always ALMOST: WWII Diaries of a German Teen (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781511596794)

Born in Mannheim, Germany, Giselle Diehm grew up as a single child. The diary she received for her thirteenth birthday proved to be a refuge from her "only-child" loneliness. World War II broke out two months later, Giselle's writings became a six-year documentary about the horror of living in a city bombed over 150 times and destroyed by more than 90 percent . . . and a story about the years beyond that as the burned out city began to "rise from the ashes." Diligently, Giselle continued to write in her diary, sharing her fears, her dreams, and her disappointments. When the bombings in Mannheim became too overwhelming and also destroyed her school in September 1943, all students of "Hans Thoma School" were evacuated to the Black Forest. Three different resort hotels served as the school, they were several miles apart. The upper classes stayed at "Wiedenfelsen," a beautiful hotel. By December 1944, all students were sent home. The girls in the upper classes were recruited to work in makeshift factories, mostly producing ammunition. Giselle was lucky; she pulled a straw which sent her to work for a gastroenterologist as a "do-it-all" helper. This job ended when the entire four story building was totally demolished during a daytime bombing. The war for Mannheim was over when the American troops occupied it in March of 1945: the war actually ended worldwide on May 8, 1945. Postwar, Giselle worked for a new small business owned by Herbert Uth, a Jewish man who miraculously survived the war living in Mannheim. He sold and rented conveyor belts. Later she earned a degree in English from the University of Heidelberg and used her English skills to work for the U.S. Army and Air Force until she left for the USA. In March of 1953, Giselle received her immigration papers and packed two suitcases with clothing, memorabilia including family photographs and her various diaries, and the restricted forty dollars emigrants were allowed to bring to start their new lives. She was finally fulfilling the only childhood dream World War II had not destroyed. In the years that followed, she married, raised a family, and moved nine times. In 2013, as she prepared to again relocate, she found the long lost diaries, translated them, and created her first book, always Almost. Today, Giselle lives in University Village in Tampa, Florida.