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Gräfin. Marion Dönhoff

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Before The Storm: Memories of My Youth in Old Prussia Hardcover – November 21, 1990

by Marion Graf Donhoff (Author)

4.2 15 ratings

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A German newspaperwoman recounts her girlhood in a noble family in East Prussia and her escape from the Russians

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From Library Journal

The author grew up on her family's estate in pre-World War II East Prussia, lost to the Soviets in 1945. Hers was a carefree childhood, little hampered by education but nonetheless governed by her mother's strong sense of the obligations of Prussian nobility. At the end of the war Donhoff fled on horseback to West Germany, and in time became editor and then publisher of the leading newspaper Die Zeit . A foreward by George F. Kennan sets in context this rather slight memoir, which captures some of the flavor of a world so devastated by war that little remains to preserve its memory. Recommended for collections in 20th-century European history.
- Nancy C. Cridland, Indiana Univ. Libs., Bloomington
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Knopf; First Edition (November 21, 1990)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 204 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0394582551
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0394582559
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.8 ounces

Best Sellers Rank: #1,907,770 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4.2 15 ratings

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R. Williams

War is Hell

Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2014

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This is a great story told quite well by the renowned "red countess". The story of the disappearance of East Prussia affected me like the movie "Gone With The Wind". You cannot but rue the end of 700 years of Prussian rule and the crimes committed by the Poles and Russian troops against the civilians of East Prussia. On the other hand, one understands the "need" for revenge on the part of the victors. German forces had committed unspeakable horrors on the civilians, especially the "Einsatztruppen" on the Jews. Of course, the Russians and the Poles had committed the same crimes against each other and they against the Ukrainians. And the Balts had committed much the same crimes against the Jews. The end result was that there were no saints in the organized forces on the Eastern Front...but the Germans lost the whole shooting match along with their Prussian civilization and land.

10 people found this helpful

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Bryan Odriscoll

Prussia as it was

Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2010

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The author was of the priviliged landed aristocracy of Prussia and so her family was well connected with many influential characters in Germany before the war. She was quite literate and obviously had a deep affection for the land and people. She gives wistful and nostalgic reminiscences of her happy childhood on the estate not far from Konigsberg. The German people had occupied the region for many hundreds of years and had created a beautiful and prosperous society there. The character of the Prussians was particularly hated by the forces which wished to destroy Germany. As a consequence, the state and people were completely erased after 1945 with maximum brutality. Unfortunately, Donhoff unfairly places the blame for the catastrophe on Hitler. She was involved and supported the effort to kill him in July 1944 but was not arrested because there was no direct evidence linking her to the plot. Many of these landed aristrocrats despised Hitler and the National Socialists and worked to undermine the German war effort, short-sightedly believing that they could come to an understanding with Germany's enemies and retain their priviliged position.
The latter part of the book deals with her escape from the bloodthirsty Soviets in January and February 1945 when she simply left the estate her family had occupied for over four hundred years on a horse and rode west until she reached the British lines. She was fortunate in that she arrived unharmed, unlike millions of her countrymen who were raped, tortured and murdered by the Reds. A whole high civilisation and way of life was utterly destroyed all across eastern Europe and it has never recovered.

14 people found this helpful

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Kathy

Book was in good condition and it arrived on time

Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2014

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Book was in good condition and it arrived on time. I really enjoyed reading this book. I've always been curious about this subject since I have family that came from that region.

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Christine

An 800 year old civilisation lost in 1945

Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2014

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I couldn't put the book down. I like history and especially history written by those who lived through it. The sad loss of East Prussia and the civilisation and culture that made it.

10 people found this helpful

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Scott Humrickhouse

book

Reviewed in the United States on January 26, 2014

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My son wanted this for xmas and was very happy to get it and loved it. Nice hard cover book.

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Sycamore Trout

From a German Journalist I expected better

Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2014

excellent, must read

Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2015

Great book!

Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2019

I wish more of the author's books were translated into English. What a life! It's like this woman lived and adapted in three separate and divorced universes.

2 people found this helpful

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JOAO PAULO M ARANTES

Decepcionado

Reviewed in Spain on January 5, 2024

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Não gostei do estado do produto/ livro. Na descrição de compra dizia que o livro, embora sendo usado, estava em muito bom estado, mas na realidade está em mau estado.
Estou desiludido/ desapontado com este vendedor.

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Amazon Customer

Interesting account of an unknown place / era (for those of us in the UK)

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 27, 2021

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Good insights into life in this area at this time