The Mermaid and the Messerschmidt is a fine memoir of a particular part of WW2 from an intelligent observer with an eye for detail.

It’s the story of Rulka Langer, a young, educated Polish woman who worked in an office in Warsaw at the time of the German invasion of Poland at the start of the war. The book describes her experience in the lead up to the start of the war, the invasion, the siege of Warsaw and life under occupation, before she escapes overland with her children to an eventual destination in the US.

Rulka was intelligent and educated (some of it via a scholarship in the US prior to the war) and she was able to observe sharply the minutiae of Polish life and the ever-increasing effects of the war on the Polish people. The book was originally published in 1942, and the freshness of the author’s memory comes through strongly in the writing. This is no long-term memoir diluted by the effects of time – it is one that was created almost contemporaneously with the events she describes, and the details are sharp and vivid.

There is a sense of innocence in her descriptions of Polish life before the war, a relative simplicity of life: an innocence that is then ground away by subsequent events; and a sense that something has been washed away forever.

Langer writes with pathos and with humour both (the scene where a maid is struggling to take dozens of hand-me-down dresses with her as the family is packed up to escape the city still makes me smile).

Overall, this second edition of Rulka’s memoir, published to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of WW2 stands as a very fine and eminently readable reminder of the horrors of war and its effects on a population that finds itself on the battlefield and unable to get out of the way.

Recommended. ( )

I've always been fascinated by non-fiction that was written at the time of the event, stories that aren't filtered through time and exposure to other views and opinions. Since this book was written in 1942, emotions and memories of the invasion and occupation are still fresh. The addition of footnotes and photographs in this edition helps people of the postwar generations to place her experiences in context. It was fascinating to read the 'home front' experiences of someone in a theatre of World War 2 with which I had little familiarity. 'The Mermaid and the Messerschmitt' is an intense, well-written memoir.

I liked this book very much. Although Ms. Langer was fortunate enough to escape Poland early in the war, she experienced one of the worst and most senseless seiges in the war. The Germans were basicly showing off their ability to wage war with impunity. When the Russians came through Poland five years later and into Eastern Germany, the barbarity was repaid...

Anyway, the courage displayed and the drama of her escape make for a riveting story, even retold after 70 years. Thank you George Langer and Aquila Polonica for republishing this story. ( )

This brilliant account takes us from the last days of peace in August 1939 to February 1940 - a fairly short time in terms of days and weeks - but what a lot this family lives through in that time. The place is Poland, and in particular the city of Warsaw, the destruction of which was truly awful. Our narrator is Rulka a young mother and career woman, whose husband is in America at the time war breaks out. Rulka and her children are living with her mother, during the seige of Warsaw and the first uneasy days of the German occupation. What they must put up with in terms of hunger, cold and very real fear, brings it home to the reader just how completely life was turned upside down in a matter of days. Rulka is resourceful though, and even manages to start up her own business within just a couple of months of the Germans moving in. She is not the only tough customer we meet, people help each other, including running along burning streets to warn people they are in danger from the fires. At one point Rulka says to a friend just returned to Warsaw, how war brings people's true nature's out - they are in effect unable to pretend - you see people for who they are at such times. This is a fascinating, hugely readable, hard to put down book, I came to love the Rulka's family and neighbours. So many fabulous photographs in this edition bring Warsaw and it's people to life, and show the utter devastation of a beautiful city. So very glad I had the chance to read this book. ( )

Travel back in time to WW2 and see through the eyes of someone who was actually there. Learn about the invasion of Poland and the Siege of Warsaw from a young mother's point of view. In a desperate times, true colors shine. When this woman is faced with some life's most difficult challenges, she truly rises above it.

This book is brilliantly written. You can't help but connect with the author and see what she sees and feel what she feels. Truly amazing. ( )