family moved to the larger village of Schwaneberg in the district of Schönebeck in Saxony-Anhalt. Oma decided that Hanna needed to be prepared for life and taught her what young village girls needed to know: how to plant and harvest a garden, sew, and help with household chores.

#6

When the Americans arrived, Oma took Hanna and presented her to the sergeant. Hanna was shocked and tried to escape, but Oma kept hold of her and pushed her into the arms of the American soldiers.

#7

As the Americans drove away from the village the next morning, Hanna looked back and saw her mother standing there, tears rolling down her face as she watched the Americans leave.

#8

In 1945, East Germany was still a fledgling state, and the Soviet Union had to work hard to change the minds of the almost 19 million German