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Start giftingWhy Can't Somebody Just Die Around Here?
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Learn more“A memoir that offers a rare, underrepresented perspective of World War II.” -Kirkus
_A true story of a Romanian family’s miraculous survival of World War II, becoming refugees, fleeing their homeland, starving after the war, and coming to the United States to live the American Dream._
Life was full of promise for the young Maroscher family. Gustav was a teacher; Helene was busy rearing two boys and managing their small farm. The war changed everything.
While Gustav fought the Russians on the Eastern Front, Helene fled the advancing army to her sister’s house in Germany. Danger and hardship transformed Helene from a shy young mother into a lioness; she once pointed an illegal pistol at the Nazi refugee camp director to save her younger son’s life.
In the early years of the war, Gustav had helped a Jewish friend at considerable risk to himself. As a released prisoner of war, Gustav faced certain arrest after returning home. His friend, now the communist police commissioner, protected him. Eventually, though, his friend could no longer protect him, and Gustav fled to the West.
To reunite the family, Helene and her sons made a dangerous nighttime border crossing from communist East Germany to the West. After being reunited in West Germany they faced discrimination and hunger.
The family immigrated to the USA and embraced the freedoms and opportunities of America. Gustav became an engineer working on NASA’s Moon Shot. Helene became an independent businesswoman. Their sons continue to thrive and enjoy their freedom.
"Gerhard Maroscher was born in Romania during WW II to ethnic German (Transylvanian Saxon) parents. His family was driven from their homeland. As a child he lived in Romania, Hungary, Nazi Germany, Nazi Austria, Communist East Germany, and West Germany. In 1952, the reunited family immigrated to the USA. He attended public schools and graduated with an engineering degree from The Ohio State University. After serving with the Army in Viet Nam, Gerhard worked in industry for 34 years . Following his retirement at the age of 59, he began a second career as a high school German teacher. He wrote quirky stories for his students to encourage reluctant readers. The stories are published in five readers. He also published a teacher's manual to be used with the readers. Following his retirement from public school teaching, he wrote and published the memoir, ""Why Can't Somebody Just Die Around Here?"" It is a first-person account of the miraculous survival of his family during WWII: fleeing Communism, nearly starving, and immigrating to the United States to live the American Dream."
"Gerhard Maroscher was born in Romania during WW II to ethnic German (Transylvanian Saxon) parents. His family was driven from their homeland. As a child he lived in Romania, Hungary, Nazi Germany, Nazi Austria, Communist East Germany, and West Germany. In 1952, the reunited family immigrated to the USA. He attended public schools and graduated with an engineering degree from The Ohio State University. After serving with the Army in Viet Nam, Gerhard worked in industry for 34 years . Following his retirement at the age of 59, he began a second career as a high school German teacher. He wrote quirky stories for his students to encourage reluctant readers. The stories are published in five readers. He also published a teacher's manual to be used with the readers. Following his retirement from public school teaching, he wrote and published the memoir, ""Why Can't Somebody Just Die Around Here?"" It is a first-person account of the miraculous survival of his family during WWII: fleeing Communism, nearly starving, and immigrating to the United States to live the American Dream."