Host:
Today our guest is Herman Neuman. He is an unreal, real survivor and in the true st meaning of these words. He published his memoir under the title, “Heroes from the Attic: A Gripping True Story of Triumph”. Herman, why did you write your memoir?
Herman: When I finally dared to think back on my early life, I realized that my story could be an inspiration to others. Once I started writing, I became obsessed to bring hope to those who had to suffer abuse. Many readers have agreed that I am a role model like few others. For example, a “Writers Digest” magazine critique stated: "...It's hard to believe Neuman has lived to tell his story, and has risen above all these hardships and even remained sane... 'Heroes' and 'Triumph' indeed! ...a most memorable story."
For the first two dozen years of our lives, my brother Siggi and I endured many seemingly impossible adversities. It took us that many years to claw ourselves to the starting line of life. We mostly had such a difficult time because of, and triumphed in spite of, people. No one encouraged us or gave us hope. This was so, because our parents, and their many lawyers, were our worst enemies. However, after we had worked ourselves through college, it did not take us long to zoom into high orbit.
Host: Herman, why did you choose this title for your book?
Herman: Well, my memoir could be called many things, because we survived many extreme adversities. I chose “Heroes from the Attic,” because our wealthy father forced my brother Siggi, me and our mother into homelessness. For one year, the three of us had to squat in the attic of an apartment building. Without any utilities whatsoever. Siggi and I had to study by candle light. We had to clean ourselves with crusty handkerchiefs and spit.
Because he and I are self-made men, I had the audacity to call ourselves heroes. By choosing this title, I also included our mother as a heroine. It amazes me that she lived into her nineties, because she had to suffer greatly all her life. And I have never known her to take even one aspirin.
Host: What makes your book so highly unusual, so different from other real-life stories?
Herman: It’s offbeat humor about the great variety, duration and intensity of our traumas. And our amazing triumphs. Our troubles began right after Siggi and I were born. And humbly I say, our ultimate triumphs are quite extraordinary by any standard. Therefore, my memoir has many lessons, which we could have learned only through suffering.
By the time Siggi and I were fifteen and seventeen years old, we had survived several killer illnesses, starvation and homelessness. And I flunked out of the fifth grade. As if that were not enough, our mother frequently whipped my naked buttocks with a wire chord. And sometimes for so long and so intensely, that I could no longer scream, because I could not get enough air. She whipped me, even though I was always too scared to even think about misbehaving.
And when I was eighteen to twenty years old, I was forced to be a slave for well-to do-relatives in the state of Washington. They also forced me to live in the deepest poverty imaginable.
Even though mine is a true story, some passages in “Heroes from the Attic” read like weird fiction. I wanted to lighten the intensity of our drama, so spiced my story with satirical humor.
For our first two dozen years, when it seemed that life could possibly not get worse for us, it got worse. And many readers of “Heroes from the Attic” have felt the same from chapter to chapter. That is until our amazing turn-around, Siggi’s and mine.
Host: Wow! Your story sounds depressing. What about your triumphs?
Herman: Depressing? I know I was almost always very depressed as a kid. Who wouldn’t be under our circumstances? But for the last few years, I have been mostly very happy. Now I sometimes even joke about my problems. But oddly, I sometimes also cry, even in public, when I learn about other people’s problems.
Lately I have thought quit a bit about what my chances of survival might have been. My chances of staying alive must have been one in over ten or one hundred thousand. Even though I have always been somewhat skeptical about religion, I had to conclude that I’m still here, and even have great zest for life, because God has guided and protected me. There could have been no other way. If this is not so, I want someone to explain to me how it might be otherwise.
About my triumphs on a personal level? I worked myself through four years of college, mostly by doing extremely hard labor. My only financial assistance during that time was one-hundred dollars from my dormitory mates. They had learned that I brushed my teeth with soap scraps from the dorm shower.
And think about our greatest triumphs, Siggi‘s and mine. It is amazing that we both defied expert and popular expectation about what we would do with our lives. We did not repeat the self-destructive behavior of our role models, our parents. We managed to take the morally-correct path through life in spite of them.
And we reaped great reward for our efforts. Within eighteen months after my new bride and I graduated from college, we were able to earn and save enough to travel around the world. For six months. For the adventure of a lifetime. Think about this. Only eighteen months of working to be able to travel for six months in far-way places. And after Siggi earned a Ph. D. degree, he also became a world traveler.
And this may seem odd to those who have been abused. I have never been bitter or thought about revenge. A proof of this is, that when I visited my father for the last time, I consoled him. He shed tears about his mother‘s death, who had died long before I was born. Even then, I never even thought, never thought, about asking him, why did you make our lives so exciting. Why did you want to kill us? Why did you squander our inheritance?
But he paid an extremely high price for his irresponsibility. After he had spent more money on lawyers, than he had paid for our support, he transferred all of his possessions to his second wife. Including his thriving architectural practice. And the only reason he did so was to avoid having to pay for our court-ordered child support. Then his second wife promptly divorced him, leaving him as penniless as always had been. But in a bizarre twist of irony, he could continue to live great comfort without a penny in his name. By living with a wealthy widow.
