by A. B. Zeitler

 – “I almost fell overboard on my way to America,” my father often said. This quote begins many immigrant adventures detailed in Leaving Germany:  One Family’s Post-World War I American Journey. Readers will follow Hans Zeitler and his family from worn-torn World War I (1914 – 1918) southern Germany, to five states in America. But when the war ended in 1918, Peter Zeitler, the family head, decided that social, political, and economic conditions were so bad in Germany that American stability offered more hope. In America in the 1920s, the economy was booming and there were opportunities for ordinary people to own land and run businesses. Opportunities in Germany, at this time, were crippled by horrible inflation and land ownership was restricted by birth order and social standing, with inherited estates staying in the same family.

From their immigration in 1924, the family’s mission was to work as a unit, own land, and become successful dairy farmers somewhere in America, which took decades to achieve. There were numerous adventures along the way, including picking cotton in Texas, and losing their house to fire in Wisconsin, in pursuit of their goals.

Through it all, the family learned English and American customs as they adjusted to advances in plant and animal husbandry, and technology, with farming progressing from hand work to machinery for field work and milk production. The Zeitlers’ hardships and triumphs amid worldwide economic and political upheavals are unique to them, but are also typical of other immigrant stories, past and present.

Page Count: 132
Trim Size: 6 x 9
Publish Date: October 1, 2024
Imprint: Sunbury Press
Genre: History

BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Cultural & Regional
HISTORY / Europe / Germany
HISTORY / United States / 20th Century