Author Reading: “I’d Rather Remain Silent”

Reading and Discussion with Author Roswitha Quadflieg "I’d Rather Remain Silent" by Will and Roswitha Quadflieg. An actor’s diary from 1945–46 and his daughter’s questions. “You probably find this in every estate. An ominous box with unknown contents. That was also the case in my mother’s estate when she died at the age of 94. It was labeled ‘Letters and Curiosities.’ Nine years later, I opened it. Inside were 467 letters from my father, written to my mother from 1933 to 1945. They met on Capri. She was Swedish. She was 15; he was 17. This love story lasted until 1963, when they parted ways. They had five children. There are also many photos in this box. But tucked away among everything was a small diary that my father wrote from March 1945 through September 1946. “For my mother—actually, a love diary written for her.” Roswitha Quadflieg invites you to join her in getting to know her father during this extremely tense global situation, in which everyday life was inextricably linked to the course of history, : “A journey through time that captivated me for many months, during which—based on this previously unknown diary—I explored a small glimpse into my father’s long life and German history shortly before the end of World War II and one year afterward.”