In this illuminating and deeply moving memoir, a former American military intelligence officer goes beyond traditional Cold War espionage tales to tell the true story of her family—of five women separated by the Iron Curtain for more than forty years, and their miraculous reunion after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Forty Autumns makes visceral the pain and longing of one family forced to live … and longing of one family forced to live apart in a world divided by two. At twenty, Hanna escaped from East to West Germany. But the price of freedom—leaving behind her parents, eight siblings, and family home—was heartbreaking. Uprooted, Hanna eventually moved to America, where she settled down with her husband and had children of her own.
Growing up near Washington, D.C., Hanna’s daughter, Nina Willner became the first female Army Intelligence Officer to lead sensitive intelligence operations in East Berlin at the height of the Cold War. Though only a few miles separated American Nina and her German relatives—grandmother Oma, Aunt Heidi, and cousin, Cordula, a member of the East German Olympic training team—a bitter political war kept them apart.
In Forty Autumns, Nina recounts her family’s story—five ordinary lives buffeted by circumstances beyond their control. She takes us deep into the tumultuous and terrifying world of East Germany under Communist rule, revealing both the cruel reality her relatives endured and her own experiences as an intelligence officer, running secret operations behind the Berlin Wall that put her life at risk.
A personal look at a tenuous era that divided a city and a nation, and continues to haunt us, Forty Autumns is an intimate and beautifully written story of courage, resilience, and love—of five women whose spirits could not be broken, and who fought to preserve what matters most: family.
Forty Autumns is illustrated with dozens of black-and-white and color photographs.
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Historical. Written in factual interesting family experience about East Berlin
I learned a lot about the GDR, the building of the Wall, the isolation of the population.
This was a very interesting book to read and I would recommend it. I always heard about the Iron Curtain but never realized what life was like for those who lived behind it. This was very well written.
Very interesting, informative and enjoyable.
A family’s story in post war Germany. The daughter finally escapes on the third try. She marries and rises her own family but they are keep apart from seeing her parents and siblings by those nasty Russians. After forty years finally the family is reunited. There is a bit of excitement as the granddaughter is an intelligence officer for the U.S. Army in West Berlin.
Read Darkness and Noon and you will have a better understanding as to how viciously cruel and mind-twisting Communism can be. I loved this book.
It held my interest from the first to the last page, I learned a lot and what a brave wonderful family
An amazing story of the courage of an entire nation to survive tyranny and oppression.
Well written and honest. There were parts that were tear-jerker for me personally, because I have family in Germany.
Well written. Heartfelt chronical of the decisions & consequences of one’s choices during the holocaust. A page turner.
So informative, great characters historical.
True story of a family separated by the Berlin Wall for 40 years. Depravation, fear and inhuman treatment by Communist governments around the world. Socialism and communism didn’t work then and it doesn’t work now. Ask the citizens of North Korea and Cuba.
This was an amazing true story about the Germany being divided after WWII and how a family got separated. I had never paid attention to the hard life the citizens of East Germany had been subjected to. So I learned some history and enjoyed a story of a family being reunited after 40 years. Highly recommend this one.
I so enjoyed learning about life in East Germany after WWII and before the Berlin Wall came down. It certainly gave me a realization as to how lucky we are to live in freedom and to have the quality of life we currently take for granted.
True story. Inside look at life behind Germany’s Iron Curtain.
I was inspired by the way the family in Germany stayed together and how they did their best to survive. And for them to be reunited with their oldest sister was very moving.
So much research to compile a very readable and informative insight into the effect of the Cold War and the ‘Wall’. I was in West Berlin five days after the Wall opened & I have conducted tours in both the West and the former East for 20 years. have seen many incredible physical changes, but having a personal account enhances my historical understanding in ways no other book or readings have done…..and I have read a great many in preparation of Tour commentary. I was so impressed by the references at the end of the book as well as the glossary for those not familiar with The terminology. How wonderful for the reunited family to have shared these memories that come alive in our reading. I trust it was a cathartic experience for all the family members who participated in sharing memories, emotions, and dreams both realized and unfulfilled. Thank you for putting to paper so your family story becomes part of my understanding.
Good read on a topic not often covered (East Germany memoir)