Bringing a New Wartime Diary to Light, a guest post by Ann Bausum

Welcome to the Ensnared Blog Tour!

To celebrate the release of Ensnared by Ann Bausum on January 12th, blogs across the web are featuring exclusive articles from Ann, plus 5 chances to win a hardcover copy!

Mention the topic of World War II diarists, and Anne Frank will probably be top of mind. When I was a schoolgirl I became so inspired by her account that I started my own diary (a decidedly short-lived endeavor). Frank’s record has become so synonymous with childhood diaries that, decades later, I caught my breath when I learned about another German-born girl who had kept a wartime diary.

One of Frank’s last entries was about the subject that introduced the writings of Christa von Hofacker. Both girls were gripped by news of the attempted assassination of Adolf Hitler on July 20, 1944. “I’m finally getting optimistic,” Frank wrote the next day. If German military officers were trying to kill Hitler, she surmised, then surely Hitler’s demise was imminent. 

Christa von Hofacker, at age 12, had a more immediate concern. She began her diary after her father was arrested for his involvement in the July 20 plot to topple the Nazi regime. Cäsar von Hofacker, who had played a leading role in Paris during the coup, was among hundreds imprisoned afterwards in consequence. Later on, he and more than 150 others were murdered by the regime.

When Christa began to write, she had no idea of the fate that would befall her father. But her worries didn’t stop there. In early August Gestapo agents had appeared unexpectedly at her family home and arrested her mother, older brother, and older sister. Then, weeks later, the agents returned. 

“I’ve come on orders from Berlin to fetch the three children,” the man declared. Christa recorded these words in her diary. In the pages that follow she documented how she and her two younger siblings were taken without explanation on an extended rail journey. Their travels landed them at a remote hideaway in central Germany where they were held with other children under indefinite detention. Her text is riveting, visceral, and astounding. It stands as the definitive eyewitness account of the experiences she and 45 other young children shared as part of Hitler’s revenge for the actions of their fathers.

I gained access to Christa’s diary thanks to the German Resistance Memorial Center in Berlin. An offshoot of this museum maintains outreach to families tied to Hitler’s post-coup revenge. Staff there helped me approach several of these eyewitnesses as part of my research. My book was immeasurably improved by interactions with Christa and these other now-octogenarians. (Hint: Check out the next post in this blog tour to learn more.) 

In a series of interviews, conversations, and emails, Christa and I picked up where her diary left off. She filled in gaps, ruminated about what she had witnessed, and added further context to the words she had recorded more than 75 years earlier. Christa’s diary has gained a measure of recognition in Germany during recent decades, but few knew of it beyond. I am honored to be able to share excerpts from her account and to be able to introduce American readers to this history through Ensnared in the Wolf’s Lair. 

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Meet the author

ANN BAUSUM is an award-winning children’s book author who brings history alive by connecting readers to personal stories from the past that echo in the present day. Ensnared is her 11th book for National Geographic Kids and her fourth look at international history. While researching the book, she traveled twice to Europe to get to know the people and places that became intertwined in 1944 after the failed effort to kill Hitler at the Wolf’s Lair. Previously Bausum has explored international history with such works as Stubby the War Dog; Denied, Detained, Deported; and Unraveling Freedom. Many of her books highlight themes of social justice, including her National Geographic title The March Against Fear. In 2017, her body of work was honored by the Children’s Book Guild of Washington, DC. Individual titles have won numerous starred reviews and been recognized with a Sibert Honor Award, the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award, the Carter G. Woodson Award, and the SCBWI Golden Kite Award, among other distinctions.

Blog Tour Schedule:

February 8th – Teen Librarian Toolbox

February 9th – Christy’s Cozy Corners

February 10th – Bookhounds

February 11th – From the Mixed-Up Files

February 12th – Ms. Yingling Reads

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About Ensnared in the Wolf’s Lair

“I’ve come on orders from Berlin to fetch the three children.” –Gestapo agent, August 24, 1944

With those chilling words Christa von Hofacker and her younger siblings found themselves ensnared in a web of family punishment designed to please one man—Adolf Hitler. The furious dictator sought merciless revenge against not only Christa’s father and the other Germans who had just tried to overthrow his government. He wanted to torment their relatives, too, regardless of age or stature. All of them. Including every last child.

During the summer of 1944, a secretive network of German officers and civilians conspired to assassinate Adolf Hitler. But their plot to attack the dictator at his Wolf’s Lair compound failed, and an enraged Hitler demanded revenge. The result was a systematic rampage of punishment that ensnared not only those who had tried to topple the regime but their far-flung family members too. Within weeks, Gestapo agents had taken as many as 200 relatives from their homes, separating adults and children.

Using rare photographs and personal interviews with survivors, award-winning author Ann Bausum presents the spine-chilling little-known story of the failed Operation Valkyrie plot, the revenge it triggered, and the families caught in the fray.

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