German boy : a child in war / Wolfgang W.E. Samuel ; with a foreword by Stephen E. Ambrose

Object Details

Author

Samuel, Wolfgang W. E

Samuel, Wolfgang W. E Coming to Colorado

Subject

Samuel, Wolfgang W. E Childhood and youth

Originally published: Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, c2000.

Continued by: Coming to Colorado.

Contents

Illustrations -- Foreword -- Preface and acknowledgments -- 1. January 1945 -- 2. Flight from Sagan -- 3. The train -- 4. 161 Schönhauser Allee, Berlin -- 5. A town called Strasburg -- 6. A brave German soldier -- 7. The face of death -- 8. Surrender -- 9. The Americans -- 10. The Russians -- 11. Messenger of death -- 12. The list -- 13. A winter nightmare -- 14. Summer 1946 -- 15. Escape to the West -- 16. The Trauen Barracks -- 17. Refugee life -- 18. Winter of despair -- 19. Return of the Americans -- 20. Sergeant Leo Ferguson -- 21. Baker's apprentice -- 22. Looking West -- Epilogue

Summary

'As the Third Reich crumbled in 1945, scores of Germans scrambled to flee the advancing Russian troops. Among them was a little boy named Wolfgang Samuel, who left his home with his mother and sister and ended up in war-torn Strasbourg before being forced farther west into a disease-ridden refugee camp. German Boy is the vivid, true story of their fight for survival as the tables of power turned and, for reasons Wolfgang was too young to understand, his broken family suffered arbitrary arrest, rape, hunger, and constant fear. Because his father was off fighting the war as a Luftwaffe officer, young Wolfgang was forced to become the head of his household, scavenging for provisions and scraps with which to feed his family. Despite his best efforts, his mother still found herself forced to do the unthinkable to survive, and her sacrifices became Wolfgang?s worst nightmares. Somehow, with the resilience only children can muster, he maintained his youth and innocence in little ways?making friends with other young refugees, playing games with shrapnel, delighting in the planes flown by the Americans and the candies the GIs brought. In the end, the Samuels begin life anew in America, and Wolfgang eventually goes on to a thirty-year career in the U.S. Air Force. Bringing fresh insight to the dark history of Nazi Germany and the horror left in its wake, German Boy records the valuable recollections of an innocent?s incredible journey. ' from publisher's description.

2001

2000

1945-1955

Type

Personal narratives, German

Biography

Physical description

xxi, 424 p. : ill., maps ; 21 cm

Place

Germany

Smithsonian Libraries

Topic

World War, 1939-1945

World War, 1939-1945--Children

World War, 1939-1945--Refugees

History

Record ID

siris_sil_1014905

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0