The book recounts the childhood of Huntsville resident Heidi Posnien, who survived in Berlin — almost entirely on her own at times — amid World War II, the city’s fall during the latter years of the global conflict and also the years that followed the war — a period spanning from 1939 to 1949.

Posnien, who’s now 88 years old, and Lauritzen will both be on hand at the Huntsville event to discuss the book and Posnien’s life, while also answering attendee questions.

According to Lauritzen, initially happening upon Posnien’s story turned out to be one of life’s happy accidents.

“My professional work is as a biographer. So, I tell people’s stories and I had done the biography and family history and business story for Norma Kier of Kier Construction,” she told the Standard-Examiner. “Norma called me one day and she said, ‘I have a friend who has a really interesting story. I think you should call her.'”

Although she was busy with her own life at the time and skeptical about the recording of Posnien’s story being anything more than a service for the family, Lauritzen was moved by what she was told by Posnien over the days, months and years that followed.

“Heidi was a child. She was born in 1936 and she came to live in Berlin the year that Hitler invaded Poland,” Lauritzen said. “Her mother was an up-and-coming opera singer. She had been recruited.”

Posnien’s mother, Käthe, was ethnically Polish; however, she was the “model Aryan girl,” as Lauritzen describes her (i.e. blonde-haired, blue-eyed and beautiful).

While her talents and appearance had seemingly put her on a fast track to the high life in a fledgling Nazi society, Käthe followed her conscience and chose to “make some really hard choices,” ultimately beginning life anew as part of Berlin’s underground trading network.

As a result of those choices, Posnien lived an imperiled existence during her formative years. As a 9-year-old, she even found herself living alone in the big city.

“Imagine, it’s the final weeks of World War II. Berlin is a moonscape of rubble and the bombings are happening almost nightly at this point,” Lauritzen said. “Heidi ends up initially not on her own but, for a time, on her own, foraging for food. She’s in an apartment without running water, without windows and she makes it a home.”

Lauritzen, who says that woking on “A Child in Berlin” has resulted in a “dear friendship” with Posnien, says living and persevering amid such tumultuous circumstances are at the core of the story.

“Having to make life choices in that environment is really one of the underlying themes of the book,” she said. “To me, that is the cost of war. No mother should ever have to choose between her conscience and helping others and the safety of her family. Just choices humans should not have to make.”

Added Lauritzen: “Heidi was well-loved, but she says that when you experience something like a war, the memories are vivid and burned in your mind. And I will say she had a remarkable memory in telling these stories; just rich, just resplendent with detail.”

Lauritzen says that copies of her book will be signed at Saturday’s event. Those who are unable to attend can also purchase signed copies at The King’s English bookshop in Salt Lake.

For more information about Saturday’s event, go to https://weberpl.events.mylibrary.digital/event?id=113608/.

“A Child in Berlin” is currently available for purchase on Amazon.