ABOUT THIS BOOK

Jurgen Herbst’s account of growing up in Nazi Germany from 1928 to 1948 is a boy’s experience of anti-Semitism and militarism from the inside. Herbst was a middle-class boy in a Lutheran family that saw value in Prussian military ideals and a mythic German past. His memoir is a compelling, understated tale of moral awakening.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Jurgen Herbst is emeritus professor of history and education policy studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He is the author of several books including And Sadly Teach, published by the University of Wisconsin Press.

REVIEWS

"Herbst illustrates how easy it was for a German boy without strong conviction or religious hatred to climb into a position of leadership in the Nazi Jungvolk . . . indeed, how difficult it would have been for him not to end up in such a place. . . . A unique perspective on everyday life in extreme circumstances."—Wayne Hoffman, Washington Post

"Herbst writes movingly of how his respect for the traditions of the Prussian army and the Lutheran church first fueled his patriotism. . . . The volume’s lingering effect is to illustrate and personalize how easily German idealism was harnessed by Nazism."—Publishers Weekly

"A memoir of how a normal young man fared in a land that had, temporarily, gone mad. As such, it offers an unusual glimpse into a world most of us never experienced."—William R. Wineke, Wisconsin State Journal

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

Illustrations

Preface

1.
In My Father's House

2.
Discovering Social Class

3.
Wolfenbüttel's Groβe Schule

4.
Kristallnacht

5.
Boy Soldier

6.
Assignment East

7.
St. Mary's Tower

8.
The War at Home

9.
Etzel's Tale

10.
Death Enters

11.
The Choice

12.
Baptism by Fire

13.
In Battle

14.
Farewell to Arms

15.
Home

16.
The Search

17.
Requiem

Appendix:
Commencement Address, June 15,1996

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