Een Britse schrijfster die trouwde met een Duitse advocaat en de Duitse nationaliteit aannam. Haar werk biedt een levendig en diep persoonlijk verslag van het leven in Duitsland tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Ze vangt meesterlijk de sfeer van die tijd, waarbij ze thema's als politieke vervolging, persoonlijke veerkracht en de complexiteit van het navigeren door gevaarlijke tijden verkent. Haar verhalen onderscheiden zich door hun rauwe eerlijkheid en een onwankelbare toewijding om de capaciteit van de menselijke geest voor uithoudingsvermogen en moed te midden van tegenspoed weer te geven. Door haar schrijven biedt ze een unieke lens om de diepgaande impact van historische gebeurtenissen op individuele levens te begrijpen.
The Past is MyselfChristabel Bielenberg, a niece of Lord Northcliffe, married a German lawyer in 1934. She also tells of life in her newly adopted country, Ireland, her involvement with the Peace Women of Northern Ireland, and with characteristic modesty and gratitude, looks back on a rich, full life.
This fascinating glimpse of Nazi Germany is provided by an Englishwoman who was fluent in German and at home in German society, yet not entirely of it. Christabel Bielenberg moved from passive to active resistance as Hitler seized power and the Nazi dictatorship clamped down.
Following her wartime memoirs in "The Past is Myself", Christabel Bielenberg continues her story from the end of the war. Germany was devastated by war and its aftermath, while to the author Britain seemed grey and exhausted. She was soon appointed "The Observer"'s special correspondent in Germany and, reunited with her husband - technically an enemy alien - she joined the struggle for reconciliation with, and the rebuilding of, a defeated nation. A near-fatal accident to her husband, and her own illness, persuaded the young couple to turn their backs on England and Germany, and make a new start farming in Ireland. Although life was harsh at first, the beautiful scenery of the Wicklow Mountains provided a haven for the family and for the hosts of young people from all over the world who joined them each summer. Christabel became involved with the Peace Women of Northern Ireland, and learned as much as she could about her adopted country.