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German War Misery & Watches.

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Endeavor Distinguished Member

Endeavor

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Lately I've been servicing a couple of German Watches, a "Kasper" and "Laco". Both brands were, among others, manufactured before the World War II in Pforzheim, a city located in the federal state of "Baden-Wüttemberg", southwest of Germany.

While working on them, I asked myself why I hadn't heard more about German watches. Knowing that the Germans are capable of delivering very high standard quality products, what has happened and what's going on??

This investigation, or journey if you like, brought me to the World War II and an extremely interesting little booklet, written by Giles Milton: "Wolfram, the boy who went to war". Both intertwined and highly educative.

Because of the watch industry, Pforzheim suffered the most devastating area bombardments of World War II, killing nearly one third of the town's population, 17,600 people, and about 83% of the town's buildings were destroyed.

The booklet is a non-fiction story about a boy Wolfram (and his family) growing up in Pforzheim area, the rise of the Nazi-regime, his compulsory conscription into the German army and were he went through, including his family in Pforzheim before & during the bombardments ......

For sure, reading this booklet has changed my life. Nothing is as it seems .........

For a few Pounds you can pick this booklet up from eBay or Amazon; 2nd hand or new.

Curious about any feedback .......

 

 

 

 

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yankeedog Distinguished Member

yankeedog

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Several years ago, on one of our national holidays,(I forget which one) A B17 bomber flew over my house.As I looked up at it I tried to imagine a sky filled with hundreds of them carrying bombs bent on the destruction of my homeland.I know that the Germans looking up into the sky in 1944 were no different than me.I am sure the people of Pforzheim knew the exact reason why they were being targeted in such a way, and I wonder if after the war was over they said to themselves, never again.

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Endeavor Distinguished Member

Endeavor

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@yankeedog: I appreciate your thoughts and comments ....... however, as I wrote, things aren't always as they seemed or we have been told. The booklet describes things from a German family perspective and that may make your thoughts more nuanced ......

Did they know exactly ....... really??

I sincerely wish that you would read the booklet and then like to hear from you again ........

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Endeavor Distinguished Member

Endeavor

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@yankeedog: I'm glad you liked it so far. It's a story I've never heard before and for sure it has made my thoughts more nuanced. Not what has happened, but that one can not generalize a population as a whole. Where I grew up no distinction was made, or even the thought that a distinction could be made; they were all evil. Now grown up, it is clear to see that indeed history repeats itself (and each time they are getting better at it), but that's not to say that everybody agrees with what is happening.

I hope you like the 2nd half too .....

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yankeedog Distinguished Member

yankeedog

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Well Endeavor,  As a Dane I am sure that the perspective in your country would be different than here in America.To your south you have a country much larger and more able to project power than your own.I can understand why there would be a temptation to demonize the whole of a nation that invaded your own.As for myself have always understood that the Germans were either propagandized or bullied into submission by the nazi regime.My mother's parents both fled Germany in 1923.My Grandmother was from Bremerhaven and my Grandfather fro Kiel.As a child I knew a great many People who were from Germany, They all treated me with love and kindness.I know from first hand experience that it is not a nation of barbarians. I also have had Experience with some Danes, several years ago we hosted two exchange students from Denmark . they were fine young men. Not at all unlike my German relatives ,if you were to put them together the average American would not know the difference.

                         My Father fought in Normandy.His stories of war are not unlike the stories told by Wolfram.There was plenty of hardship and death suffered by all involved. Having parachuted into France they quickly ran out of food. I remember the stories of him digging potatoes with his bayonet and eating them raw and dirty.Wolfram's story to me has the ring of truth.It is a universal story of men in combat.

                       The danger we face is ignorance.Where governments willfully keep people ignorant of their history in order to manipulate their opinions and steer them into doing things that are not in their best interest, but in the best interest of those who do the steering.

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Endeavor Distinguished Member

Endeavor

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Very nice to hear your story and I'm glad to hear that Wolfram's story has a ring of truth to it. I also perceived Wolfram's story as genuine and very human. To be honest I got compassion for him when seeing him, as a young boy, standing in his German uniform which he didn't wanted to wear.

I can also understand now that you had already a more nuanced understanding. I'm actually Dutch and my grandparents and my father both witnessed the tactical bombing of their Dutch city. They helped cleaning up the bodies etc. Needless to say that has left a big impression and deep scarfs. I'm born about a decade after, so naturally (and unfortunately) I'm fed with a different spoon.

Anyway, I'm very glad that I read the book and to know your story.

As for governments, TPTB and all the rest of it ........ I'm well aware of that, but that's not something for on this forum ;)

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