historical

Colonel Samuel,USAF ret., was born in Nazi Germany to a woman raised in a small town to the north of Berlin and to an officer in the Luftwaffe. German Boy: A Child in War is an account of his life from the age of 10, when he, his mother, and sister became refugees fleeing the advance of Soviet forces in January 1945, to the age of 15, when he emigrated to the United States with his mother and step-father. In between, he lived in both the Soviet and British zones of occupation. This book sets forth Colonel Samuel's vivid, honest, and unsentimental recollection of the devastation, privation, degradation, brutality, and starvation that he and his family witnessed and experienced during those years. It is well written and it takes hold of the reader from the first paragaph and stays with one long after the last sentence has been read.

"German Boy" is an important work. As a history, it relates something about a period of history that is not commonly known -- the horrors of World War II in Europe continued long after the fighting ended in May of 1945. As a personal account, it offers hope. Wolfgang Samuel, like millions of children before, during, and since World War II, directly experienced events through which no child should ever have to suffer. His story highlights the resilience of the individual and illustrates that with the will, the perseverance, optimism, and some luck, one can survive disaster and live a better life. This volume would make excellent supplemenary reading for high school and college history courses.

Those who find "German Boy" to be of interest may also consider reading another excellent book, which is titled, "A Woman in Berlin." The author is anonymous. As the title suggests, the book is a published journal written by a young woman while she was living in Berlin during the weeks before the fall of the city to the Soviets and through the first weeks of the Soviet occupation. It was published during the 1950s and is now out of print. However, it is not too difficult to find and it is well worth the effort.

This is an outstanding autobiography of horrific events as experienced by a boy. Au contraire to post World War II commentators and The History Channel, not every German citizen was a member of the Nazi party, especially a young boy, and suffered accordingly as the regime crumbled. Mr. Samuel's account of his experiences surviving the final days of the Third Reich are spellbounding. This book is not just an autobiography, but a tribute to his mother. He chronicles with great detail the horrors of a dying Third Reich (and the efforts of relative strangers to save him and his family) and his mother's efforts to save them from the advancing hordes of Russian soldiers. Mr. Samuel, his sister and mother survived the collapse of the Third Reich only to endure the horrors of the Soviets/East Germany, until their escape. Truly makes one appreciate the very thin line that separated the horrors of the Nazi and Soviet Communist regimes. And it caused this reader to ponder her own chances of survival if in similar circumstances. This book is a tribute to all those innocent victims of authoritarian/totalitarian regimes who somehow survived and succeeded against all odds. A truly inspiring work.

"German Boy: A Child In War" by Wolfgang W. E. Samuel
Wolfgang turned ten years old in February 1945, just as Soviet tanks were marching towards the town of Sagan in East Germany. (Sagan is now Zagan in Poland). The author has written an excellent book about being a boy in that time. This book is NOT about Germany's losing Pomerania, Silesia East Prussia, etc. Col. Samuel has been able to capture the memory of his feelings as a small boy as his world collapses around him. Besides the usual trials and tribulations of a boy growing up, Wolfgang had to deal with being afraid and distrustful of adults, of being the refugee outsider in close-knit German villages and being "from the big city" in these small villages. All of these things most boys do not want to be. Somehow, Col. Samuel has been able to capture the boyish feelings he had years ago and write them down in this very personal memoir.

The adult Samuel was able to capture the childhood way of thinking. For example, on page 70, he writes, " I became uneasy at seeing the barrier. If they had build tank barriers, they must be expecting Russian tanks. My sense of security diminished... ." In other sections, he records his childhood reproaches of mostly his mother, and somewhat, of his father. It is as if his parents were somehow to blame for much of the difficulties he experienced. He does not, however, record any feeling of reproach for himself, as when, e.g. foolishly, he walks through a raging blizzard to go to school, even though his mother had warned him not to do so. His distrust of adults is further justified when the baker, to whom he is apprenticed, switches Wolfgang form the union-inspected room to housing in a bombed -out ruin, after the union inspector has left the premises. On the other hand, he has only good things to say about both sets of grandparents.

Colonel Samuel's childhood experiences would make most of us very cynical; he has survived them to have a productive thirty year career in the United States Air force.