Book No. 2 completed Jan. 18, 2024: In Hitler’s Bunker, by Armin Lehmann
People who know me well won’t be surprised at this selection. I love WWII in Europe stuff and am fascinated with the fanaticism around Hitler and Nazi ideals. This book is stamped from a library in Tasmania; I purchased it at a book sale when we were in Australia in November 2022.
The author was an avid Nazi supporter who served as a courier in Berlin in the last months and days of the Hitler regime. He served in HItler’s bunker so witnessed the demise of the man and Nazism. Only age 17 at the war’s end, Lehmann earned various medals for bravery and service.
Some 30,000 German teenagers died in Hitler’s defence in the Russian onslaught of Berlin, but Lehmann managed to survive despite being severely injured on multiple occasions. Lehmann was one of the teens who were invited to greet Hitler on his birthday April 20, 1945, 10 days before Hitler’s death and some three weeks before the war ended. You may have seen photos of Lehmann greeting Hitler.
This book tells the story of Lehmann’s youth with a brutal SS father who even to his death supported Nazi ideals. It relates Lehmann’s odyssey through the ranks of the Hitler Youth, his gradual realization of the full horror of what he had been part of, and recounts his quest for the truth. It’s a story of how he, instead of running from his past, eventually found peace by confronting it. He eventually became an American citizen.
Not to get too political, but i see parallels between Germany in the 1930s and ‘40s and the U.S. today. I loved this book and give it 9/10.
Book 3: stay tuned as I progress on my quest to read 10 books this year. (My wife has completed five books so far this year. I mention that because someone was suitably impressed.)
|