Your friend seems blessed to have you share some of his story.
One of the great stories he told me was him and 3 friends writing the own discharge papers and attempting to flee the Russians when it was all over, the Gestapo had shoot on sight orders for anyone deserting, Hans could speak english which allowed him and his friends to enter the British Sector at the end of WW II, which saved his life an allowed him to live a full and complete life, just an incredible story..
Its a blessing your friend survived the Russian Front, winters there, avoided capture - and made it to the West / United States where he was a productive and model citizen who raised good children to carry on his name.
An interesting life, full of meaning!
You had a fascinating experience. I once spent an entire wedding reception sitting next to Two German couples, with both men having fought the Soviets at Stalingrad. The odds of both surviving were about 20%. The history they shared from their days in Hitler youth to their trek home after being beaten on the Eastern Front was amazing. It was an amazing couple of hours for me.
My condolences. I’m sure he was a great friend.
I took judo lessons when I was a kid at the Salt Lake Judo club. Lots of Japanese black belts, one of whom was a former imperial pilot. I asked him how he felt when the war ended and he said pretty good. He explained that he was in training as a kamikaze pilot, an assignment he had not volunteered for. It was a real revelation for a 13 year old kid, and I realized that they were just people too. Then came the RVN war where I unlearned my newfound humanity. Life is complicated.
Anyone interested in reading a very good book on the campaign in Russia (written by a French national serving in the Wehrmacht) should pick up “The Forgotten Soldier” by Guy Sajer.
RIP.
I’ve sat and played cards as a youth with a couple who were in Concentration Camps and survived.
They would share stories of the camps, life before and after the war.
My next door neighbors they were, had a grandson, my friend.
We played often and the stories will be with me forever.
Talk to the folk and ask them questions it will only enrich YOU.
A model of the kind of immigrant we want. RIP.
Read his Obituary. I bet he was an interesting guy. Condolences and thanks for bringing his life to my attention!
Sorry to hear of the loss of your friend. Would very much like to hear some of his wartime stories. He was a lucky man to have survived on the Eastern Front, and fortunate to have ended his days in America. Requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine.
Lucky him, he escaped the Nazi hunters.......
Yes,I can accept that some...perhaps even more than a few...Germans who served in the military did so against their will. If you were a young private,or a young lieutenant,and refused to follow an order to shoot an innocent person *you* were shot...on the spot.