Inge’s War is a fascinating ‘story’ of Svenja’s grandma, growing up in what was East Prussia, prior to the outbreak of World War II. During the early years of the conflict, Konigsberg and the East wasn’t affected and so Inge was able to travel to Berlin to complete her schooling and there meet and fall in love with the brother of her school friend, Wolfgang. But then in the course of just a few months, she finds herself pregnant, rejected and then fleeing for her life from the advancing Russian Red Army.

The book explores the physical difficulties and obstacles faced in the journey Inge, her daughter and parents had to make, from East Prussia, to a brief haven in Denmark before then having to flee again, once the Germans are defeated, before finally settling in Kiel. At the same time, Svenja revisits some of the locations her Grandmother described and explores the motives and reasons behind the success of Nazism for so many years, before its ultimate downfall.

An interesting read, covering an area of history little known in the Western world.

Inge's War by Svenja O’Donnell was a very powerful and captivating book about her grandmother's struggles in World War two.
Svenja O’Donnell is the grand-daughter of Inge, Svenja tells her story of Inge's and her family of two generations. That was hidden for sixty years. You will discover the story of a very brave woman caught in a part of history we should never forget.
Inge said "I have so much to tell you," and I am so glad her granddaughter wrote Inges story of a very personal tale of her life.

This books and other true stories of people's lives during World War two should be read, especially in schools and discussed within the classroom.

This book will be with me for a very long time and I highly recommend it.

Big thank you to netgalley and Penguin Random House UK, Ebury Publishing for being able to read and review an ARC of this.

Such a fascinating book! I found it instantly engrossing and read it pretty quickly as I wanted to find out what happened. It was really well written and thoughtful - I would definitely look out for other books by O'Donnell in the future.

What a fantastic story this was. The past was so dramatically brought to life when she told her grandmother's story and then retraced her steps by going to the places these events happened. We go on the voyage of discovery with her as Inge opens up and tells what it was like in Berlin and East Prussia, during and after the war. She interlaced the bigger picture in with her family dramas to make a complete and involving story. Along the way she uncovers little known events from history such as what happened to the German refugees in Denmark after the war. Could not put this book down

Inge's War by Svenja O'Donnell is a truly engaging, honest and enlightening book about Svenja's grandmothers life in Germany under Hitler's regime.This personal story is a important one in the terms of how did the German people cope with this life at that time?
I instantly connected with Inge and her family just because they were so well drawn. This immediately made me need to find out what happened to them and I couldn't put the book down. It was eye opening to read about Inge's life and her real reluctance to speak of the war. My own grandfather served in the second world war and until the day he died, he never uttered one word of what he saw or how he felt. I still do not know even which regiment he served in, to this day. I empathise with Svenja so much at this level and am happy she could retrace the steps of her grandmothers life.
The book describes Inge's family as not being Nazi supporters, so the people who stayed quiet or never spoke about the matter. Then as the story evolves Albert even gets a house of one of the thousands of Jews still residing in their town in 1933. Inge carried the guilt of not being able to remember the Jewish girls name as the Jews were being displaced, forced out of education, and taken away eventually to be murdered in cold blood.
Svenja has woven a story that is partially her grandmothers actual memories and also her own journey of retracing her grandmothers steps, all the while using her investigative journalist abilities. I feel very highly honoured to have read this story as I feel the voices of the people left in Nazi Germany, adrift and scared by this regime need to be heard. Not every German was a Nazi and sometimes people do not want to hear that! A poignant, memorable story I shall always carry with me. I was given the copy of the book by Netgalley and Random Things Tours for my honest review today.

Svenja O'Donnell begins a journey into her family's past, especially concerning her grandmother, Inge. Inge was a young woman living in what was Königsberg, East Prussia during WWII but never spoke about it. It's only when her granddaughter visits the modern city of Kaliningrad (as it is now known), that Inge starts to tell her story. The author finds out about Inge's first love affair which was halted by the outbreak of war, and what her grandmother went through to keep their daughter (the author's mother) safe.

