Hitler's Prisoners: Seven Cell Mates Tell Their Stories [Hardcover]

Erich O. Friedrich (Author), Renate G. Vanegas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1995

Coauthor Erich Friedrich won the Iron Cross fighting the Soviets. But when he refused to give the Nazi salute and criticized Hermann Göring, he was charged with subversion and thrown into a cell. With him were a suspected spy, two accused deserters, a Jehovah’s Witness, a draft dodger, and a leftist. To try to push back the terror of the unknown, each man took a turn telling why he was awaiting torture and possibly death. Friedrich vowed to remember their remarkable stories forever.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Finally, one of the most remarkable stories of World War II...a war story of another kind and a compelling read." -- Capt. James E. Wise, Jr., co-author, Shooting the War. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

The late Erich Friedrich survived the war and eventually moved to the United States.

The daughter of Erich Friedrich, Renate Vanegas lives in suburban Washington, D.C. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Brassey's Inc; 1St Edition edition (June 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0028811216
• ISBN-13: 978-0028811215
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,442,753 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hitler's Prisoners, October 9, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Hitler's Prisoners: Seven Cell Mates Tell Their Stories (Memories of War) (Paperback)

Having grown up in Germany during the Third Reich - I was nine when World War II ended- I have read obsessively about this subject. The question, " How did it happen"? has perhaps no answer. But this book offers a salutary counterbalance to Goldhagen's one-sided "Hitler's Willing Executioners." How many of us would follow our conscience into such a prison as Franzl, the Jehova's Witness and Conscientious Objector, Fritz Römer, the Socialist, or Erich Friedrich, the author, endured for their convictions? Friedrich was arrested for not giving the Nazi salute, and for making disparaging remarks about Hermann Goering. The government acted legally, because what these prisoners did was against German law at that time. This book shows the American reader, who has no personal experience of a totalitarian regime, what it means to resist such a government.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Seven Germans who defied or offended the Nazi regime and paid for it, August 15, 2005

By 

Albert Noyer "Author, 'The Getorius and Arcad... (Sandia Park, New Mexico, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: HITLER'S PRISONERS (M): Seven Cell Mates Tell Their Stories (Memories of War) (Paperback)

Persons interested in the rise of Nazism and World War II, who have read the general histories of the era will appreciate these personal stories by citizens who lived in Germany at the time. "Hitler's Prisoners," told by Erich Friedrich (edited by his daughter Renate)about his imprisonment for criticizing Hermann Goering and aspects of the war, also is the story of six others who defied or offended the regime in various ways. None were Jews or committed Nazis: Franz's "crime" was that as a Jehovah's Witness he opposed war; Fritz was a socialist, Gerhard an aristocrat, Alex a dilettante. Willi deserted from the Wehrmacht, so there may be some justification for his fate, but
Richard's chapter is titled The "Good German." All the men experienced the pre-World War I years and the political, social and economic unrest that spawned Hitler's rise and Germany's militaristic conquest of Europe and Russia. These true accounts, from notes kept by the author, are written in the form of a novel: each man in turn tells the story of his life as he awaits trial and sentencing - usually execution. The author is last to tell of his upbringing in Thuringia, campaign service and wounding on the Russian front, and harrowing return to Germany, where he was subsequently arrested and imprisoned until July 1944. After the war's end, Friedrich was employed as a detective and civil servant, before moving to Virginia with his wife to live with their daughter's family. A must read for understanding the gradual eroding of law, justice and civility in the Germany of 1933-45.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Poignant Insight into the Lives of Seven Courageous Men, April 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Hitler's Prisoners: Seven Cell Mates Tell Their Stories (Memories of War) (Paperback)

This book is a remarkable account of the life and trial of seven individuals caught in the terror of the reign of the Third Reich. The author conveys the ordeals of these prisoners in such a way of convincing pathos that you feel the despair, pain and uncertainity that each character must have felt. If you enjoy reading World War II books this is a must read. Also, the book reminds me of experiences found in the movie Stalingrad.