The Home of My Heart: An East Prussian Memoir - Paperback

by Patricia Pleasants Lawler (Editor), Gerda Breuhammer Pleasants (Author)

"I am writing this book for myself and my children, and also to keep alive the memory of my home in East Prussia. This home as I knew it no longer exists; most of the people you will read about have died, many of the building have disappeared, and even the towns and the region have different names." So begins this deeply personal memoir of a young woman's life irrevocably changed by Germany's declaration of war. Gerda was only 17 when she was drafted into Nazi Germany's civilian labor corps. She vividly describes her experiences as a land girl, plane spotter, prisoner of war, refugee and American war bride.

Author Biography

Gerda Breuhammer Pleasants was born in East Prussia, Germany in 1923. She came to the United States in 1947 as a war bride, although the marriage soon ended when her husband became abusive. As a young divorcee with a small child, she nevertheless talked her way into a job at a local bank, where she was soon promoted to lead commercial teller. In 1962, she married the county sheriff and became interested in local politics. Gerda began working for the North Carolina General Assembly in the late 1960s, and in 1981 she was the first woman in the United States to serve as the Sergeant-at-Arms of a legislative body. After retiring in 1993, she took a memoir-writing class, and she resolved to share her life story with others.