1944 - 1945 RIVETING ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT FIRST HAND ACCOUNT OF GERMAN ARMY AND THEIR SERBIAN MINION'S BRUTALITY, MURDER AND THE HORRIBLE DEPRIVATIONS METED OUT TO THEIR AMERICAN PRISONERS

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On offer is a riveting, simply sensational original manuscript relic of World War II being a US Army Prisoner of War diary kept by Lieutenant David M. Woerner of Company A of the 8 1st Engineer Battalion. Lt. Woerner, originally from Baltimore Maryland, was initially captured on December 16, 1944 in Auw, Germany, quickly escaped only to be recaptured on December 19, 1944. He spent 136 days in captivity in the final chaotic days of the War in Europe. The diary is a gripping 71 page account of his initial imprisonment at Offizierlager XIII-B at the Kriegsgefangen in Hammelburg, Germany and his forced march with his German captors to Nuremburg. It is a chilling first-hand account of German brutality, deadly air raids, terrible neglect and deprivation, grisly scenes, and casual, breathtaking murder. He describes the conditions at the camp at Bad Orb, notations for those KIA [killed in action], the wounded, and those who escaped. The entries run from December 16, 1944 to May 3, 1945 with some undated entries at the end containing some not-so-kind words about the German civilians. Historians and researchers of prisoners of the German Army, conditions for POWs will find a very intimate, very detailed record of prisoner's horrible circumstances and the brutality of their keepers plus a great deal about the Serbian contingent that assisted the Nazis. Here are snippets: "Assigned to the detail of maintaining the 422 supply route. Our headquarters is near the Siegfried Line. German Artillery registered on my jeep at the first crossroad. We fought like wild-cats. Not an ordinary fight. It was for keeps. He or I. I wrenched his rifle to the ground and finished him with his own helmet. One by one the boys crawled through the blood and snow to safety - all but Schonova. I dragged him. AUW was butchered the next day. We were surrounded. We are always cold, dirty and hungry and everyone is irritable. A cigarette butt could cause a riot. Among the real unselfish gentlemen are Col. Matthews, Col. Nagle and Chaplain Neal. Others whined like babies. There was never any medical attention from the Germans. Illness often meant curtains. On one occasion a German beat Lt. Edwards with a spike bayonet at interrogation. We inform the Germans we are receiving 300 grams below a starvation diet…The Red Cross representative says our diet is sufficient. At 10:22 A.M. a German guard shot and killed Lt. Werks outside of our barracks. It was a case of deliberate murder. A "kind" old lady and daughter warned me in GARS to be careful of the S.S. troops. All Germany fears them and I thought it fine of these nice people to warn us of their activities. Yet a picture of the old lady's son found by a tank crewman revealed an S.S. trooper." Some general soiling and chipping to the paper cover but overall G.; 7 x 5 OBLONG; KEYWORDS: POW, PRISONERS OF WAR, SIEGFRIED LINE, OFFIZIERLAGER XIII-B, KRIEGSGEFANGEN, WOERNER, AUW, 81ST ENGINEER BATTALION, SIGNED, PERSONAL, MEMOIR, WORLD WAR II, WW II, HANDWRITTEN, AMERICANA, AEF, AUTOGRAPH, AUTOGRAPHS, SIGNED, LETTERS, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENTS, MANUSCRIPT, MANUSCRIPTS, WRITERS, WRITER, AUTHOR, HOLOGRAPH, PERSONAL, AUTHOR, SELF PUBLISHED, CONCENTRATION CAMPS, ESCAPE ATTEMPTS, , STALAG, GERMANY, POLAND, FORCED LABOR, ANTIQUITÉ, CONTRAT, VÉLIN, DOCUMENT, MANUSCRIT, PAPIER ANTIKE, BRIEF, PERGAMENT, DOKUMENT, MANUSKRIPT, PAPIER OGGETTO D'ANTIQUARIATO, ATTO, VELINA, DOCUMENTO, MANOSCRITTO, CARTA ANTIGÜEDAD, HECHO, VITELA, DOCUMENTO, MANUSCRITO, PAPEL, HANDSCHRIFT, HANDGESCHRIEBEN, MANUSKRIPT, SÜTTERLIN, VON HAND GESCHRIEBEN, HANDSCHRIFTLICH, UNIKAT, EINZELSTÜCK, DOKUMENT, SCHRIFTSTÜCK, KURRENT, KURRENTSCHRIFT, DEUTSCHE SCHREIBSCHRIFT, OSTPREUßEN, KALININGRAD, ADEL Show more