Contacting Vets for Book Research

[JHaines]

I am greatly interested in putting together a book of short impressions and viewpoints from WWII German Vets. This is not a for-profit project, but rather a way to archive stories for future generations.

I've done some dead-end research on the internet, and thought I would post here to ask if anyone has any suggestions for getting in contact with German vets in asking for their stories in an unobtrusive manner.

Any advice is welcome. Thanks.

[HaEn]

Hi, Haines. You'll have a heck of a time getting infor from vets living in the U.S.; many of them have been burned by divulging their past. And. . .as I posted before several times, the people who are "searching" for still living war criminals are now scraping the bottom of the barrel. They need to keep searching though because their funding ( and therefor their well paying job) depends on it. So once in a while even a guy who was just 17 when it all was over, now gets accused of something he had no part of. From the few Nederlands comrades still alive over there, I get similar reports. Many of them by now have become afraid of their own shadow. Sorry , can't be pf more help. My book is written under a pseudonim, so look for it shortly. It's called "Chameleon" . HN.

[JHaines]

Thanks for the information, although it is a bit disconcerting.
It saddens me that the average army soldier (who might have only been 16 - 17 years old at the time), would be sought for war crimes almost 60 years after fighting for their country.
I understand going after those directly related to the atrocities and crimes that were a part of the Nazi regime, but the average soldier is who I am interested in hearing from....and the average soldier did what he thought was his duty. It is truly tragic that they would not be able to tell their story out of fear of reprisals from those seeking 'war criminals'.

Any suggestions or advice in regards to this ?

[BrianC]

There does seem to be some Paranoia associated with having served under Nazi rule as i have found out with my own researches, showing an interest in my own family wartime service has caused some unexpected reactions from my family, i honestly didnt see what the problem was but then i didnt go through WW2 so i guess i have no right to ask questions but i was surprised, my advice would be to ask questions of those who volunteer information and don`t bother those who don`t want to relive the memories.

[phil1942]

I have contact with a fallschirmjager veteran and I am fairly certain he would like to help you with his account.
Email me:
[email protected]
He has also written a book completly detailing his own military service.

Best regards

[JHaines]

Thanks for the offer.
I would probably want to buy and read his book before asking questions. Better to avoid asking something he has already recounted in detail.

[Annelie]

Hello,

There are quite a few books out there written by the veterans themselves.
A few of my favorites are:

From Bar to Bear by Hans Thielemann

Paid in Full by Edwin K. Mahlo

German Boy by Stephen E. Ambrose

My War Diary by Otto W. Renger

All worth reading and looking forward to HaEn's book!

Annelie

[Rohrbach]

Hi Annelie,

From Bar to Bear rings a bell, but I can't figure out why. Could you please tell me a little more about it? I couldn't find anything on the net.

BTW, German Boy was written by Col (USAF ret.) Wolfgang Samuel. Ambrose wrote the forward.

Rohrbach

[Annelie]

Hello Rohrbach,

The original book I believe was called "Luck Alone Is Not Enough"
and later changed the title to From Bar to Bear. by Hans B. Thielemann.
Being as this book was a gift it has great meaning to me.

I remember Mr. Thielemann used to be an member at this very forum
about six years ago.
He details in his book his time in the Rad and then joined the Luftwaffe as a communication specialist. Served at the eastern front around St. Petersburg and in the Baltic States. He was in the Fortress Courland, Latvia with the only undefeated German Army Group.

You said "BTW, German Boy was written by Col (USAF ret.) Wolfgang Samuel. Ambrose wrote the forward.".......yes, well I know. He was kind enough
to write me a letter of thankyou for buying his book.
The book is an very good read. I couldn't put it down until it was finnished.

Annelie

[Rohrbach]

Thank you Annelie for the info. It's not the bell that was ringing, but Thielemann's book sounds interesting. I am sorry I missed his time on this site.

Samuel's book is great. Hard to put down. One of the best memoirs in the genre. The only question I have is what ever happened to his sister Ingrid. I remember reading that she went to live with Samuel's biological father and then I don't recall hearing anymore about her. Did I miss something or is it really not in the book?

Have you read his latest, a collection of stories of other people who survived their childhood in war torn Germany?

Looking forward to HaEn's book, too.

Rohrbach

[Annelie]

Hello Rohrbach,

Yes, "The War Of Our Childhood" Memories of World War 11.

He writes, "My focus," "is on the astounding ability of a generation of German children to emerge from debilitating circumstances as sane and productive
human beings."........summaries how I felt after reading these
accounts.

Annelie

[sid guttridge]

Hi Annelie,

What is that about Army Group Courland being "undefeated"? Surely it was only the very definitely defeated and long isolated Army Group North under another name? A mere change of name doesn't expunge previous defeats.

Cheers,

Sid.

[Pirx]

I can send a few real stories from first hand : Peter Paul Mattner from
8 Jäger-Division served from late 1941 to 1945. If You're intrested contact to me [email protected]

[Rudi S.]

Hello JHaines,
There are stories of 7 veterans on this web-site:
feldgrau.com/interview*.html
Replace the "*" with a number from 1 through 7. Mine happens to be interview6.
Best regards,
Rudi S.