I loved this book. Thank you for writing it! My father's family were also Flüchtlinge at the end of WWII, fleeing from Poland. We heard stories about it but this book has brought to mind more questions to ask my father's remaining siblings. The hardships this generation has endured is outstanding! ( )

Excellent biography of a boy who experienced a lot of trauma in his young years in Germany during World War II and after, when he escaped with his family from the Russian sector. I recommend this one for sure. ( )

This book was one of the best books I've read in a while. Having a personal connection to war-torn Germany during WWII, my expectations were high. This book delivered. I was immersed into the life of Wolfgang Samuel as a small child dealing with bomb shelters and air raids during the war. The atrocities this little boy endured while escaping from the German and Russian Army will make you cry. No food, no clothing, no where to live, this little boy was constantly searching for the necessities that we all take for granted. Shoes made of plastic, no coat and walking miles and miles in the snow was not the worst of it. He didn't understand why his grandfather was taken away and never returned. He didn't understand why the planes would drop bombs and destroy their house leaving them with no where to live. He simply knew he had to take care of himself, at the tender age of 9 years old, and take care of his mother and sister as well. A true story of a hard life of a young boy trying to survive in Germany and ultimately finding his way to America, just like many other families at the time, including my husband's family. A wonderful book and a must read! ( )

An incredible and often forgotten and ignored story of human suffering, sacrifice, kindness and survival from the perspective of the losing side of war. A sobering and candid account of the ravages and results of war on the innocent. So many passages and excerpts in the book touched me deeply, especially "Personal humiliation had become our daily norm, and most of us didn't even recognize it for what is was anymore."

The author has given us an incredible personal tale of tragedy and triumph. I highly recommend this book and enjoyed it thoroughly. ( )

This is an eloquently told, often nearly heartbreaking story of what a young German boy endured as a refugee in the closing days and the years following WWII. Wolfgang Samuel tells his story with grace and heart. He dedicates the book to his mother, a major character in his story who, to keep her family alive, sacrificed nearly everything, even to the point of prostituting herself so her children could eat. As Samuel put it -

"People were hungry and would do whatever was necessary to put food on the table for their children ... We were the people who had nothing and lived from hand to mouth. We were the human debris of that evil war. We had no reserves of food, clothing or anything else that sustained life. We were desperate people, easy to exploit."

In a passage startlingly reminiscent of Gone with the Wind, the classic novel of the US Civil War and its aftermath, Samuel tells of how for many years immediately after the war, his mother had no new clothes. "The nicest looking dress she had owned ... she had made herself from curtains which hung in our barracks apartment ..."

And this is not just a book about being refugees and the awful conditions after the war; it's also a universal coming-of-age story, about a boy grappling with the physical changes of puberty and having no one to talk with about what's happening to him. It's about a boy left to take care of himself at the tender age of 14. It's also an homage to his grandparents, who helped sustain him through these worst of times. In other words, there's an awful lot of stuff in here that so many people will relate to, regardless of their own backgrounds.

I know I'm several years late in discovering this book, but I plan to recommend it highly to everyone, particularly history buffs and humanists interested what the human spirit can endure and still rebound. Because after his eventual emigration to the U.S. in 1950 at age 15 (where German Boy ends), Samuel went on to complete college and made a distinguished career for himself in the US Air Force for 30 years. The next book to go into my Amazon cart will be the sequel to this memoir, called Coming to Colorado. This guy can write! And I want to know the rest of his story. But start here, folks. READ THIS BOOK! - Tim Bazzett, author of Soldier Boy ( )