Anneliese Heider Tisdale will return to Greene County Saturday, Nov. 16, to tell of her experience growing up near Munich, Germany, during World War II, and to sign the first volume of her memoirs, “Christmas Trees Lit the Sky: Growing Up in World War II Germany.”
Tisdale will be at First Presbyterian Church in Jefferson from 1 to 2:30 pm. Her talk is hosted by the Jefferson Public Library.
Tisdale came to the States in 1947 to marry a GI from Paton who was in the occupation forces in Munich after the surrender in 1945. She was a farm wife near Dana for several years, married to the man she refers to in the book as “Bill.” She is reluctant to name him because the marriage failed. She lived and worked in Jefferson for a time, and then earned a degree in language and linguistics from the University of Iowa. She taught German in the Cedar Rapids school district until her retirement in 1991.
After retirement she taught at Kirkwood Community College. A perq of that position was taking classes at no charge. She took a class on how to publish a book. “Christmas Trees Lit the Sky” followed.
Her memoirs began as a cookbook of authentic German recipes written down at the urging of her family. Also at their urging, she added genealogy. The genealogy was edited into memoirs before publication. Her recipes are included in the book.
Tisdale opens her memoirs with the surrender of Munich when she was 17 years old, and then moves backward in time to her parent’s early history and her younger years. She builds her story of pre-war Germany. She tells of shopping in Munich and being barred from shopping in a Jewish-owned department store. She tells of the increasing fear of expressing political opinions contrary to der Fuhrer. She tells of her cousin and an aunt and uncle returning to Germany after emigrating to the States. They knew English, and her cousin helped her with the English she was learning at school.
Tisdale tells of how the war changed their daily lives, with virtually all necessities rationed. She tells of air raids, her parents and a neighbor building a below-ground bunker in their yard, and a classmate and her entire family being killed. She tells of a day shortly before the surrender when her workplace in the city was bombed and she had to make her way home through the severely damaged city without any public transportation.
Her family’s lifestyle didn’t improve much when American forces occupied the city. They were fearful of the Americans and all consumer goods were still in very short supply. Her acquaintance with her future husband came about partly because there were so few proficient English speakers in Munich at the time.
“When Christmas Trees Lit the Sky” is published by AuthorHouse, which allows authors virtually complete discretion in what they publish. Tisdale included a postscript, “The cat has nine lives—or, why didn’t we do something.” She attempts to answer the question she is still often asked: “Why didn’t people do something to stop Hitler?” She tells of the many unsuccessful attempts to assassinate Hitler and of executions of so-called “enemies of the State.”
All are welcome to the author talk and book signing. Refreshments will be served.
