The Day the Nazis Came: The True Story of a Childhood Journey to the Dark Heart of a German Prison Camp
An poignant and timeless true story of one child’s journey to a German prison camp during World War II.

The Day the Nazis Came is an utterly unique memoir, depicting the world of prison camps through the eyes of a child. Our narrator's parents did their best to protect his emotional well-being, downplaying the extent of dangers and presenting every new day as an adventure.

But there is only so much you can do to hide such a dark truth and, by the time he was six years old, Stephen Matthews had actually seen and experienced things of unspeakable horror: he had witnessed a bombardment by the Luftwaffe and had been deported from occupied Guernsey, along with his family, to a prison camp in the heart of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich; he had seen men die in front of him; he had walked alongside Jews coming straight off the cattle-trucks from Bergen-Belsen; he had nearly drowned, been menaced by an Alsatian guard dog, and had his hand broken by a German guard for attempting to feed Russian prisoners.

Against all odds, Stephen and his family endured over three years of imprisonment, held together by their will to survive, their love for each other, and the humor they had all been gifted with. But when the war ended and they were set free, the home they eventually returned to had been irremediably scarred and stricken by Nazi occupation and so, once again, they had to fight to pick up the pieces.

Supported by and enriched with his mother’s diary notes, which had been secreted away in an old leather-bound family Bible throughout the years in the camp, The Day the Nazis Came is a phenomenal piece of history as well as a heart-wrenching account of the horrors of the war and deportation. It is, above all, a heart-warming tribute to the preciousness of hope, of life, and of the indomitable spirit of man to survive. And while honoring the memory of the three courageous Germans who risked everything to protect as many as the prisoners in their charge as they could, it also shows how human kindness may flower and prevail in the unlikeliest of places.
"1137251201"
The Day the Nazis Came: The True Story of a Childhood Journey to the Dark Heart of a German Prison Camp
An poignant and timeless true story of one child’s journey to a German prison camp during World War II.

The Day the Nazis Came is an utterly unique memoir, depicting the world of prison camps through the eyes of a child. Our narrator's parents did their best to protect his emotional well-being, downplaying the extent of dangers and presenting every new day as an adventure.

But there is only so much you can do to hide such a dark truth and, by the time he was six years old, Stephen Matthews had actually seen and experienced things of unspeakable horror: he had witnessed a bombardment by the Luftwaffe and had been deported from occupied Guernsey, along with his family, to a prison camp in the heart of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich; he had seen men die in front of him; he had walked alongside Jews coming straight off the cattle-trucks from Bergen-Belsen; he had nearly drowned, been menaced by an Alsatian guard dog, and had his hand broken by a German guard for attempting to feed Russian prisoners.

Against all odds, Stephen and his family endured over three years of imprisonment, held together by their will to survive, their love for each other, and the humor they had all been gifted with. But when the war ended and they were set free, the home they eventually returned to had been irremediably scarred and stricken by Nazi occupation and so, once again, they had to fight to pick up the pieces.

Supported by and enriched with his mother’s diary notes, which had been secreted away in an old leather-bound family Bible throughout the years in the camp, The Day the Nazis Came is a phenomenal piece of history as well as a heart-wrenching account of the horrors of the war and deportation. It is, above all, a heart-warming tribute to the preciousness of hope, of life, and of the indomitable spirit of man to survive. And while honoring the memory of the three courageous Germans who risked everything to protect as many as the prisoners in their charge as they could, it also shows how human kindness may flower and prevail in the unlikeliest of places.
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The Day the Nazis Came: The True Story of a Childhood Journey to the Dark Heart of a German Prison Camp

The Day the Nazis Came: The True Story of a Childhood Journey to the Dark Heart of a German Prison Camp

by Stephen Matthews
The Day the Nazis Came: The True Story of a Childhood Journey to the Dark Heart of a German Prison Camp

The Day the Nazis Came: The True Story of a Childhood Journey to the Dark Heart of a German Prison Camp

by Stephen Matthews

Hardcover

$27.95 
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Overview

An poignant and timeless true story of one child’s journey to a German prison camp during World War II.

The Day the Nazis Came is an utterly unique memoir, depicting the world of prison camps through the eyes of a child. Our narrator's parents did their best to protect his emotional well-being, downplaying the extent of dangers and presenting every new day as an adventure.

But there is only so much you can do to hide such a dark truth and, by the time he was six years old, Stephen Matthews had actually seen and experienced things of unspeakable horror: he had witnessed a bombardment by the Luftwaffe and had been deported from occupied Guernsey, along with his family, to a prison camp in the heart of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich; he had seen men die in front of him; he had walked alongside Jews coming straight off the cattle-trucks from Bergen-Belsen; he had nearly drowned, been menaced by an Alsatian guard dog, and had his hand broken by a German guard for attempting to feed Russian prisoners.

Against all odds, Stephen and his family endured over three years of imprisonment, held together by their will to survive, their love for each other, and the humor they had all been gifted with. But when the war ended and they were set free, the home they eventually returned to had been irremediably scarred and stricken by Nazi occupation and so, once again, they had to fight to pick up the pieces.

Supported by and enriched with his mother’s diary notes, which had been secreted away in an old leather-bound family Bible throughout the years in the camp, The Day the Nazis Came is a phenomenal piece of history as well as a heart-wrenching account of the horrors of the war and deportation. It is, above all, a heart-warming tribute to the preciousness of hope, of life, and of the indomitable spirit of man to survive. And while honoring the memory of the three courageous Germans who risked everything to protect as many as the prisoners in their charge as they could, it also shows how human kindness may flower and prevail in the unlikeliest of places.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781643136240
Publisher: Pegasus Books
Publication date: 02/02/2021
Pages: 352
Sales rank: 640,949
Product dimensions: 5.60(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Stephen Matthews was born in Guernsey in 1938 and, following the German invasion of the Channel Islands in 1940, he was illegally deported to Germany, with his father and mother, in late 1942 They were eventually liberated by Free French forces in 1945. He later joined the elite British Colonial Police Force in Northern Rhodesia and there received many awards and commendations, before starting afresh in the world of finance. Now eighty-two years old, he divides his time between France and China.

Table of Contents

Forewords by the Lord Mayor of Biberach and the Bailiff of Guernsey ix

Chapter 1 The Lull Before the Storm 1

Chapter 2 The Storm 17

Chapter 3 Living with the Devil 33

Chapter 4 The Sword of Damocles 57

Chapter 5 Deportation 75

Chapter 6 Dorsten Transit Camp 91

Chapter 7 Journey to Dark Places 111

Chapter 8 Early Days in Biberach Concentration Camp 127

Chapter 9 Settling Down 145

Chapter 10 My Four-Leaf Clover 167

Chapter 11 The Long Winding Road 189

Chapter 12 The Beginning of the End 213

Chapter 13 Liberation 239

Chapter 14 Going Home 267

Chapter 15 Afterwards 287

Author's Note 315

Acknowledgements 317

Sources 321

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