Florida Woman's WW II Memoir is of Privilege, War, Family

ASHEVILLE, N.C., Oct. 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Helga Hofmeier emerged from privilege—sterling silver, tailored clothing, private education--but her story is one of survival.  As a nine-year-old in 1935, Helga was sent from Nazi Germany to Japan. Reunited with her German mother in Tokyo, Helga learned Japanese, barely survived the Doolittle bombing and the 1945 U.S. firebombing of Tokyo, and eventually met Gen. Douglas MacArthur.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131015/CL97481 )

Her father, Berlin pediatrician Kurt Hofmeier, was the Dr. Spock of Germany in the 1930s. Her stepfather worked at the German embassy in Tokyo as World War II was beginning.

Today, Helga Hofmeier Edmonds is an octogenarian in Pensacola, FL. Her recently-released autobiography, Helga: A Memoir of Privilege, War, and Family, offers insights on managing world chaos, practicing forgiveness, and being grateful to be an American, despite America's problems. Largely covering Helga's childhood and youth, the book is appropriate for all adults and students aged 12 and up.

Although her family had employed maids in Germany and Japan, at the end of World War II gorgeous, blonde 20-year-old Helga became an indentured servant. Her parents had been forced out of Japan and into impoverished repatriation camps in starving, bombed-out Germany. In exchange for passage out of war-torn Japan, Helga signed away two years of her life as housekeeper and nanny for a U.S. Army colonel. Ready to enter the U.S. and restricted to a maximum of $50, she sold her only asset--the family lot in Japan (their home and neighborhood had been firebombed along with the rest of the city). She proudly sailed to California wearing her inheritance—a Russian sable. She then became the sole supporter of her repatriated parents.

North Carolina author Sheridan Hill was commissioned by the Edmonds family to write the book, which includes dozens of letters written between family members in Germany and Japan before, during, and after World War II. Hill's company, Real Life Stories, LLC, provides worldwide author services and publishing for clients from its home base near Asheville, NC.

Visit http://www.ReaLifeStories.com/press-kit for contact details, review copies, photos, and an author bio. 

SOURCE Real Life Stories, LLC