Format:
Online-Ressource (xi 206 p.)
,
21 cm
Content:
"The author, a French soldier taken prisoner by the Germans during the battle of the Somme, spent more than a year in one of the vast prison camps in Germany. The story here told is not in the form of a captive's memoirs set down in the customary reportorial style. Because of certain reasons imposed upon him by the fear of endangering friends still captive in Germany or members of the camp's personnel, the author has been obliged to clothe his account with some degree of vagueness in order to prevent the German secret service from finding the clues for which it will be searching. Furthermore, in the hope of not overloading the narrative with descriptive details common to prison camps in every country and in every modern war, he has confined himself to describing certain episodes and bringing up certain points that are especially characteristic both of French prisoners during this war and of the Germans in the period between 1940 and 1942. Although the author was forced to sacrifice a certain amount of clarity and precision to the safety of his comrades, he has at all times been careful to adhere as closely to the truth as possible in describing atmosphere, characters, and events. The truth is eloquent enough to speak for itself without any embroidery on his part. As far as regards the Germans, this book bears witness that, contrary to the propaganda which asserts that the only good German is a dead one, the French prisoners knew both good ones and bad ones. Harsh experience may have taught them that so long as the present regime continues to function, whatever the character and opinion of the individual Germans may be, taken collectively they will be unable to influence the course of events; nonetheless, the prisoners have also learned to distinguish between the Nazis and the non-Nazis, between those who are their bitter enemies, those who are neutral, and those who one day will help them"--Preface. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)
Note:
Electronic reproduction; Washington, D.C; American Psychological Association; 2011; Available via World Wide Web; Access limited by licensing agreement; s2011 dcunns
Language:
English
