Edgar Bueschke

Traces of Heimweh: Family Memoirs Edgar Bueschke

Publisher Marketing: In 1939 the pastoral calm of the German hamlet of Schladow in Poland is shattered by murderous ethnic warfare and the full eruption of WWII. His civilian father, uncle, and many of the village's young men being brutally slaughtered by Polish soldiers for the offense of being German almost destroys the souls of young Edgar Bueschke, his siblings, their mother and grandparents, but they adjust and regain a semblance of tranquility. Yet by 1944, troubles have escalated again and the Bueschke family decides to leave Poland for their ancestral Germany, even as that nation plunges deeper into its own hell of Nazi atrocities. By 1948, the dream of a cohesive life in Germany has proven elusive and a fiercely loving, protective mother resolves to emigrate with her children to Canada, where other relatives have already gone, instigating new, and re-establishing old, familial relationships. For young Edgar, his brother, Ted and their sister, Nelly, the culture clash of the New World with the Old is explosive. In many situations, such as at school, they are made to feel more like interloping strangers than friendly newcomers, even by peers who are only a few years past being immigrants themselves. Their mother, gratefully accepting menial work to support her family, enters into a marriage with an unloving, deceitful manipulator who almost succeeds in stifling forever her hard-won independence. But with their move to the United States, the Bueschke family's inner resources are reaffirmed and through their fierce, unflagging work ethic and pure joy of being alive and together, they prevail and achieve success and true happiness. Edgar Bueschke tells his story deftly with emotion, but not emotionally. The details of daily life in Poland, Germany, and finally America make up a profoundly historical document of times, places, mores and methods long gone but not to be forgotten by anyone who values the truly independent, enterprising, ever-curious spirit. Heartbreaking at times, ultimately heartening, HEIMWEH is a memoir to treasure. David Pabian, Author, Editor, Screenwriter