Shambles is the story of Marianne Fischer, a young girl, daughter of a Swiss mother and Austrian father, growing up in the 1930s in the ethnic part of western Czechoslovakia (Bohemia), known as the Sudetenland. Her account tells of her struggles under a Fascist takeover, her capture, internment in a Russian labor camp and ultimate escape to Switzerland, her mother's homeland-and eventual emigration to America. Her story is engrossing, harrowing, chilling, at times poignant, but always told with humor, hope and optimism. It is about the will to survive-"Durchhalten!", Hold on!-against all odds. This fascinating memoir should be read by future generations, who will grow up in a world that has all but forgotten personal struggles such as Manya's, a girl who overcame unthinkable circumstances-and lived to tell her story.
