An Irregular Girlhood in Hitler's Shadow

About the Book

"An Irregular Girlhood in Hitler's Shadow is a lovely window into the soul of a time this generation knows only from history books...and into the heart of a young woman struggling to grow up in a world turned topsy-turvy by war and prejudice. Vera Haldy-Regier's gentle prose and poetic insight unveil a glimpse of a German family's suffering because of it's opposition to Hitler, and of its subsequent journey from China, to Cuba, to America, that is as much an odyssey of the spirit as a physical hegira. I was touched deeply by the poignant truths of this delicate memoir, and by the unflinching honesty of it's author. The intimacy and camaraderie with the writer were so clear in it's pages, that when I closed the covers, I felt a personal sense of loss." -Cathy In the mid-1930s, author Vera Haldy-Regier's father, a minor, recalcitrant diplomat in Hitler's government, is banished to a post in Vladivostok, Russia, and later to the former German lease territory of Tsingtao, China.

While openly critical of the Nazis, he nonetheless remains employed by the German Foreign Office until the end of the war. Together with his wife, he is instrumental in obtaining food and money for the small community of Jewish refugees that fled to Tsingtao, and endures several threats to his life from Nazi officials. After Hitler's defeat, the family loses nearly all its possessions to the Chinese revolutionaries before escaping to the West on an American troop transporter.

Their early years in America are filled with severe financial need. But in the midst of hardship, there are gifts of love, support, and friendship that became beacons of enduring hope. Haldy-Regier's poignant memoir traces the family's path from Germany to America via Italy, Turkey, Russia, Japan, China and Cuba. It carries triumphant messages of love, forgiveness, and gratitude for gifts gathered amidst the ruins of war and the pain and injustice of intolerance.

"As one who knew the author's family in China, I was deeply moved by this beautifully written, honest account of the triumph of a young girl's spirit in her ever-tilting world."
-Eva Pulverman Jellin

About the Author

With a career spanning more than thirty years as a magazine editor, freelance writer, and marketing and advertising executive, Vera Haldy-Regier has also written poetry since childhood. She lives with her husband in Hastings-on-Hudson and Woodstock, New York.