sunarts
Austria
Austria
|
Posts: 1
Joined: 2022
|
|
|
|
True account of Austria soldier coming 20 miles to Moscow
|
We recently discovered a hand written diary from an Austrian soldier which showed high-quality military machinery information and tactical maneuver info. He had a gift for writing. We had the work transcribed, and translated to English. It is a fascinating read. A 19 year old farmers boy from Austria got to experience WW2 and get as close as 20 miles to Moscow. He was a special character. For example he wrote the following in his diary:
"The soldier was ordered to carry on with a war without end, or until you were killed. The only thing one felt anymore was a total emptiness because you saw the person next to you wounded or killed several times a day. Sometimes you could still call for the medic, often not. I reached the moment of absolute mental depression when I envied the fate of those who died next to me."
We found the transcribing to be a reasonably easy piece of work, but my stepdad had loads to do in terms of researching and verifying the stories. It was quite the task. he used Wikipedia, mostly, but also consulted War dictionaries and other literature. Then we had it translated to English, and it took a while to find an Austria translator who was proficient in the dialect. It took them more than 6 months to get this done. Crazy when you think about it.
I am now super proud that this work is available in English, since the person literally grew up in my hometown. His work shows that many Austrians weren't bought into the whole idea of the 3rd Reich, and that it was simply lethal for many to resist openly. He did what he needed to do, but in his heart he expressed often his content for Hitler and the leadership. He also managed to preserve his little piece of humanity, but following some basic principles, such as never killing an unarmed opponent. Something that almost cost him his life at the gun of his superior.
Sharing this here since I am excited to spread Xaver's story as much as possible. It is an important reminder that going through these times wasn't anyones choice (by and large), and that humans were involved. What touched me the most that he literally grew up down the road, and had I been from just a blip earlier, this could have been my story, too.
We created a website at www.conqueringmoscow.com, and the book is at: https://www.amazon.com/Conquering-Moscow-unbelievably-diary-Xaver-ebook/dp/B09NJNZB6F/
Best,
Stefan
|
|
|
|
|
