Picking Up the Pieces: A Personal Odyssey - From Academia to Immersion in the Chaos and Drama of Post-War Europe: 1947-1953

The Pieces in the title of this book are the fragments of humanity left over in Europe after World War II: those who survived the most destructive war in history, now trying to put their lives back together again - either in Europe if possible, or by emigrating to new homes all over the world. Whether large or small, rich or poor, good or bad, everyone was impacted by the war, almost always for the worse. Each one had a story to tell. This book is an attempt to describe a few of these people, the chaos out of which they emerged and the situation in which they then found themselves. It is told through the eyes of an immature, inexperienced young American - myself - as I worked in a variety of public and private programs that helped to make a broken continent whole again.