Laura Dean Bennett
Staff Writer
Longtime Pocahontas County resident and author Elke Neumann Taylor has acquiesced to her many readers who requested another of her memoirs about growing up in Germany in the 1940s.
In her latest autobiographical novel, published in January 2024, Taylor takes her readers back to the World War II Germany of her childhood once again.
“A Time Remembered” is Taylor’s third autobiographical foray into her past – Elke’s trilogy, if you will.
It portrays a sad personal chapter during Germany’s terrible national nightmare which is undoubtedly representative of countless untold stories of the author’s countrymen who lived through similar experiences.
The story focuses on one cobblestoned street in Hamburg – Ludolf Strasse – which, unlike so much of the city, had miraculously survived the Allies’ devastating bombing campaign.
Ludolf Strasse had been home to quaint shops and a thriving, tight-knit community of shopkeepers and residents before the war brought it to its knees.
While its inhabitants struggle to make ends meet and survive the cruelties and depravations of the war – including air raids, personal loss and the fear of protecting fellow Germans who happened to be Jews – they are also called on to absorb an influx of refugees, fellow citizens, driven from destroyed homes and businesses.
We meet a variety of these bombing refugees, including the remnants of the author’s family, who are assigned places in hastily built Quonset huts across the Alster River from Ludolf Strasse.
Taylor’s tender reminiscences of the last months of the war, could have taken on a painful or somber caste, like so many novels set during this terrible time in Germany’s history, if it were not for Taylor’s Spartan, but tender writing style.
Taylor is a resident of Dunmore, the widow of longtime Forest Service employee Jerry Taylor to whom she was married for 60 years.
Except for her German background, she is a typical Pocahontas County resident.
“I love so many things about it here – the beauty of the scenery and the people,” Taylor said.
“People in Pocahontas County are gracious and friendly, the kind of people who never met a stranger.
“They welcomed me and made me feel at home right away,” she added.
“In the summer, I love being outdoors. I grow a big garden and can vegetables. I used to paint, too – acrylics mostly, but, one time, I did win a best in show award for a watercolor painting – and I bake my own bread.
“In the winter, I crochet and knit and I like to read mystery books,” Taylor said, smiling.
“I guess people like reading my books. They often say that once they start reading one of them, they can’t put it down.
“My mother always encouraged me to write down our story.
So I wrote the first book, “Elke’s Memoirs of Hamburg 1941.” I was only going to write the one book, but after the first book came out, so many people asked me about the rest of my life’s story, so I wrote the second book, “Passport to the Orient,” about my teenage years in Japan,” Taylor explained.
“Then my readers asked me when I would write another book, so I wrote this last one, “A Time Remembered.”
“One thing I’d like readers to take away from my books is the importance of perseverance,” she said.
Will there be another book after this?
Taylor says there’s nothing in the works now, but, who knows? Taylor’s friends and fans may prevail upon her to give us yet another revealing glimpse into her fascinating life.
Taylor’s books are available online for purchase from Amazon, at The Pocahontas Times office and from the author, herself.
The book is also available at Pocahontas County Free Libraries and Information Centers.
Readers who wish to contact Taylor may reach her at jetaylor@frontiernet.net