This is a wonderful read, if difficult in places due to the subject matter. I have read quite a lot about WWII but hardly anything about what happened in Germany after the war ended. It was sobering to read about how the population faced prejudice for what happened. We hear a lot (and rightly) about what the soldiers went through, but not so much about the women and children who were left behind and had to pick up the pieces. It was heartbreaking to read about the women who were physically violated but then had to keep silent about it in order to boost the morale of the returning men, and the hundreds of children who died from starvation and lack of medical care.

It was very well-researched and written in such a way that it draws the reader into the experience. You are not just reading facts, but something that happened to a real life person. I do wonder how we would fare if this happened now. I recommend this to anyone with an interest in WWII history.

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers, Penguin Random House UK/Ebury Publishing, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

Great background to the lives if ordinary Germans at the start of WWII when Hitler was acing on his plans to take over Europe. It’s good as fiction yet there are footnotes and great detail which hints at a non fiction Text. This is very entertaining. And feels genuinely like a family history.
Thanks tho #NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ahead of publication in exchange for an honest review

"My own existence had depended on that moment of flight, on that narrow escape, which I had, for years, taken for granted. That's the trouble with digging up the past, it makes you question your own present."

Svenja O'Donnell is a half-Irish, half-German political correspondent and journalist who grew up in France. One day in 2006 she finds herself in Kaliningrad in Russia (formerly known as Königsberg and part of German East Prussia) and remembering that her grandmother lived there sixty years before, calls to let her know where she is. What she doesn't realise is that this phone call will unravel the mystery surrounding Svenja's family and the secrets her grandmother has never spoken of - about life in Germany under Nazi rule and how her family ended up fleeing Königsberg in the Second World War.

This book is incredible. It weaves together social history with biography, exploring the way that family history is often mythologised and rewritten and passed down to younger generations. The writing flows really well, it almost feels like you're reading narrative fiction until you remember the author is writing about her actual family. The book shows the complex situation of Germans living in East Prussia, who were forced to live under Hitler and then were hated for the actions of the Nazis in the aftermath of WW2.

Inge's War provides a different perspective of a relatively unfamiliar history of the Second World War that I previously knew nothing about. What must have been a difficult undertaking has been transformed into a fascinating personal history, showing the importance of learning about our past.

Inge's War

"A secret lay at my family's heart, unspoken, undisturbed, unsuspected, for decades. I never set out purposefully to unearth it; I was in the middle of my journey before I knew it had even begun."

Past and present are woven together to tell this poignant story of love, loss, endurance, survival, and long-held family secrets.

Svenja's aloof grandmother Inge has always refused to talk about her experiences living in East Prussia during the war. But when Svenja spontaneously visits the city after a recent heartbreak, the women bond over shared pain and Inge finally begins to tell her story. What follows is a narrative rarely heard when we listen to the voices of those who lived during the war; those everyday people who weren't a victim, hero or villain, but simply trying to survive a dark and deadly moment in history.

"But with every war comes layers of suffering, and only by acknowledging it all can we stop hatred from tearing people apart."

True stories are a favourite genre of mine, and the holocaust is an era I've always found interesting, so I knew immediately upon reading the synopsis that I wanted to read this book. Inge's War is a thought-provoking story of ordinary people and ordinary problems in extraordinary times. It tells of a love story cut short by war, and gives a voice to one of the many rarely heard in the narrative of the holocaust: a German who was neither Nazi or rebel. It is also a reminder that surviving war is a lottery of luck.

"When I first began asking about the past, I had hoped for anecdotes of making do, of triumph over hardship. I had feared I might find proof of actions or beliefs that I would struggle to forgive. I had not bargained for this uglier truth... In my dogged search for answers, I had forgotten to ask myself whether some truths were best left alone. "

Lyrical, absorbing and painstakingly researched, it is wonderfully written. The author's journalistic experience shines through as she envelopes you in her family's world, breathing heart and soul into a book that simultaneously educates. She tells the story of Inge's youth, the revelation of decades-old family secrets, examines how much ordinary German's really knew about the final solution and how their silence and inaction impacted events.

