Boy Soldier: A German Teenager at the Nazi Twilight

by Gerhardt B. Thamm

Overview

"As a 15-year-old boy I fought briefly in a war. My fight was neither noble nor heroic. I saw the horrors that no 15-year-old boy should ever see. I came into war purely by happenstance, and survived it purely by luck."

Gerhardt B. Thamm grew up on his grandfather's farm in Lower Silesia, the hinterlands of Germany. In early 1945 this land, near the Czechoslovakian and Polish borders, became a battleground. The Soviets captured Lower Silesia in February, and Thamm, like many of his Hitler Youth high school classmates, was conscripted to fight on the Eastern Front until the last few days of World War II, experiencing firsthand fearsome barbarity and atrocity. Thamm's family was deported from Silesia in 1946 to West Germany. Gerhardt Thamm arrived in the United States in 1948. The 17-year-old Thamm joined the U.S. Army the same year and served more than 20 years as an enlisted man.

"Maybe, just maybe, I fought in this war to escape the barbarity. Maybe I wrote this book to still the memories."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476602325
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	09/02/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	188
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Gerhardt B. Thamm retired in 1987 after serving more than 38 years in intelligence and security-related operations. He has written for the Armed Forces Journal International, Periscope, Golden Sphinx, The Voice of Intelligence and Naval Proceedings. In 1994 the CIA specially honored Gerhardt for a report which was recently declassified and published in Naval Intelligence Professional Quarterly. He now lives in Fernandina Beach, Florida.
Gerhardt B. Thamm retired in 1987 after serving more than 38 years in intelligence and security-related operations. He has written for the Armed Forces Journal International, Periscope, Golden Sphinx, The Voice of Intelligence and Naval Proceedings. In 1994 the CIA specially honored Gerhardt for a report which was recently declassified and published in Naval Intelligence Professional Quarterly. He now lives in Fernandina Beach, Florida.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Preface     
Prologue     

PART ONE : THEWAY IT HAD BEEN     

PART TWO : ON THE HOME FRONT     
1. 1939     
2. 1940     
3. 1941     
4. 1942     
5. 1943     
6. 1944     
7. 1945     

PART THREE : GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG (APOCALYPSE)     
8. The Omen     
9. Distant Thunder     
10. Flight     
11. Retreat into the Sudeten Mountains     

PART FOUR : BOY SOLDIERS     
12. Oh, to Be a Soldier     
13. Sergeant “One-Eye”     
14. Frontline Duty     
15. The “Forgotten Front”     
16. The Russian Boy     
17. “Routine” Patrol     
18. Ah, Natascha     
19. To the Bitter End     

Postscript: Strangers in Their Own Land     
Notes     
Index     

Editorial Reviews

Thamm was 15 in 1945 when he was conscripted into the German Army to counter the Russian capture of Lower Silesia, where he lived on his grandfather's farm. His family was deported to West Germany in 1946, and two years later he arrived in the US, joined the army, and served over 20 years. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

[an] amazing memoir...offers a youthful perspective on the politics and propaganda of Nazi Germany”—C&RL News; “useful...puts a human face on the suffering brought by war”—The Book Report; “entertaining WWII memoir”—Stone & Stone Second World War Books; “gives a unique perspective of World War II”—The CNL Book Digest;“I took my time getting through Gerhardt Thamm’s “Boy Soldier, A German Teenager at the Nazi Twilight”, because I enjoy the way he uses words and very much enjoyed his descriptions of life in his home town before the war...intriguing”—Colonel Richard Latham, USAF Ret.; “A compelling personal account that is a valuable addition.”—William B. Webb, Brig. Gen, USAF Ret.

From the Publisher

entertaining WWII memoir

Stone & Stone Second World War Books

useful...puts a human face on the suffering brought by war

The Book Report

[an] amazing memoir...offers a youthful perspective on the politics and propaganda of Nazi Germany

C&RL News