In “Heroes from the Attic,” I let the chips, the blunt truths, fall where they may. And the inspiration my testimony has given my audiences has been, and will continue to be, one of my greatest rewards.
Host: Can you give us details of one specific example of what you had to endure so early in life?
Herman: Yes. Let me read an excerpt from my memoir, “Heroes from the Attic: A Gripping True Story of Triumph.” It will also give our listeners an idea of my writing style. When Siggi and I were about seven and nine years old, our mother forced us to scavenge for food on a fresh manure pile.
http://books.iuniverse.com/viewbooks.asp?isbn=0595223141&page=54
Host: Thank you. It is almost unbelievable that you’re still sane. In light of your many misfortunes, you may not want to answer this. But what situation or event had the severest long-term impact on your psyche. On your mind?
Fortunately my consciousness has blocked out my experiences in World War II. I can remember only a few intense situations. I was only five and a half years old when this war ended.
One likely psychological after-effect from this war could have been that after my wife and I returned from our trip around the world, I would often wake up at nights. Night after night. And usually at the same time. One hour after midnight. And for days I would feel like I had been run over by a truck, because I felt so exhausted This sleep pattern would continue for years thereafter. Even now. I sometimes still seem to have a disturbed sleeping pattern.
Nonetheless, I am happy that heroes have liberated me from the tyranny of the Nazis. Can you imagine what they, the Nazis, would have done to me, or forced me to do after I grew older? They almost did me in when I was a baby, by not letting me into a hospital until I was almost dead from an ear infection.
For years thereafter, I had a chronic ear infection and mainly because of neglect. No one seemed to care that stinky pus was running out of my head. Not hearing well has also caused me many problems. One humorous example of this. Once, after I ordered a sandwich in a fast-food place, the cute waitress asked me, “breed or bite?” Hopefully I asked her, “pardon me?” and again I heard, “breed or bite?” I finally realized that people don’t breed or bite each other in public, and that she must have asked, “wheat or white?”
My mother’s intense whippings probably had long term subconscious psychological effects, which I won’t even attempt to figure out.
I think that not having a father and no emotional support from anyone impacted me more than I will ever know. I had to learn many of life’s lessons myself and overcome anxieties and ghosts that took me decades to recognize for what they were. For example, at one time I was so shy that I often stuttered. Even by the age of eighteen I was still afraid to talk on a telephone. Can you imagine that?
Host: I’m sorry about your problems.
Herman: Oh, you don’t have to be. In my case it is “what does not kill you, makes you stronger.” I am now an emotional Arnold. Now my mind loves to dwell on brutal reality. On society’s problems. The same reality that most people try to avoid.
Host: Wow! Have you ever been to a psychiatrist or any kind of mental health counselor?
Herman: Only once. I think. After we became homeless on Christmas Eve Day, and I barely spoke to anyone anymore, my mother took me to Basel, Switzerland. I assumed that we were going to an ear doctor. But instead of inspecting my ear, a man showed me the ink blobs of a Rorschach test. That was my only counseling contact ever. He never asked me questions, nor did I ever learn the results of this now discredited scientific test. He would have learned more about my mental state, if he had smelled and looked at the stinky goo in my ear.
Host: When and why did you come to the United States?
Herman: In 1957. Siggi and I barely spoke English. We were fifteen and seventeen years old. By this time we had absorbed dozens of American "cowboy and Indian" movies and hundreds of books from an American bookmobile.
Our mother sent us to our relatives in America who had invited us. After crossing the stormy Atlantic by ship, and the vast continent by train, the two of us arrived at the coast of Washington in the early hours of a Sunday. After our relatives separated us on their farms, Siggi and I quickly learned that we had jumped from the frying pan into the fire. So to speak. Within two hours after finishing our six-thousand mile journey, I had to milk cows. We became slaves, Siggi and I. Real live slaves.
Host: Slaves? Slavery ended here with the Civil War.
Herman: I’m afraid not. There are still slaves in this world. But most of them are exploited illegally and secretly. One of the definitions in the dictionary for slave is “one who is completely subservient to a dominating influence.” And our uncles completely dominated us.
They gave us minimal food and shelter and no pay. We did not want to be on their dairy farms, but could not escape. That means that we were also falsely imprisoned.
Siggi and I were still very naïve and severely intimidated, because of our upbringing by our very authoritarian mother and school system. Just goofing off could result into severe punishment.
Our uncles, our new masters, were extremely stingy. I was allowed only two or three baths in two years and then in someone else’s bath water. Some people know that cow manure is not the cleanest stuff in the world. And I was forced to wallow in it every day of the year.
After about two years of this, I had a lifestyle makeover. I was forced to live in an isolated shack by a vast tide flat. There were no utilities. Not even an outhouse. I, alone, had to keep repairing a new dike, which kept washing out during stormy high tides. I still have letter, in which my then absentee master stated, that he could afford to pay me only fifty dollars a month plus room and board. That was laughable.
Anyone can view a photo of this dike and the shack I had to live in through links on my Web pages at
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The following spring, I volunteered to join the army in my initial attempt to escape. But I was rejected, because of my deaf and chronically infected ear.
