Stinging Nettle

by Kendra Ramsier Carola Schlatter, Kendra Ramsier

During 1944, thirteen-year-old Vladimir Fortenbacher is living in Golenic, a small Yugoslavian village located near the Hungarian border. His world turns upside down when communist guerrillas decide to make his village their hideout. Caught in the middle of ethnic fighting, the family escapes, leaving behind everything that they have known and worked so hard for. In exactly the same year, thirteen-year-old Margaretha Wittmann is living a carefree life in Neu Pasua, another Yugoslavian village about 200 kilometers east of Golenic. Daily life continues, even amidst signs and rumors of war. Then one day the town crier's news changes her life forever. The entire village must flee from the dreaded Russian Army. Living in Austria as refugees, Margaretha's family decides to return to their homeland after the war is declared over. Their train is hijacked, and their lives turn into a nightmare when they are imprisoned in a concentration camp. Their paths cross years later, and Vladimir and Margaretha begin another journey together in the tapestry of life where silver strands of hope are woven over the black threads of despair.

284 pages, Paperback

First published January 8, 2014

Reviews

[Anna Zaugg]

From beginning to end this book takes the reader on a journey full of sadness, suffering, and occasional joy. The author did a very good job of taking facts and putting together a well written story that shows how hatred and war can tear apart families. At a young age both Vladimir and Margaretha were exposed to wars and rumor of wars in their separate home villages located in the country of Yugoslavia. Vladimir's family is forced to become refugees and travel for many miles at a time, stopping at small villages along the way where they try to find a place to stay. His family is slowly being torn apart as they are sent to different labor camps. At the same time Margaretha, along with her family is traveling by railway back to her home in Neu Pasua, Yugoslavia, after being a refugee trying to escape the Russian Army. Instead of making it back home, the train is hijacked and all who are aboard are sent to concentration camps where they are forced to work and many staved to death. Margaretha loses many of her close family members to starvation and diseases before she is finally released from camp.