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