| Jungvolk: The Story of a Boy Defending Hitler's Third Reich Contributor(s): Gehlen, Wilhelm R. (Author), Gregory, Don A. (Author) |
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ISBN: 1932033874 ISBN-13: 9781932033878 Publisher: Casemate OUR PRICE: $36.00 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: June 2008 Annotation: "Jungvolk" is the wartime memoir of a boy named Will, who happened to be the nephew of the head of Nazi Germany's intelligence agency. Gehlen provides an intimate glimpse of life inside Hitler's wartime Reich that is both fascinating and rare. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Biography & Autobiography | Military - History | Military - World War Ii - History | Europe - Germany |
| Dewey: B |
| Physical Information: 1.08" H x 6.52" W x 9.11" (1.55 lbs) 320 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 1940's - Cultural Region - Germany |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: This is the wartime memoir of a boy named Will, who happened to be the nephew of the head of Nazi Germany's intelligence agency, Foreign Armies East. After reading this book, the reader will wonder who had the most exciting time during World War II. Will Gehlen's father, a trolley driver, was drafted into the Wehrmacht to man a Sturmgeschutz assault gun in Russia. His older brother, Len, was enlisted in the Hitlerjugend. The author, only 10 years old when the war began, became a helper at the local Luftwaffe flak battery, fetching ammunition. It was exciting work for Will (a member of the "Jungvolk") and by the end of the war he had become expert at judging attacks. As fighter raids increased in frequency he noted that the pilots became less skilled. Aside from aircraft kills, Gehlen had other adventures during the war, as when his mother dragged him to visit his aunt in Luxembourg in 1944. Crossing the lines they found no aunt but met American troops, and were surprised when the German Army launched an offensive, overrunning the village and forcing US soldiers to retreat with casualties. Making their way back to Germany was even more perilous, until they discovered the most secure vehicles were mail trucks. No one, not even the SS, tried to interfere with their progress. Gehlen's town was repeatedly bombed and he often had to help with the wreckage or to pull survivors from basements. He witnessed more death than a child ever should; nevertheless, his flak battery continued firing until US tanks were almost on top of the position. In this book Gehlen, provides an intimate glimpse of the chaos, horror and black humor of life just behind the front lines. As seen through the eyes of a child, who was expert in aircraft identification and bomb weights, food-rationing and tank types, one encounters a view of life inside Hitler's wartime Reich that is both fascinating and rare. |
Contributor Bio(s): Gehlen, Wilhelm R.: - Wilhelm Reinhard Gehlen was born in Germany's Rhineland in 1933, the year Adolf Hitler became German Chancellor, where he joined the Hitler Youth and attended one of Adolf Hitler's Volk Schools. Will has since served in Indochina (Annam-Tonkin) and North Africa with the Foreign Legion and worked for the International War Grave Commission of NATO.Gregory, Don A.: - Don Allen Gregory has been Professor of Physics at the University of Alabama in Huntsville since 1993. Before teaching, Don was supervisory research physicist for the US Army Missile Command, and a Materials Scientist for NASA/ Marshall Space Flight Centre. He is the author of more than 130 technical publications as well as having written articles for World War II History, Military History, and World War II Magazine. |
