Crowns, Crosses, and Stars: My Youth in Prussia, Surviving Hitler, and a Life Beyond

by Sibylle Sarah Niemoeller Baroness von Sell

Overview

This is the story of a remarkable life and a journey, from the privileged world of Prussian aristocracy, through the horrors of World War II, to high society in the television age of postwar America. It is also an account of a spiritual voyage, from a conventional Christian upbringing, through marriage to Pastor Martin Niemoeller, to conversion to Judaism. Born during the turbulent days of the Weimar Republic, the author was the goddaughter of Kaiser Wilhelm II (to whom her father was financial advisor). During her teenage years, she witnessed the rise of the Third Reich and her family's resistance to it, culminating in their involvement in "Operation Valkyrie," the ill-fated attempt to assassinate Hitler and form a new government. At war's end, she worked with British Intelligence to uncover Nazis leaders. Keeping a promise to her father, she left Germany for a new life in the United States in the 1950s, working for NBC and raising her son in the exciting world of New York, only to return to Germany as the wife of Martin Niemoeller, the voice of religious resistance during the Third Reich and of German guilt and conscience in the postwar decades. Upon her husband's death in 1984 she returned to America, after having converted to Judaism in London, and turned yet another page by becoming an active public speaker and author. The title reflects a story of three parts: "Crowns," the world of nobility in which the author was raised; "Crosses," her life with Martin Niemoeller and his battles with the Third Reich; and "Stars," the spiritual journey that brought her to Judaism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781612499123
Publisher:	Purdue University Press
Publication date:	03/30/2024
Pages:	348
Sales rank:	732,828
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Born a baroness, trained as an equestrienne, an actress on the German stage and screen, Sibylle Sarah Niemoeller-von Sell was part of the German resistance and later served with British Intelligence. Later a researcher for American television, she worked with the American Red Cross in West Germany before embarking on a career as author and public speaker. During her long life and in her many roles, she has known political leaders, from Kaiser Wilhelm II, her godfather, to Erich Honecker; religious figures, from her own husband, Martin Niemoeller, to Elie Wiesel; and professional icons, from Billy Wilder and Stan Laurel to George Burns. She now lives in Doylestown, Pennsylvania.

Table of Contents

Editor’s Note, Richard Libowitz
Part One: They Even Closed the Candy Store
Prologue
Chapter One: September 1914
Chapter Two: Augusta
Chapter Three: Anna
Chapter Four: Father
Chapter Five: My Arrival
Chapter Six: Berlin
Chapter Seven: New Men in My Life
Chapter Eight: The New Pastor
Chapter Nine: Rabble-Rousers
Chapter Ten: The Godfather
Chapter Eleven: The Third Reich Begins
Chapter Twelve: A Pastor’s Growing Doubts
Chapter Thirteen: Nazis on Parade
Chapter Fourteen: Life in the Third Reich
Chapter Fifteen: Royal Sons
Chapter Sixteen: School Days
Chapter Seventeen: Family Choices and Special Neighbors
Chapter Eighteen: Uncle Mirko
Chapter Nineteen: Nazi Actions
Chapter Twenty: A Meeting with the Führer
Chapter Twenty-One: Problems at School and at Home
Chapter Twenty-Two: Uncertain Reactions
Chapter Twenty-Three: Boarding School
Chapter Twenty-Four: My Meeting
Chapter Twenty-Five: Pastor Made Prisoner
Chapter Twenty-Six: Triumphs of the Führer
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Prisoner 569
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Growing Up
Part Two: Destruction Unlimited
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Conspirators
Chapter Thirty: Out of and Into School
Chapter Thirty-One: An Aspiring Actress
Chapter Thirty-Two: A Visit Home
Chapter Thirty-Three: Good-bye to My Godfather
Chapter Thirty-Four: The Incipient Actress
Chapter Thirty-Five: The War Comes Closer to Home
Chapter Thirty-Six: Shortages
Chapter Thirty-Seven: Resistance
Chapter Thirty-Eight: Rescue Efforts
Chapter Thirty-Nine: Danzig
Chapter Forty: The Final Attempt
Chapter Forty-One: Revenge
Chapter Forty-Two: Aftermath
Chapter Forty-Three: More Illegal Activities
Chapter Forty-Four: A New Career
Chapter Forty-Five: Thoughts of Home
Chapter Forty-Six: The Prisoner of Dachau Receives Tragic News
Chapter Forty-Seven: The War Closes In
Chapter Forty-Eight: Last Visit to Dachau
Chapter Forty-Nine: Arabella
Chapter Fifty: Freedom
Chapter Fifty-One: Continuing the Trek
Chapter Fifty-Two: War’s End
Chapter Fifty-Three: The Russians are Coming
Chapter Fifty-Four: With the Americans
Chapter Fifty-Five: Joining the British
Chapter Fifty-Six: British Intelligence
Chapter Fifty-Seven: Return to Berlin
Chapter Fifty-Eight: The Confessing Accuser
Chapter Fifty-Nine: Surviving in Berlin
Chapter Sixty: Help from Many Sources
Chapter Sixty-One: A New Job
Chapter Sixty-Two: The News of My Father
Chapter Sixty-Three: Grandmother
Chapter Sixty-Four: Interlude: Journey into the Unknown—July 1986
Chapter Sixty-Five: New Sorrows, New Jobs
Chapter Sixty-Six: The Airlift
Chapter Sixty-Seven: Cold War
Chapter Sixty-Eight: Discomfort and New Life
Part Three: The Promised Land
Chapter Sixty-Nine: A Test Case
Chapter Seventy: Living in America
Chapter Seventy-One: The New Yorker
Chapter Seventy-Two: The Today Show
Chapter Seventy-Three: In Love Again
Chapter Seventy-Four: Hollywood
Chapter Seventy-Five: Tragedies and Other Events in Europe
Chapter Seventy-Six: Events in America
Chapter Seventy-Seven: Divorce, Despair, Deliverance
Chapter Seventy-Eight: Back to Berlin
Chapter Seventy-Nine: Life with Martin
Chapter Eighty: Under the Rug
Chapter Eighty-One: Married Life
Chapter Eighty-Two: Martin and the World
Chapter Eighty-Three: Life in Germany
Chapter Eighty-Four: Rebellion
Chapter Eighty-Five: Film and Farewell
Chapter Eighty-Six: The Work Is Finished
Chapter Eighty-Seven: East Germany
Chapter Eighty-Eight: New Beginnings
Chapter Eighty-Nine: A New Life
Chapter Ninety: Questions of Faith . . . and Answers
Chapter Ninety-One: Conversion
Epilogue: August 1996
Index

Editorial Reviews

"This autobiography by Sibylle Sarah Niemoeller, widow of the admired German anti-Nazi theologian Martin Niemoeller, is both academically enriching and deeply moving. It shows the transformational impact Holocaust memories can have on a sensitive soul. In fact, meeting Holocaust survivors changed her life, leading to conversion to Judaism. Written with remarkable warmth and compassion, her stories bring her close to the grateful reader." — Elie Wiesel

From the Publisher