Bis das Auge bricht: Als MG-Schütze im Feuersturm der Ostfront 1943-45 - Buch

The grandfather tells the grandson of the war - as he has experienced it - straightforward and transfigured pathos.

What the reader expects:

"My baptism of fire was the most dramatic event of my life, nothing was the same as before, my youthful carefreeness had vanished in the face of immediate dread and orchestrated mass extinction."

"He then lived all day and finally died the following night, during which time he called for help, and just before he died, he thought he saw his mother and calmed down a bit, putting my hand on his shoulder once more not to let him die alone, with his eyes wide open and both hands pressed to the bowels, he finally left our world. "

"Deeply shocked and heartbroken with grief, we kept on fighting, I had enough of everything, enough of killing, enough of dying, in the eyes of the Alsatian I saw the question that I was also asking myself, when would this terrible war take place When the war drums are silent and the armories go out, when would we finally be able to turn to life instead of crawling, slaying and destroying? "

Synopsis

The mistakes of the rulers are always paid for by ordinary people with blood. That was already at all times. The same thing happened to a Styrian mountain farmer's son who, thrown into the prime of his youth, was thrown into the meat grinder of the eastern front. This in a phase where the war for the Third Reich was almost lost.

In old age, the mountain farmer's son remembers those dark hours that have haunted him throughout his life. Whether on the machine gun in merciless struggle against an overpowering enemy or man against man, in a survival fight reduced to the lowest instincts of human existence. He also remembers the rock-solid camaraderie in his mountain-hunter group, gestures of humanity, and insane destructiveness at a time when the world was falling apart.

The ruthless, honest and touching factual account of a simple front-line soldier should be considered a reminder to stand for peace at all times and to despise the war. As long as the eye breaks ...

About the author

Andreas Hartinger dealt with contemporary history at a very young age and during his professional assignments in the various crisis areas of the world made his own experiences with the war as an unfortunate hostage of humanity. The present war memories were written by the author together with his grandfather Hans Kahr in painstaking detail work and countless disturbing discussions. What began as a family project is now available to a broad readership.

Paperback: 187 pages
Language: German
Size and / or weight: 15.2 x 1.2 x 22.9 cm