Hitlers vergessene Kinderarmee

In the spring of 1945, they participated as extras in the final chapter of the declining Nazi Reich. They were part of a "children's army," Hitler's last posse. In a "Reich Training Camp" (RAL) of the Hitler Youth in the southern Moravian town of Bad Luhatschowitz, the 16- and 17-year-olds had been honed into soldiers in fast-track courses, together with over 1,000 of their peers. The Waffen-SS then collected the child soldiers and used them up in a war that had long since been lost by then. In September 1944, the Nazi leadership, facing its imminent end, ordered the "registration of everyone between the ages of 16 and 66." Raised faithful to the Führer and the Fatherland, thousands followed this call. In truth, however, these children were neither "fit for military service," let alone "men." Eight of their stories are told here. On "I was Hitler's last posse": "The merit of this honest book is that it reveals the full complexity of what war means. It is carefully, excitingly and factually told and historically well researched." Welt am Sonntag "The text touched me." Günter Grass.