Product Description

The Mermaid and the Messerschmitt, first published in 1942, is a rare eyewitness account of the early, chaotic days of World War II - the Nazi invasion of Poland, the Siege of Warsaw and the first few months of Nazi occupation - written by a civilian, a young Polish career woman and mother, graduate of Vassar College in the U.S.

Weaving her story with a masterful use of humor, an occasional bite of sarcasm and a large dose of clear-eyed honesty, Rulka Langer paints a rich picture of this virtually unknown aspect of WWII -- and illuminates universal truths about average, ordinary people faced with war.

With her brilliant eye for detail, and her fresh and lively storytelling, Rulka Langer vividly brings to life, from her unique vantage point, the opening chapter of the titanic struggle between good and evil which ultimately engulfed the entire globe.

This new second edition includes more than 100 historical photos, maps and illustrations (many never before published) and other supplemental material (none was included in the original edition).

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #155032 in Books
• Published on: 2009-09-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 468 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781607720003
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
An unusual take on WWII ... a rare eyewitness account of the war's early, chaotic days--the Nazi invasion of Poland, the Siege of Warsaw and the first few months of Nazi occupation--written by Rulka Langer, a civilian, a young Polish career woman and mother and a graduate of Vassar College. --Publishers Weekly, August 24, 2009, at p. 35

An unusual take on WWII ... a rare eyewitness account of the war's early, chaotic days--the Nazi invasion of Poland, the Siege of Warsaw and the first few months of Nazi occupation--written by Rulka Langer, a civilian, a young Polish career woman and mother and a graduate of Vassar College.
-- Publishers Weekly, August 24, 2009, at p. 35 --Publishers Weekly, August 24, 2009, at p. 35

An unusual take on WWII ... by Aquila Polonica. The Mermaid and the Messerschmitt, first published in 1942, is a rare eyewitness account of the war's early, chaotic days--the Nazi invasion of Poland, the Siege of Warsaw and the first few months of Nazi occupation--written by Rulka Langer, a civilian, a young Polish career woman and mother and a graduate of Vassar College. -- Publishers Weekly, August 24, 2009, at p. 35

September 1, 1939 is an infamous day in 20th Century history, the start of World War II. But how many of us today know what happened when Nazi Germany invaded Poland, unleashing its military furor for the first time?

Seventy years later, a new edition of The Mermaid and the Messerschmitt...does what no other book has done.

...Rulka Langer's story is utterly contemporary and compelling, and once I started the book, I could not put it down until I finished it.

...That summer, everything in Europe revolved around talk of war. Rulka read Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind, and with a heavy heart pondered the fate of Poland caught between Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia. Would it be gone with the wind?

But nothing could prepare her or anyone who lived through the blitzkrieg and the war that followed. The destruction was shockingly fast and Rulka describes it day by day, each day that seems like weeks - the bombs, the bomb shelters, the fires, the scarcity of food, horse carcasses in the street stripped to the bone by hungry people, so many deaths that people were buried in empty lots all over the city, refugees from border towns coming to Warsaw, Varsovians escaping the city for points further east, the evacuation of the leaders and of the Bank of Poland, the personal horrors of women and children trying to survive.

Rulka published her book in 1942, after arriving in the United States, before the U.S. entered the war, before anyone knew how long the war would last and how it would be resolved, and before the horrors of the concentration camps and the Nazi genocide of Jews, gypsies and others would be revealed.

Able to get a U.S. visa because of her husband's position [as a Polish diplomat posted in the U.S.], she and her children escape the Nazi occupation in February 1940 by train, from Warsaw to Cracow to Vienna to Genoa for a boat to the U.S. The train is filled with German soldiers.

In a surreal moment at the end of the book, a soldier who is on leave and going skiing in Italy, befriends Rulka. Rulka tells him that she will be coming back to Poland as soon as it is free. He replies, well, Poland will be free of Jews. When she says that she doesn't care about that because she likes the Jews, he retorts that no one likes the Jews.

And then, bravely, Rulka asks him about the many German military uniforms, brown, gray, black, green, and wonders which is the Gestapo uniform because whenever people were beaten in Warsaw, everyone said, it's the Gestapo. The young soldier laughed. You want to know what the Gestapo uniform looks like; then look here and he pointed to the SD on his sleeve. This is the Gestapo uniform.

In Rulka's compelling story, we walk in her footsteps and the past is present.

--Fontayne Holmes, City Librarian, Los Angeles Public Library, 2004-2008

From the Publisher
On the 70th anniversary of the beginning of WWII (Sept. 1, 1939), we are very proud and excited to present our new edition of The Mermaid and the Messerschmitt.

