Heart of the Sparrow

Born at the start of WWII in Germany, Erika experienced a war torn world with the innocence of a young child. Her story is about growing up believing that the scarcities of war, the bombings, the destruction of their home, an evacuation and even their escape from east to west Germany were simply normal life.

In her memoir, Erika reflects on being born at the beginning of WWII in Dusseldorf, Germany and how her innocence during bombing raids, destruction, an evacuation and an eventual escape helped shape who she became. The family's home was bombed and completely destroyed, those still at home were evacuated into East Germany. The family of five miraculously all survived the war even with her oldest brother away at a boarding school that shut down during the war and her father, a soldier who was captured and imprisoned in an American POW camp. Her story includes a retelling of their harrowing escape back to West Germany through the Russian border created after the war. The Berlin Wall was erected in that area. She discusses the roles of her experiences, her family, events and choices that eventually led her to New York and then on to Denver, Colorado and becoming an accomplished and now retired grandmother of eight.

Erika Mannheim Schafer was born at the start of WWII in Germany. After surviving the war and the turmoil after its completion, she emigrated to New York as a young wife and mother. Today she is a retired, accomplished grandmother of 8 living in Denver, Colorado.