Helmut Horner

2451 A German Odyssey: The Journal of a German Prisoner of War, by Helmut Horner translated and edited by Allan Kent Powell (read 15 Jun 1992) This is the journal which a German sergeant began keeping July 2, 1944. He was captured in Sept 1944, spent time as a POW in France, and left for the U.S. in April 1945. He spent time in several POW camps in the U.S., hoeing sugar beets near Greeley, Col., and picking peaches in New Jersey. He did not leave the U.S. till June of 1946. He was then in show more England till 1948. He arrived home in Germany in Jan 1948. I found the book absorbing reading. He reworked his journal soon after he got home but not till 1989 did it get into the hands of Allan Kent Powell, a historian for the Utah State Historical Society, who translated it and put in some explanatory parts. The author was born Sept 18, 1916, and his account has the ring of authenticity, although some of the extravagant language one associated with some German writing is present: whether this is the translator's fault I can't say. (Things were "bellowed" when it seems more likely they were spoken loudly, etc.) This book is a gripping real account, even though I suppose there are many accounts of the war far more dramatic. Chapters 1 through 7 were written in 1989 to cover the author's life before July 1944 and after June 1946. It would have been good to read a similar account of the period from 1939 to 1944--which is covered rather sparsely in Chapter 1. But this is an excellent book, as I tend to find most personal war accounts, though this one certainly had a different perspective from most. show less