Liesel Appel's memoir,"The Neighbor's Son",begins on the date of her birth,September 14, 1941,conceived to comply with an order from Adolph Hitler to all pure German mothers to bear as many perfect German children.A dedication ceremony to Hitler on September 24, 1941 as attested to by a family photo depicting Liesel being cradeled in the arms of her Brother in his German Naval uniform,and flanked by her Mother and Father with a large photo of Hitler in the background.

Liesel has gifted the photo to the National Holocaust Mueseam in Washington,DC where it is displayed. The identification number is 49919. This photograph is the front cover of "The Neighbor's Son".

Liesel believed that she was free of prejudice and bigotry of any kind when in fact she was imprisoned by the most terrible kind,hatred against he own family and people.

Her story is not unique. There are countless women and men, who also left their homeland at the same time she did and probably for the same reason. We settled all over the world and tried to deny our Germanness, to ourselves as well as to the people we encountered along the way. Liesel wandered to England, Africa and the United States, in search of an identity that would be better then her own. She became African and Jew and always fell short

The unique coming of age story of Liesel and her peoccupation with finding her neighbor's son is extremely eventful and takes the reader from postwar Germany to England, Africa, and the United states. It explores inteconnectedness between victim and perpetrator and touches on universal themes of family, forgiveness, guilt and justice. This candid account of a family's history combined with a flawed protagonist's sexual history will strike deep emotional responses in a thoughtful reader.