Fuhrer, Folk and Fatherland

This is a true story: a rare, first-hand account of one soldier’s experiences during the Third Reich. It is also a love story, for amid the strife and devastation of war, Albin Gagel found the love of his life. By 1943, it had been four long years since he had left his home in a small village in Bavaria to begin what was supposed to be only two years’ mandatory military service. Although a seasoned veteran of the Wehrmacht, nothing he had experienced during the Blitzkrieg across France, or even the siege of Leningrad, had prepared him for the horror and desperation that surrounded him during the Battle of Kursk, the biggest tank battle of World War II and the start of Nazi Germany’s slow retreat from the Eastern Front. Now Albin was in the fight of his life. Any dreams he might have harboured about honour and glory had long since vanished.