Blueness of a Clear Sky: Memoir of a Danube Swabian Refugee and Her Journey to Healing

Blueness of a Clear Sky is the compelling story of one child’s war time refugee experience. Hildegard Weiler was born in 1937 in Zombor, Hungary. Her family belonged to a large population of ethnic Germans – the Donauschwaben or Danube Swabians – who had lived in eastern Europe for generations. In the waning months of World War II, Hildie, with her mother and sister, fled their home in Hungary to escape the advancing Russian army. Hildie’s story takes place over a two-year period from August 1944 through September 1946, when she and her family came to the United States. This memoir is powerfully written in first person, present tense. The author’s intent was, in her words, “to allow the reader to experience the condition of war through the eyes of a child.” In each chapter, stories of wartime refugee experiences are told from the point of view of 7-year-old Hildie. The approach is extremely effective in that Hildie’s voice conveys with vividness the sense of confusion, terror, and chaos that define much of her childhood refugee experience. But this memoir is more than a story of survival – it is a story of healing. During the late 1980’s, Ms. Weiler worked with a psychiatrist to heal from the post traumatic stress she carried with her as a result of her childhood war experiences. The author has included brief scenes from her sessions with Dr. Gregg. This technique provides the reader glimpses into the difficult process of healing, and offers insight into tremendous courage required to embark upon the journey of recovery from post traumatic stress disorder. Hildegard Weiler has given us a powerful and touching account of childhood refugee trauma which will enrich both our understanding and compassion. Before her death in 2009, Ms. Weiler noted that her aim in telling her story was to “shine a light on the resilience of the human spirit”. She has unquestionably succeeded.