Survive at Any Cost
A German Infantryman on the Eastern Front, 1941–1945
“I was one German soldier among 15,000 Russian prisoners. If anyone discovered who I really was, I’d be shot on the spot. For two years, I pretended to be Polish.”
Drafted as a teenager, the narrator spent four years fighting across the most brutal terrain of the war — and then spent years more staying alive by becoming someone else entirely. This is his account, in plain language, of what survival actually cost.
They handed him the same interrogation form eight times, hunting for a single contradiction. A pair of German boots nearly gave him away to the NKVD. When he finally reached home, his wife fainted in the doorway — she had believed him dead for two years.
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Inside this memoir:
- One German soldier hiding among 15,000 prisoners — two years passing as a Pole
- Eight interrogations, one lie, and the boots that almost exposed him
- The march of 37,000 prisoners through Kyiv — a city he’d once helped capture, now in chains
Format: Instant download · PDF + EPUB · reads on any device · 160 pages
For readers of: WWII survival memoirs, Eastern Front history, and true stories of escape and endurance.
Published as a historical document — presented for remembrance and understanding, not glorification.
What readers are saying
★★★★★ 4.7 · 3 reviews
“Overall a solid read. A bit slow at first, but once he’s captured by the Russians it really picks up. Honestly it’s surprising how his life in captivity turned out — he passed so many NKVD interrogations, and was even moved from prisoner to a supervisory role.”
“An interesting book. You see the war from the other side of the front, and the reality of a Soviet camp through the eyes of a German POW. It’s short, with a few minor slips in dates and place names — but I’d recommend it for broadening your perspective.”
“Not a bad book at all if you’re into WWII history. I just wish there were more about his family and the people close to him — it would have made the ending land harder. It’s short and reads fast.”
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