C'est la vie: Ein Deutscher (Color)

This book represents a translation of the memoirs written by Hans Schmidt in his native German into English. Late in life Hans moved to Belgium and his wife, Alma, soon passed away in 1998. At the urging of his daughters he wrote these memoirs in 2001. He experienced perhaps the most tumultuous time in human history. Born into a nation which was slow to recover from the first World War and the resultant immense political instability; Hans did not support the rise of the Nazi party but, as a Carpenter, helped to rebuild Germany's industry and eventually build the West Wall defensive line. As Germany invaded France he was drafted into the Wehrmacht where he was primarily involved on the Eastern Front fighting Russia. Captured in 1944 he did not return home until 1949, when he would finally meet his first-born child. Returning to civilian life he would continue to grow his family and life his life in peace. His is a fairly typical story of the German war generation.