Immigration at Its Best
Story of a German American Scholar, born 1933
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The years in Düsseldorf from 1939 to 1944 were marked by constant nightly harassment from the air. Many alarms were false alarms when British bombers flew over us on their way to Essen and Dortmund. These alarms, usually around 11 pm, disrupted our nights when all residents had to leave their apartments to seek protection in the Luftschutzkeller (air-raid shelter) under the building. Then, after an hour or so, when the Entwarnung (all clear) signal was given we could go upstairs again, happy that we were not hit but already deprived of precious sleep before midnight. Kinderlandverschickung The word Kinderlandverschickung means a program to give schoolchildren from heavily bombed communities in cities like Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne and Düsseldorf temporary relief from nightly air harassment by sending them to quieter regions where they would be taken care of by foster parents, but just for a few weeks because of the heavy demand for this program. I was assigned to a very loving elderly couple just an hour by train from the city. My foster parents made me feel very happy in their home. I had to attend school there, which was very difficult as always when a child switches schools. My mother came often to visit me and she would always wonder if I was satisfied in my new temporary home. When I assured her that I was indeed happy, she second-guessed me: “Really?” This was the concern of a jealous but loving mother, a memory that has stayed with me throughout my whole life. The aid program was also available for entire families. We were lucky to be awarded a two-week stay in Unterfranken (Lower Franconia) near the city of Miltenberg on the Main River. In those days, 1942, it was still quiet and peaceful there.
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About the Book
Hans Dietz was twelve-years-old when the Royal Air Force began relentlessly bombing his homeland of Germany during World War II. Shortly after, the U.S. Army began its dangerous approach. After the war was over, he yearned for a life under different conditions, and one of his mother’s relatives in Minnesota volunteered to sponsor him so he could move to the United States of America. In this memoir, Dietz recalls embarking on a glorious adventure to a new land. As a young man with an open mind, his recollections are sincere, precious, and funny. By sharing his story, he demonstrates how one moves from being an outsider to an American. While he came from humble origins, living in America gave him the opportunity to develop his delicate mind and become a teacher entrusted to lead other young minds to similar success. With more people wondering what it means to be an American, how to view the immigrant experience, and what makes America so great, the story told in Immigration at Its Best is needed more than ever.
About the Author
Hans Dietz emigrated from Germany to the United States in 1956 at age twenty-three. He earned a master’s degree in classical literature at the University of Minnesota and a Ph.D. in classical philology at the University of Illinois. He taught the classics at U.S. universities, at a Germany high school, and for eleven years at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, as an assistant and associate professor. He also taught Latin at secondary schools, was a teacher at a New Hampshire high school for sixteen years, and taught German as an adjunct professor in retirement.