Author, Peter Bodo Gawenda draws on his own first-hand experience as a child living in Germany during WWII, to reflect on the impact the war had on children. Born in the Third Reich under Hitler, Gawenda, through a child’s point of view, invites readers to share his family’s heartbreak, joy, humor and cunning which characterized their days in Oberglogau, followed by a desperate flight from Russian conquerors as they fled to safety in Bavaria.

Peter and his brothers saw the war not as military or national history, but as the adventure of everyday living. They experienced bombs dropping, soldiers occupying their home and prisoners of war marching through the streets which all seemed like mere intrusions to their childhood existence. They not only survived, but thrived, during the “Children’s War.” The strength of family ties carried the Gawenda siblings through the War and shaped the author’s perspective making The Children’s War an uplifting reading experience.