Host: Then how then did you manage to leave there?
Herman: I took a job in a pulp and paper mill, “the toughest job in town” that I had heard about. But the noise in that place is now destroying the hearing on my remaining ear. This means that boom box children may also pay a heavy price later in life, when their ears start to whistle and become deaf.
Host: How long have you been you married?
Herman: About as long as two or three average marriages. Almost forty years. To the same and only wife. We complement each other in our abilities, so we make a great team.
Host: You said earlier that after you and your wife graduated from college, you traveled around the world. Please tell us about this great adventure.
Herman: We wanted to reward ourselves for our hard work and chose to travel. She graduated in three years, even while changing her major three times. So we worked and lived very frugally for one and a half years, saving much of our incomes. We cruised around the world, stopping in many ports along the way. We traveled around Europe with a Eurailpass for three months on a very low budget.
We found ourselves in some very interesting situations. We slept on trains and, unwittingly, in whorehouses. We visited museums, castles and cathedrals. We traveled high into the Alps and cruised on rivers in Australia and Japan. We were tossed about in a taifun in the South China Sea, and cruised around a huge city of wooden junks, wood boats, outside the Hong Kong harbor. We enjoyed a nine-course dinner during a Chinese opera. Life could not get much better. It was awesome.
Host: That sounds very interesting. Are your travel adventures also included in your book?
Herman: Yes, some of the more interesting ones. I included a chapter about our travels, because they are part of my triumph. My first great reward for not buckling under. And because our travels were intertwined with our visits to my parents. One early reader said, that she felt that she yearned to visit the places, which I described in my book.
Host: Where are you living now?
Herman: In a small town near the Snake River in Idaho.
Host: When you were young, what would you have done differently, had you known then what you know now?
Herman: I think not much. Because Siggi and I never had choices. There was no place to which we could run away to. We barely knew very few of our relatives and had very few friends. Besides, we were always under the control of someone’s scolding or whip. At that time, flogging children was still socially acceptable and even encouraged in Germany.
Combine the role model teachings of our parents with our mental and physical pains, Siggi and I should have become walking cluster bombs. But we are the opposite. And having always been honest and steadfast has paid off for us in the long run. Instead of spending time in jail, we experienced the wonders of this world.
Host: What advice do you have for people who are misused or seemingly have no control over their own lives?
Herman: I can only give general advice here. It is based on my own experiences, travels and obsessive reading. I must say, read a lot, observe and think, think, think. And when you must think, avoid distractions to stay concentrated on your thoughts. Have conversations with yourself about the pros and cons of various solutions to your problems. Write down or tape your ideas, so you can build on them. Keep adding to them and improving them and then follow through with actions. This sounds simple, but it takes self-discipline and effort to make focused thinking and acting a habit.
I have also observed that many people stew in their own bitter juices. So to speak. They create their own juices, their own destructive situations. But oddly, many people don't realize this and blame others for their own circumstances. They don’t realize this, because they are depressed and are misinformed and distracted. Our society is now overloaded with information, distractions and false ideas. Our society is now geared to respond mostly to the symptoms and effects of problems. This may be because these are most visible. But one must search out the root causes of problems. Doing so will eliminate the resulting symptoms and forestalls the creation of other unpleasant effects from those same initial causes.
Host: Herman, if and what do you do on a regular basis to make or keep yourself healthy and happy?
Herman: I am now extremely healthy and happy. So I must be doing the right things. On the most regular basis, eating. But I concentrate on food, which has been processed as little as possible. And I exercise a lot.
In my zest, I often go for the mostest, the wildest, the fastest, …. if my wife will let me. I run with my dog during the winter months and work in our yard and garden during summers. At the age of sixty, I came in 1,700th place out of 19,000 male runners of all age groups at the 10 km San Francisco Bay to Breakers Run.
As to my mind. I seem to be much more curious and inquisitive than many people. I think this is because as children, we had few toys and no TV. There were no baby-sitters, coaches or extracurricular school activities. Therefore we had to create most of our own entertainment.
I read a lot about many subjects and this keeps my brain occupied. It is important to keep one’s mind filled with productive thoughts. Productive thoughts and actions bring results. Positive results lift your spirit. It is difficult to think clearly when one is depressed. One has to make a great effort to break out of the vicious circle of depression and fuzzy thinking. Each tends to reinforce the other. With my background, I cannot allow myself to feel sorry for myself. I don’t let people upset or intimidate me anymore. I now know who I am and what I can do. When someone now vilifies me, I take it as a compliment.
I am happy to share my experiences and difficult lessons to help others. Anyone can contact me through my Web pages at www.herobooks.com.
Host
: Well, you certainly had an interesting life. But we’re now out of time. Herman, I thank you very much for sharing your amazing story with our listeners.
Our guest today has been Herman Neuman. He is the author of his memoir, “Heroes from the Attic: A Gripping True Story of Triumph.” And what a story he has. Amazing. Our listeners can learn more about him at www.herobooks.com. “Heroes from the Attic: A Gripping True Story of Triumph” can be ordered online and through any bookstore.
Herman: Thank you. It was my pleasure to be here.
