http://www.agermanlife.com/
“A German Life by Bernd Wollschlaeger, M.D.
When my children started asking questions about my parents, I decided to break the wall of silence and tell them the truth about me. I needed to express what compelled me to dramatically change my life. I finally had to explore the relationship with my father and how it was overshadowed by the Holocaust. Our unresolved conflict and his denial motivated me to search for answers, and I found them within me and my acquired faith: Against all odds, change is possible... This is my story.”
This past July a friend of mine showed me a newspaper article about the son of a “Nazi” war hero who was writing a book about his experiences with his father and his own conversion to Judaism. The story was of special interest to me because the war hero involved was Artur Wollschlaeger, an RK winner from Panzer-Regiment 35 and comrade, known as “Wolli,” of Meinrad von Lauchert, another PR 35 RK winner whose biography I am writing.
My first reaction, as most people’s probably is, was one of skepticism about the son’s conversion to Judaism and how it seemed like an overreaction to his father’s Nazi past. I looked up the author’s website and read through the material there. My skepticism was further reinforced by the technical mistakes I saw in Bernd Wollschlaeger’s description of his father’s wartime service. However, I contacted him anyway in case he was interested in trading info about his father and Meinrad von Lauchert. (Because most of Lauchert’s comrades have passed away, I have more recently been finishing my research through contacts with the next generation.)
Bernd graciously received my emails and comments about the technical errors, but his book was in the late stages of the publication process. He sent me one of the first copies of the book earlier this month and it was waiting for me when I arrived back from my latest trip to Germany. The best compliment I can give the book is that I received it on a Friday evening and finished it by midday the next day!
I can’t say it was the book I expected it to be, it was much better than that. Although a small number of errors remain about his father’s war record, the book isn’t a biography of his father and so those particular details don’t matter a bit to the story. Of course, it is Bernd’s story, but as I see it, it also is the story of how the war continues to have repercussions for the vets and their families in Germany.
I think most people who participate in WW2 forums like this one are interested in the people behind the uniforms. And although we spend a lot of time studying what they experienced during the war, I think there should be attention paid to the “danach” or what happened after the guns fell silent. There was the Existenzkampf, then the Wirtschaftswunder, and finally, when their children became grown, there was the confrontation with the past – a process which continues even today with examples like the revelation that Guenter Grass, an outspoken “champion of peace”, had been a Waffen-SS soldier.
One particular discussion in Bernd Wollschlaeger’s book that I found interesting was the issue of the postwar German Left’s support for the Palestinians against the Israelis, even to the point of staying silent, if not condoning, terrorist attacks. But don’t think that Bernd’s book is a polemic in support of one side or another in the postwar German political scene. He shows understanding for all points of view, even for his father’s with whom he made the strongest break a son can make.
The book is 218 pages long - tightly-written and fast-moving so that he covers a lot of thought-provoking ground without getting mired down.
In short, I highly recommend this book and believe that you will be hearing more about it in months to come.
Frederick Clemens
“A German Life by Bernd Wollschlaeger, M.D.
When my children started asking questions about my parents, I decided to break the wall of silence and tell them the truth about me. I needed to express what compelled me to dramatically change my life. I finally had to explore the relationship with my father and how it was overshadowed by the Holocaust. Our unresolved conflict and his denial motivated me to search for answers, and I found them within me and my acquired faith: Against all odds, change is possible... This is my story.”
This past July a friend of mine showed me a newspaper article about the son of a “Nazi” war hero who was writing a book about his experiences with his father and his own conversion to Judaism. The story was of special interest to me because the war hero involved was Artur Wollschlaeger, an RK winner from Panzer-Regiment 35 and comrade, known as “Wolli,” of Meinrad von Lauchert, another PR 35 RK winner whose biography I am writing.
My first reaction, as most people’s probably is, was one of skepticism about the son’s conversion to Judaism and how it seemed like an overreaction to his father’s Nazi past. I looked up the author’s website and read through the material there. My skepticism was further reinforced by the technical mistakes I saw in Bernd Wollschlaeger’s description of his father’s wartime service. However, I contacted him anyway in case he was interested in trading info about his father and Meinrad von Lauchert. (Because most of Lauchert’s comrades have passed away, I have more recently been finishing my research through contacts with the next generation.)
Bernd graciously received my emails and comments about the technical errors, but his book was in the late stages of the publication process. He sent me one of the first copies of the book earlier this month and it was waiting for me when I arrived back from my latest trip to Germany. The best compliment I can give the book is that I received it on a Friday evening and finished it by midday the next day!
I can’t say it was the book I expected it to be, it was much better than that. Although a small number of errors remain about his father’s war record, the book isn’t a biography of his father and so those particular details don’t matter a bit to the story. Of course, it is Bernd’s story, but as I see it, it also is the story of how the war continues to have repercussions for the vets and their families in Germany.
I think most people who participate in WW2 forums like this one are interested in the people behind the uniforms. And although we spend a lot of time studying what they experienced during the war, I think there should be attention paid to the “danach” or what happened after the guns fell silent. There was the Existenzkampf, then the Wirtschaftswunder, and finally, when their children became grown, there was the confrontation with the past – a process which continues even today with examples like the revelation that Guenter Grass, an outspoken “champion of peace”, had been a Waffen-SS soldier.
One particular discussion in Bernd Wollschlaeger’s book that I found interesting was the issue of the postwar German Left’s support for the Palestinians against the Israelis, even to the point of staying silent, if not condoning, terrorist attacks. But don’t think that Bernd’s book is a polemic in support of one side or another in the postwar German political scene. He shows understanding for all points of view, even for his father’s with whom he made the strongest break a son can make.
The book is 218 pages long - tightly-written and fast-moving so that he covers a lot of thought-provoking ground without getting mired down.
In short, I highly recommend this book and believe that you will be hearing more about it in months to come.
Frederick Clemens
Dante had a special place for such sons.
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