Newly released book tells the author's story as a young boy, growing up in Eastern Europe during the World War II. Available on Amazon.com. In memory of Willy's wife Irmgard, donations can be made on ALS-Chicago website: www.alsachicago.org
Book dramatizes author’s life story, survival at end of World War II, terrible period after war
ROCKFORD, Ill.– Willy Goellner’s daughter Marika and his wife Irmgard kept encouraging him to never give up so that his life story would be told and be an inspiration to his family and friends and to future generations to come. Such encouragement inspired Goellner to write “Against All Odds: From There to Here”.
The book tells the story of Goellner as a young boy growing up in a close-knit family in Eastern Europe, influenced by the intrigues of national politics in pre-World War II. This autobiography dramatizes his life and survival at the end of the war and the terrible period after the war, where he lost most of his family. It shows that with God’s grace, a hopeless situation can be turned around by hard work and an iron will to succeed.
“From the day of our expulsion from our homeland in 1946 until I had the chance to join my stepmother in Austria in 1948, most of the time I was separated from church and Christian life. Yet I never lost my faith nor did I ever stop praying,” Goellner says. “On the contrary, I was closer to God, when I was wandering around alone, hoping, and yes, praying to survive.”
“When I look back at my life, I am especially grateful that my mother and relatives brought me up with Christian principles. As I journeyed through life, I never lost faith in God. I kept firm, even when I was separated from my family, as I faced very difficult times.”
“Against All Odds: From There to Here”
By Willy Goellner
Hardcover | 6 x 9in | 302 pages | ISBN 9781543413540
Softcover | 6 x 9in | 302 pages | ISBN 9781543413557
E-Book | 302 pages | ISBN 9781543413564
Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble
About the Author
Willy Goellner, Chairman, Goellner, Inc. was born on the 5th of April in 1931, in a German-speaking community in Poland. He lost his parents and one sister in the aftermath of the war, and was forced to leave his home, ejected to devastated Germany. In 1948, after two years of struggling to survive, he ended up in Austria where he studied engineering. He was married in 1955 and moved to Germany. With two baby boys, he and his wife immigrated to the USA and eventually Rockford became their home. In 1966, he started his own business, which grew into a worldwide enterprise by 2017 with two plants in the USA, three plants in Europe and joint ventures in China, Germany, England and India.