Eva's War: A True Story of Survival

The year is 1945, and the world is at war. Young Eva must leave her beloved Danzig to escape the Soviets and the harm they would bring to her little family. After hearing rumors about the terrible devastation of the town of Nemmersdorf, Eva makes the heartbreaking decision to leave her parents. The lives of those who remain are in grave danger. Without knowing if she will ever find her husband Manfred again, or see her loving parents, Eva sets out on her own through the wreckage of war. Driven by a youthful sense of adventure, Eva takes her baby and boards a ship sailing into the unknown. They barely escape death on numerous occasions. Alone and carrying the full weight of saving her child’s life on her shoulders, Eva’s only solace is the beautiful music she creates on the piano. Drawing from this love of music, and the wholehearted love she feels for her husband, now lost to her, Eva emerges from the ashes of war a new, stronger woman.

Those that lose a war rarely survive, much less get to tell their story. And yet, Eva Krutein does both. Woven into her memoir are revelations about what the German people were experiencing before and during the war; Eva's soul-searching may cause one to reconsider what we know about the war. Who were the victims of the destruction? What has been hidden between the lines of history?

Eva’s War is the beginning of a captivating trilogy about one woman’s fight for survival and her journey through one of the most turbulent times in history. It is an enthralling tale of life, death, art, war, and love, by a mother willing to risk all for the life of her baby and the chance for a happy future. The book is more than a great read, it is a well of inspiration for those who would prevail in the face of unbeatable odds.

A marvelously moving and often humorous real-life story...sad revelations, painful memories, excruciating experiences are tempered by compassion, love and a powerful, contagious optimism. Music permeates this tale.
—Alfred-Maurice de Zayas, JD, PhD, U.N. Senior Legal Officer

Eva's account is one of fervent desire for peace in a setting of chaos, deprivation and horror...yet "Eva's War" is not exclusively about grief and guilt. It is about forgiveness, trust, accomplishment and love of life.
—Thora Guinn, Albuquerque Peace Center News

Americans have an almost obsessive interest in the horrors of World War II, and there is no shortage of first-person accounts of the period. But Eva Krutein's compelling account of her flight through Germany from the advancing Russian army stands above most examples of the genre. "Eva's War" also details the little-known plight of the 14 million Eastern Germans who lost their homes—and sometimes their lives....The book is a powerful anti-war statement, but the litany of horrors is brightened by Krutein's prose, which is suffused with her life-affirming love of music and her family.
—Helen Kennedy, The Boston Herald