Wehrmacht Diary: The Story of Siegfried Knappe (1936-1999)

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About Wehrmacht Diary: The Story Of Siegfried Knappe

In the beginning, I was so proud of my country and what I thought we were accomplishing. Yet by 1943, I knew the Nazi government was leading Germany and the world down a path of destruction.Not in my wildest dreams did I think I would someday be standing in the basement of the Fuhrer Bunker preparing to shoot Adolf Hitler.- Siegfried KnappeWEHRMACT DIARY is a fascinating and true story that offers a unique look at the German side of World War II - and a world in ruins.In WEHRMACHT DIARY, writer Wolfgang Cooper and Siegfried Knappe, who rose through the ranks of the General Staff College to become a highly respected major in the Wehrmacht, give the reader a reflective and illuminating perspective on Knappes experiences as a German soldier who served on every major battle front in the European theater of war.This unique and timely book chronicles the life of an ordinary man who found himself caught in the middle of extraordinary world events - and how he survived to start a new life in America.But most importantly, Siegfried Knappe, a long-time resident of Xenia, Ohio, is one of the few people alive today who met Adolf Hitler face to face. In fact, he met the German dictator three times - in six year intervals.The first time was in 1933 when Knappe was an apolitical, teenage shutterbug, intent only on photographing Germanys new Chancellor pulling up outside a hotel in Knappes hometown of Leipzig. The young Knappe ignored Hitlers chauffeur, hopped onto the running board of the open limousine - and snapped off three frames. Over sixty years later, Knappe still has the pictures.The second time Knappe came face to face with Hitler was in early 1939. Knappe was by then a junior artillery officer at Kriegsschule Potsdam, a military academy where he trained under legendary Field Marshall Erwin Rommel. Knappe was being congratulated for his war college performance by the Fuhrer at a formal Reich Chancellory reception in