Immersive, enthralling, harrowing, moving and heart-felt, Inge's War is a book that needs to be read and experienced. An absolute must-read that will stay with you.

What a brilliant book. Absolutely amazing written with such compassion.
Too often we read about Hitler and his atrocities but hardly ever about normal German people and all they had to go through.
It is a book that everyone should read.
I can’t recommend it enough

Its no secret to those who know me that I have a real fascination with history and love to read both fiction and non-fiction books in this genre. Having read quite a few books lately that focus on the holocaust, when given the chance to read a book about the same period of time but from the perspective of a German survivor of the war, I couldn’t refuse.
I always find it hard when writing a review of a memoir as they are not a work of fiction but someone’s actual life that they have entrusted to the reader and I worry about doing their story justice. Svenja O’Donnell was always intrigued about her grandmother Inge’s past. They had not always had a close relationship, but after a trip to the place where her grandmother grew up, a place that technically no longer exists, she finally gets to understand that maybe the distance she has always experienced was a coping mechanism and the only way her grandmother had been able to continue living through everything she had experienced.
Inge’s childhood as a German living in East Prussia appeared to be relatively normal, in fact even during the early stages of WW2 her family were not really touched by events that were happening in other parts of Europe. It was almost as thought they were forgotten about. In part their lives were easier due to the fact they found it better to say nothing in public, despite what they may feel in private, but that sentiment can still be true today. It was only towards the end of the war, with Russia making advances that Inge and her family had to face the true realities of the war. By this time she had already been abandoned by the father of her child and she found herself taking charge of her parents who had all but shut down, not knowing what to do. Making a treacherous journey to a country that would also shun them once the war was over, they became the refugees of the war that we know little about. Having lost everything, they had to start again and find a place in a very different world.
Inge’s war has certainly opened my eyes to a little bit more of this time in history and shows that we can forget that there were also casualties for the German population. Not everything is black and white and quite often people can be found guilty just by their place of birth and not just their actions. If it was not for O’Donnell’s determination to uncover her family’s past it could have been a part of history that could have been forgotten.

A beautifully written book. Svenja O’Donnell has written a book that you will just immerse yourself in. It’s one of those books you will remember long after you’ve put it down.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the arc in return for an honest review

What a fascinating read! The very personal story of one woman and her life, family, loves and tragedies during the inter – world war years and later living in East Prussia, northern Germany and Denmark up until her death in 2016. This story is told through the pen of Inges’ journalist granddaughter who undertakes the investigation of her life that takes her all over Europe to uncover the mysteries that her grandmother is reluctant to reveal.
What I found so riveting about the story was the description of the attitude of the German people towards the Nazi regime from their acceptance and welcoming of the rise of national socialism in the early 1930s, then fading to distrust as the early successes for Germany in WWll were reversed from their defeat at Stalingrad until the War’s end.
Without going to the lengths of writing about the trials and tragedies of Inge’s life here, - you must read the book! – this story shows us the very personal life lead by ordinary Germans who by living in that artificial creation (after WWl) of East Prussia were looked down upon by their fellow countrymen. How they overcame that stigma and lived their lives as best they could when Germany eventually became rehabilitated in the 1950s.

Oh what a wonderful family history this is and so much better than so many of the books published about war-time experiences. I very much liked the style of the book and Svenja O'Donnell does her family proud by simply stating things as they were.

A very refreshing change from the style that so many books in this genre imbue. I felt that this history allowed me to be an observer of what was the reality of life for many ordinary Germans from the rise of Hitler through their ignominious treatment by the Allies.