We spent more than a year researching and licensing the photos and other illustrations from many sources in the U.S., U.K. and Poland to include in our edition -- we wanted our visuals to really illuminate and enrich the story. We will also offer to purchasers of our edition a copy of the rare 1940 Academy Award-nominated 10-minute newsreel Siege, consisting of original footage of the Siege of Warsaw shot by American photojournalist Julien Bryan, the last neutral journalist remaining in Warsaw during September 1939.

We're sure that if you're interested in knowing more about WWII, the civilian experience of modern war, and/or seeing war through different eyes, you'll love this book!

Thanks for your interest!
Aquila Polonica Publishing

From the Author
"To the average person, I think, war horrors come pretty much like the pangs of childbirth. At first, in spite of apprehensions, life still goes on, almost normal, with all of its little trivialities. Then comes the pang: wild, screaming, inhuman."
- Rulka Langer, from the Author's Preface

Customer Reviews

Insights into the 1939 Siege of Warsaw and the Early German Occupation
I am delighted to see this book back in print (but my review is of the original 1942 edition). It describes the German rape of Poland through the eyes of a Varsovian (note that the mermaid is a symbol of Warsaw). Owing to the fact that the author managed to leave German-occupied Poland in early 1940, this book is not colored by later military and political events.

In common with many Poles, Langer had long believed that Hitler was bluffing about his aggressive intentions towards Poland, and that the French and English would give effective aid to Poland were she in fact attacked. The mobilization of Polish forces had been incomplete before the German attack (p. 145)[owing to western pressure for Poland not to "provoke" Hitler].

The Luftwaffe bombed obviously-nonmilitary targets (e. g., pp. 70-71), and systematically strafed columns of fleeing civilians. However, they failed to knock out a bridge despite repeated bombing runs. (p. 155). The rain-free weather in the first weeks of the war was an asset to Germany, so much so that the Germans called it "Hitlerwetter". (p. 173).

This book gives some insight into 1939-war espionage and counterespionage. East of Brzesc, Franek reported seeing someone giving flash-light signals from a church steeple to German planes overhead. (p. 300). At one point in time, Langer herself had been suspected of being a German spy or commando, owing to such things as her inquisitive behavior, then-lack of personal identification, and wearing of non-Polish shoes. (p. 133-135). Her shoulders were checked for bruises. (p. 135). This would've been a telltale sign of a German commando who had been parachuted-in, since parachute openings jerk on the straps and produce bruises. Her identification was located, and she was freed.

The author observed the evacuation of the Polish government. Warsaw's Poles remained defiant despite the mounting casualties and the overwhelming military superiority of the German invaders. The semi-invalid Franek said: "I still can shoot a rifle, and as long as I have to die some day anyway, I may as well die now fighting the Germans." (p. 68). When leaflets were dropped calling on Warsaw to surrender or face complete destruction and complete extermination of her people, Poles scoffed at it. (p. 220).

Towards the end of September, German units had completely surrounded Warsaw, and the bombing and shelling of the capital were now occurring nonstop. Electricity and water were knocked out, preventing the fighting of fires. People had to eat pigeons (p. 206). The lack of water was the official reason given for Warsaw's surrender. The estimated number of Varsovian civilians killed in the 1939 war ranged from 17,000 to 185,000. (p. 264). [If I remember correctly, the currently-accepted death toll is 40,000].

The brutalities of the German occupation soon began. All the priests were arrested. (pp. 298-299). Shortly thereafter, teachers met the same fate. (p. 305). In time, some of these were released. High schools remained closed, because: "Inferior races do not need higher education." (p. 307). The Germans took everything of value for themselves. Of course, this was only the beginning.

Mermaid & Messerschmidt story
This is a compelling first person account by author Rulka Langer of the invasion of her town of Warsaw by the Germans in 1939. It is a straight-forward narrative filled with personal detail that describes the chaos of an occupation and the fight to survive. Archival photos throughout the book greatly compliment the story-telling. The book itself is printed on quality paper and has a substantial feel to it - a nice feature. It is well worth reading because it relates the experience of war from a woman's point of view, which the author describes with clarity and passion.

Amazing Eyewitness Account
This is an amazing book. I've read a lot about World War II and the experiences had by people who lived in Europe at that time but few books have struck me quite as much as this one has.

Mrs. Langer's story is amazing. Warsaw was destroyed, hundreds of thousands of its citizens killed but Mrs. Langer and her family survived. Mrs. Langer was an incredibly brave woman who did everything from standing in long lines for food to trying to cross Warsaw during air raids. She did her best to protect her family and help her friends and neighbors and participated in the defense of Warsaw. Although she acts brave, she makes no attempt to hide her fears and misgivings in this book.

I cannot describe how amazing I found her story. It was beautifully written and really made me feel like I was there with her. It gives a great picture of what life was like for the average, albeit lucky, citizen in Warsaw at the time. It inspired me and made me appreciate what I have.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys history or personal accounts of historical events!