American Shoes by Rosemarie Lengsfeld Turke

American Shoes is the memoir of a young girl trapped in Nazi Germany with her family as the world is convulsed with war.

American Shoes: A Refugee’s Story by Rosemary Lengsfeld Turke and Garrett L. Turke. Beyond Words, 2022, 288 pages + appendices.

Reading level: Teen, ages 12-15

Recommended for: ages 13-18

Behind enemy lines

Rosemary Lengsfeld, known by her childhood name of Rosel, was always proud to be an American, even though her memories of New York City were rather dim. At the age of four, her parents took her back to their homeland in Germany to visit her paternal grandfather during his last days. Grandfather’s “last days” stretched for two years, during which time Rosel’s father took a job and an apartment in Breslau, and Rosel acquired a baby sister. When her grandfather finally passed away, the family purchased tickets for their return to America, only to find, at practically the last minute, that the border was closed. No Germans would be allowed to leave their fatherland during the great restoration of the Third Reich.

The story begins at the end of World War II, when 15-year-old Rosel, as an American by birth, is allowed to return to New York. But her family must wait for refugee status. After an agonizing farewell, the main narrative charts her trip across the Atlantic on the troop ship SS Marine Flasher, as the story of her war years is told in flashbacks. It’s a narrative of displacement, suffering, starvation, deprivation, and sometimes outright terror, all unfolding in memory as the girl faces an uncertain future. Her only beacon is America, land of her birth and hope of the world.

The way home

Rosel, who tells her story with the help of her son Garrett, is frank about the depth of suffering that even a happy ending can’t totally erase. But faith sustains her–if not her own, then that of others. One of the most moving passages of her story occurs near the end, where she marvels over her mother’s transformation from an anxious, passive individual to a tower of strength. “I wondered if Mutti’s quiet humility and faith had allowed her to endure when so many others more able than her had fallen.” Rosel’s own faith, as she acknowledges in the end, is a mixture of Great World Religions, more spirituality than gospel truth. But her view of America as the Land of the Free (and liberator of Europe) is refreshing in this culture of negativity. Her story is well worth knowing, though at times too intense for younger or very sensitive readers.

Consideration:

• There’s a small amount of mild profanity, and some misuses of God’s name (some of which could be regarded as prayers).

Overall Rating: 4 (out of 5)

• Worldview/moral value: 4
• Artistic/literary value: 3.75

Read more about our ratings here.                 

Also at Redeemed Reader:

• Review: Voices of the Second World War records first-person narratives from a number of perspectives and nationalities.

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