A LIGHTNESS IN MY SOUL is a fictional novella based on a true story, one that happened in Germany many years ago.Just like the British evacuated their children, so did the Germans, although not everyone was put into homes, but camps instead. This is a heart-breaking and harrowing tale, told in the first person, as Arthur goes to a KLV camp. You stay with him as he begins to question just what is going on, then the Americans arrive, and you stay with him in the aftermath of that. The conditions Arthur has to face are very well-written, managing to give the reader the horror and hopelessness of the situation without making it gruesome or unnecessarily violent. For anyone with an interest in the history of WWII, especially if you are interested in the German perspective, then this is definitely one for your bookshelves. A one-sitting, engrossing read highly recommended by me.
“That day, my soul went flying out again.” In this novella, at times horrific and at others poignant, Arthur struggles to maintain an inner strength as well as his humanity in a time of madness.
With A Lightness in My Soul, raconteur Annette Oppenlander continues her efforts to bring little-known historical events to light via an enhanced retelling. Untangling those oft-forgotten personal memories of traumatic times past, Oppenlander takes a historically grounded incident and offers a modern version for a new audience.
During World War II, many countries moved citizens out of immediate danger regions. Such is the existence of Arthur: living as far as possible from the real war of aerial bombardment and harm, he lives, works, trains, learns, and dreams in an alternate reality run by members of the Hitler Youth.
Camp life is not in any way idyllic. There are marches, military training and discipline, political lessons, and constant reminders of the war. The isolated worldview of camp residents comes to a sharp termination with the arrival of United States soldiers in April 1945. At that moment, their whole being is shattered with the realization that Germany has lost the war. Attempting to understand that entity called Dachau, where he is taken to help newly freed prisoners, Arthur struggles to save his own soul.
In his experiences caring for patients while torn inside by his own personal demons, Arthur witnesses sorrow and death firsthand. He struggles to maintain his humanity in this reality and dreams of reuniting with his mother.
A Lightness In My Soul is eye-opening, heart-breaking and all together engrossing.
For anyone with an interest in the history of WWII, this perspective from a German teen puts war into perspective. There are no winners and losers and only loss and devastation. Putting aside judgement, and reading about how negatively and drastically WWII effected the German children is imperative to our growth as humans.
A Lightness In My Soul is an unexpected point-of-view that we should all look through and digest thoroughly. Highly recommend.
This story touched my heart. It gave me a different insight into WWII from an unexpected point of view. The historic details made the story come alive in my mind. I had tears at the end after holding my breath along with the boys. Though Arthur was fictional but based off of the telling of a real-life experience, this did feel real as I turned the pages. I highly recommend this story.
A Lightness in My Soul: Inspired by a True Story is a historical fiction novel written by Annette Oppenlander. The author’s story is taken from an account her friend heard while waiting in an automotive mechanic’s shop in Germany. An older man was waiting there also, and he told her his story. He was 15 years old when the war finally ended. Several years before that, Arthur’s mom had agreed to have him participate in KLV, an evacuation program where children were taken out of the cities and sent to “camps” where they would be safe from bombing raids. Judging from Arthur’s experiences in the Bavarian school he was sent to, it was more an indoctrination program for young German children. Arthur’s camp was run by the Hitler Youth and when the Allies liberated it, the students were considered as guilty as the guards in charge of the nearby concentration camps. Arthur and his fellow students never knew if they would survive the challenges they faced or be executed by the Americans, who were now trying their best to undo the damage done by the Nazis -- damage the students had been ignorant of but were still considered very much to blame for.
Annette Oppenlander’s A Lightness in My Soul is a stunning account of one man’s experiences as a young German boy during and after WWII. I have long been a student of World War II and have read scores of historical accounts and memoirs written by Holocaust survivors. Arthur’s story is one I’ve not heard before, but I’ve no doubt at all in my mind that his account is true, and it is incredibly moving. I could see myself as one of those young boys, first torn from their families and indoctrinated into youth camps and then treated as the enemy by the Allied soldiers. Arthur’s accounts of working in the field hospital are especially powerful as he first came to terms with the conditions under which the medics were working, who had to cope with having little or no supplies, and then began to form relationships with the patients under his care and the soldiers guarding the camp. This well-written and harrowing account is especially important in fleshing out what happened during World War II and ensuring that it never happens again. A Lightness in My Soul: Inspired by a True Story is most highly recommended.
