Fritz Häber - The Complete Diary

16 Months in an American POW Camp

 

“When I translated this diary, it quickly grew on me, and then I was spellbound. I had never read anything like that; a powerful eyewitness account about the last days of WWII by a young German soldier who was then taken into captivity and had to suffer through many months of malnutrition, cold, fear, boredom, claustrophobia, and many other pains that tend to come along with a prisoner-of-war experience. It strongly reminded me of my father who went through a fairly similar destiny, though he hardly ever told us much about it. These memoirs continue to haunt me; and whenever I feel hungry or thirsty, I remember Fritz Häber who had to handle horrendous conditions as a prisoner of war. His diary takes us directly to the situation on the ground, and this time from a German perspective, the loser’s side. Anyone who would like to gain a balanced view of the life of German soldiers before and after the end of war ought to read his memoirs.”

- Dr. Albrecht Classen, University Distinguished Professor - Grand Knight Commanderof the Most Noble Order of the Three Lions (GKCL)/Grossritterkommandeur - Director of Outreach - Faculty Member of: Dept. of German Studies + Affiliate Faculty Member of Religious Studies, Judaic Studies, Institute for LGBT Studies, ALTA at the University of Arizona

"Insight into one man's struggle offering us a better understanding of our own awareness - On one level this an excellent and riveting account of one man's struggle in having to fight a war on behalf of a political system in which he doesn't believe. This fight leads to his captivity in a POW camp. Fritz Haber's journal captures with eloquence the hardships, indignities, fear and loneliness of a POW internment. Through all this we see clearly coming through his words a decency and strong belief in doing the right thing and always trying to be the best he ccould be. On this level, the book offered me the understanding that there can be good where we can always be conditioned to expect evil. Rarely do we allow ourselves such insight into the thoughts and feelings of someone our history has taught us to be the enemy. It brought back to mind a book I read in high school many years ago, Sharks and Little Fish. It was an English translated German novel about World War II service on a German submarine. I can't remember the details of the book but I never forgot the meaning for me that there is humanity on all sides of conflict. Fritz Haber's diary brought this awareness back to me and I thank the author for giving us the opportunity to experience it.”

- Stans Amazon Review - May 2024

"A Compelling & Heartwarming War Story - Rarely does oneget the opportunity to get a true sense of what it must have really meant to experience fascism and war so close as this story told by Fritz Häber. This book is a true page turner written in a way that takes the reader right to the place of the action providing vivid images and exciting details. Fritz - an ordinary German - who states that his diary should serve for his children "as an example of how human destinies can get easily mixed up" shows an awe-inspiring personal power of endurance not knowing when (if ever) he will see his family again. At the same time, he shares with the world that he decided - about 30 minutes before he and his fellow Wehrmacht mates get captured by the Americans in late April 1945 - to make breakfast for everyone with eggs and pancakes and to bury in the near woods "eighty bottles of Schnapps and a box with canned meat in the ground so that we can retrieve them later at a convenient time". What a character - what a story - what a book! Worth reading from front to end!"
 

- A Big Fan Amazon Review - June 2024

"Fritz Haber's diary provides a new perspective on World War II - Like all American school children, I grew up hearing "our" side of Hitler's rise to power and World War II. I have met Jews who survived the Holocaust and American men and women who contributed to the war effort. Bernd Haber's publication of his grandfather's diary - written while he was interred in an American POW camp, provides a new perspective on the war that largely defined the 20th Century in the US and Europe. It is important to understand that many soldiers in Hitler's armies were not "true believers," and many - like Fritz - were more concerned with their families left behind. In these times of forever wars, it feels ever more important to come to terms with the stories of people who operate at the behest of those who compile the official history of events."
 

- Nancy O. James Amazon Review - June 2024

"A German Soldier's Perspective during WWII - I couldn't put it down! Bernd, who grew up in East Germany, and now lives in the United States,had his grandfather Fritz's World War II-era diary translated into English. Reading about Fritz's experiences during WWII gives the reader a better sense of how difficult life was for Germans and how good people are forced into impossible roles during wartime. Prior to the war, Fritz describes how he had to change jobs frequently due to layoffs from the lagging economy. He was eventually conscripted into the German military despite his previous arrest and membership in the Communist Party. He describes his wartime assignments, constant moving while in the military and as a POW, obsession with getting enough food and water, physical hardships, self-motivation to problem solve and make life better for fellow soldiers, long periods of time without hearing from his family, and determination to be a good and compassionate human being. In addition to Fritz's diary, the forward,introduction, epilogue, and letters provide great insight into human nature, WWII, parallels to today, and the continuing propensity for world leaders to become dictators."
 

- SJS Amazon Review - June 2024

"Bill Buckmaster - Radio Talk Show Host of the Buckmaster Show (KVOI in Tucson/Arizona) discusses "Fritz Häber - The Complete Diary: 16 Months in an American POW Camp" with Dr. Albrecht Classen (University of Arizona in Tucson) who translated the diary, during the interview on June 19 in 2024. - Permission to publicly broadcast given by Bill Buckmaster on 6/27/2024." ==> Link

"Journals of War, Peace, Love & Hope - Very little is written of or available in the US to learn of the treatment of German prisoners of war in Europe during and briefly after World War II. Fritz Haber’s journal pages begin after surrendering to the American forces during the waning months of the war and begin when commanding an anti-aircraft searchlight emplacement in France. Fritz was thirty-one years of age with six children when drafted in 1941 after several deferments and even after having spent a year in prison for being a proponent of communism vs Nazism. His journals mention many hardships as a soldier of the Nazi Wehrmacht including poor training, hunger, bad weather, meager to miserable quarters and insufferable commanders. There were also a few fortunate times of blind luck and of plenty given by townspeople and farmers of his countrymen. Corporal Haber was a junior commander often put in charge of training men and women soldiers to move, assemble, repair, fabricate and operate occasionally sabotaged searchlight equipment. Yet through all he preserved and was consistently devoted to his fellow troops and a highly competent leader even though not a follower of Hitler's, Nazi dogma. By mid-1944 the US Army was ill prepared to manage the unexpected multiple thousands of German prisoners either captured or surrendered. No permanent POW camps had yet been established so Fritz and his fellow prisoners were forced marched from temporary camp to temporary camp while enduring constant fatigue, hunger and thirst from meager rations provided for their needs until more permanent camps were established, yet even then it persisted. Initially General Eisenhower ordered his troops to subscribe to the Geneva Convention’s rules for humane treatment of all POWs and I was often surprised to read of the freedoms given prisoners including pay for work and in Fritz case a leave to visit his family and even more surprised that he returned to the camp, ever loyal to helping care for the needs of his fellow soldiers. This says much to me about the content of his character and also of our troops who endured so much physically and mentally during and after combat for being loyal to their commanding officers. Of course there were incidents of abuse, both from prisoner to prisoner and from their captives, but all things considered in comparison to the Nazi POW camps it was more Hilton than Auschwitz. Many more interesting missives of survival and enduranceduring the war and after surrender are revealed in Fritz Haber’s fascinating, often loving journals including the back story of Bernd Haber’s decision and assistance received in publishing his grandfather’s story. A story that historians across the globe need to read, appreciate and share a seldom heard anecdote of a WWII German prisoner of war." Peace, love and hope to us all, amen.

Darrell H. Sage Amazon Review - July 2024