I've read an amount of books, both fiction and true life stories that took place during WWII, but this is the first I've read that is set in the former country known as Prussia, providing an insight into wartime lives and events that took place in this part of the world at this time. The tale is a true story, mainly recounted in the present day by Inge's grand-daughter,Svenja O'Donnell, who seeks to find the truth behind her grandmother's subdued nature and reluctance to speak of her time during the war. We are first introduced to young Inge, who lives with her parents in Konigsberg, East Prussia, prior to the start of the war. She enjoys the best hot chocolate in town with her father every Friday at the 'Cafe Berlin' and she has no more childhood concerns other than outdoing her classmates at school. However, as she grows up we discover, as a typical teenager she begins to want to see more of the country she lives in and strives to experience more things, not always with her parents. She departs for Berlin to study at Lette Haus, a young college for women, where Inge wishes to follow her interests in fashion. However, as war begins so Inge's life begins to alter. As O'Donnell speaks to her grandmother in the present day, O'Donnell describes how it is at first difficult to develop a rapport with her grandmother about these times and get her to openly speak about them. However, over a course of time and encounters, Inge begins to describe the events of her life during the war and the unimaginable hardships she and her family encountered, yet survived. The events not only tell a tale around a suppressed love story, but also how such events during the war forced people to behave in a certain way, not always seemingly morally right, but often a means of sheer survival of such times. Inge and her family are eventually forced to flee Prussia, seeking refuge in Denmark until the end of the war, finally managing to return to Germany, but not welcomed as the people they once were. O'Donnell recounts her grandmother's story with such empathy, providing descriptions that create a real sense of the places they lived and the hardships they suffered, alongside the various relationships between people during such times. O'Donnell is ultimately looking for the one event that her grandmother seems so reluctant to share and knows she is holding back, until one evening the story concludes and O'Donnell then feels guilty and reflects on whether it was really her place to unveil the past for her family. This book enables you to understand how initially the people of Prussia seemed protected from the effects of the war, but inevitably as the war developed and the Russian Army invaded, and so a life once known could no longer be returned to. However, we see that Inge does finally in her latter life, return to a part of the world that she once grew up in. To be able to bring her grandmother's story to life, O'Donnell too visits these places, although struggles to find evidence of these past events through left remnants. This is a story that provides an insight to such horrific conditions people endured at such times, but also exposes the way in which Prussians were treated by other nations due to their association with Germany, during and after the war. It is a tale which not only highlights such treatment, but a tale that needs to be told and known, lest we forget such events in history. My thanks go out to netgalley and Penguin Random House UK, Ebury Publishing for being able to read and review an ARC of this.

This was a book about the disruption and destruction caused by the Second World War but from a different angle. Inge is a young girl who is born into a comfortable lifestyle in East Prussia. Her story is discovered, and told, by her granddaughter who discovered why her grandmother was so reserved and taciturn. Inge lived, and found her first love, in Berlin at the start of WW2 but those events and the story of flight, trauma & survival is one which shows the wide ranging affects of the conflict, not only on those who survived it but on the future generations. It lets us see the personal history of WW2 through a different lens which was interesting and made you reconsider the lesssons that can be learned from the conflict.

A trip to Königsberg (now Kaliningrad) leads Svenja O'Donnell to contact her Grandmother and start asking questions about her youth.
Her Grandmother was a teenager in Königsberg at the outbreak of the Second World War. O'Donnell seeks to unpick the truth about what happened to her Grandma as she and her family experienced the effects of Nazism first hand and fled their home, with Inge (the Grandma) having to grow up faster than she wanted.
These experiences and those that followed shaped Inge's relationships and her personality for the rest of her life.
As a youth she studied in Berlin and lived with a prominent German family who became close friends and ultimately shaped her life forever.
O'Donnell has worked hard to try and create an unbiased account of her Grandmother's life. Unpicking what lay hidden for decades, O'Donnell discovers what her Grandmother had sought to hide and develops a closer relationship with her than ever before.
It is enlightening to have accounts of those that grew up in Germany during the war that do not focus solely on the Holocaust or other atrocities of war. This is a more social autobiography that provides some insight into the German experience.
O'Donnell has done her Grandma proud.
Thank you for allowing me to read and review this book.

This is the story of the author's grandmother in East Prussia during World War II and how the war affected the Germans. I have read many books about the war and find this pont of view very interesting..

This book was different to my usual genre, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it though. Kept me gripped from start to end

A new perspective on the horrors of WW2, following the authors grandmother Inges story- living in Eastern Prussia, how they suffered through the war, through poverty and starvation, later seeking asylum. Very rare to read an account from the German civilian point of view, this gives a much more rounded perspective of WW2.