Marta: Reflections of a Vulnerable Woman

Gingerly, yet unrestrained, Marta, still in her early twenties, faces the forces throwing her life forward. Unexpected events of World War II have made unfathomable demands of her. She is leaving her idyllic childhood, her Hungarian homeland, her family support, and, shortly, her husband, with two young daughters in tow, forever. Emboldened with youthful exuberance, intelligence, and multi-lingual language skills, Marta navigates the treacherous unknown with naďve courage. As a female sole parent, survival in the patriarchal world of U.S. occupied Germany in the post-World War II mid-1940s and beyond depended upon seriously trailblazing feminism. She is a feminist unknowingly, as seen by the challenges she accomplishes in steeling herself against the experiences of powerlessness, righteousness with continued audacity. This has consequences which oft lands her in big trouble. Making herself indispensible with her English speaking skills, Marta becomes an asset to the U.S. Occupation Forces, assisting them in the Medical Corps and Counter Intelligence Corps, only to be betrayed, court-martialed, and separated from her young daughters for more than a year. Her heroic spirit not quelled, Marta leaps further as a "displaced person," and successfully immigrates to Australia. There, at last, she allows herself possible happiness and fulfillment. Only four wonderful years are hers, when in a thunder of events; her reunited mother and new husband are snatched away in an enormous car accident. Marta survives, though critically ill, physically and psychologically. Medicated and enduring electric shock therapy, Marta slowly regains strength. Not to the same capacity as before, but noble and brave, finding joy once more in family, grandchildren, work, and eventual world travel before making her final show of strength for choice. Her poignant memoir, as seen through the eyes, ears, and experiences of Elizabeth, her first-born, is a story of love, dedication, responsibility, survival, and strength.