Your questions, Bill, are very much appreciated and I welcome this opportunity to shed some further light on the subjects you raised.
The answer to your first question is simple: NO, I have not spoken to any youth groups and you have certainly a point by suggesting to advise against blind faith.
It would be a very simple message: “Spend some time studying history. It is full of examples what happens when “blind faith turns into fanatical support”.
Your second question regarding: Did I speak out against bad happenings. Well, you identified yourself as a Jewish person and I guess that you are referring to the things which were happening during these times to people of the Jewish faith. Bill, during the 1940ties I lost most of my classmates and I am sure that there were many Jewish children among them. But, as I mentioned in the book and also here on my website: We lost classmates every week, besides parents and relatives. It was total war and people disappeared constantly.
None of us, 10 to 14 year old, noticed a difference due to individual faiths.
When I returned from Poland I spoke out against the absolute incompetency of the German school authorities. But, unless you had a dead wish you never spoke out against the SS.
Besides, Bill, please tell me : To whom could you speak out to? Your parents were gone and so were your relatives or teachers. As I reported in my book, many times I had to stop myself questioning my commanding officers.
Bill, please listen to me, we had commanding officers, when we were 14 years old ! Not school crossing guards like in the USA.
These were different times, and I guess no matter how I try to describe them ….I will miss something along the way. And the overall essence of it all…..well, you had to be there.
Book release in Germany? According to Google they sold 10 books in Germany.
Friends or relatives of the characters in Germany: No, nobody is alive or cares anymore.
My last friend, in Germany, Harold died a few years ago. He was close to 80 years old.
As far as the second and third book releases: I hope that the second book will be published by the end of August and the third before the end of the year.
And, finally, Bill, I like to thank you for your kind remarks in regard to my “moral compass”; and while I take it as a compliment I feel that the main reason for my survival was due to the fact that I knew when to keep my mouth shut.
Take good care, Bill, and if you have any other questions, please feel free to ask.
Horst
Loved your book. Loved your story. Can’t wait to read the next one. Such a different perspective from the history we learned. You are an amazing man and I wish you the best.
I really enjoyed Loyal to a Degree very much and look forward to reading the succeeding books. Its very intrestjng to read a German side of what you went thru to survive especially at a young age. My worry for the future is that history will repeat itself with another man like Hitler or worse because people never seem to learn from past history and repeat it. I know what some did to the Jews was very horrible but I do not blame all of Germany for that. Young children were literally taken from their parents and brainwashed in Hitler’s policies and hatred for Jews. Even today that is still happening as Palestinians brainwashing their children in that same hatred. And now here in America there is the beginning of hatred and persecution of Christians that I see as only getting worse. I loved your book. Cant wait for next one. GOD HOLDS A SPECIAL PLACE FOR YOU FOR YOUR SELFLESS GIVING AND SAVING THOSE UNFOTUNATE AND STARVING YOU WERE ABLE TO HELP FEED..
Thank you, Penny, for reading my book and for your compliment and your kind wishes.
I wrote, today, September 5th, a new post on this website which addresses the subject of “different perspective”.
Should you have any specific questions regarding this subject and the time frame of 1945, please feel free to ask.
It mighty take me a day, or a week, but I will answer.
Thanks, again, Penny,
Horst
As I visit Berlin this summer, you will be in my thoughts. I’m so glad that you chose to tell your story and that I have been able to read it. I look forward to the fourth book!
Hello Mary,
Thank you very much for your kind comment.
Berlin changed a lot during the past 60 years, as all cities do.
However, if you have the time to visit the locations I described in my books, you will be able to find them all.
The different intersections still exist but the ventilation system of the subway is modernized and most of the old air shafts are gone.
All the high rise bunkers have been leveled after the war.
If you have the chance to visit the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedaechtniskirche, located on the Kurfuerstendamm, you will find something like a picture
gallery, with photographs of Berlin during and after the air raids.
In any event I am sure that you will enjoy the city.
Thanks again and take good care.
Horst