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Hitler's Last Courier by Armin Dieter Lehmann, Armin D. Lehmann
Book Summary InformationAuthor: Armin D. Lehmann, Armin Dieter Lehmann Preface: Tony Le Tissier Foreword: Francis H. Goranin Edition: Paperback Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published) Published: 2001-01-15 ISBN: 0738831212 Number of pages: 536 Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
Book Reviews of Hitler's Last CourierBook Review: Lehmann teaches important lesson Summary: 5 Stars
The very idea of recognizing the validity of anything an admitted Nazi had to say was anathema to me: A Holocaust refugee who landed in America at age ten.But, Hitler's Last Courier is making a difference. The message of the book is a magnificent paean to the honesty and integrity of the writer. Armin Lehmann gives us a picture -- in meticulous, almost overly zealous, detail of how the Nazi machine worked in Germany. Idolatry of Hitler took over, became stronger than any religion, and all participants involved cheerfully allowed themselves to be brainwashed. Little kids judged each others blondness, parents skillfully eliminated any non-Aryan ancestors from family trees. Armin Lehmann omits nothing. He even translates every military and youth-group term into English so that the reader will have a complete picture of the Nazi hierarchy. As a youngster, it seems that duty and obedience -- part and parcel of many unsuccessful attempts to please his judgmental "SS"father -- were major priorities. And, on he went, to become a teen-age soldier, earning two Iron Cross medals for heroically saving his fellows even when he, himself, was grieviously wounded. His reward, at age 16, was being assigned as Courier in Hitler's final bunker. So, why celebrate this book, this gray recount of Nazi bureaucracy, of Hitler's propaganda machine, of worship at the Nazi altar? What is there to gain from such an exposition? In a word, everything! Because at age 16, when Armin Lehmann was shown the carnage of the extermination camps, the residue of the ovens, the skeletal remains of both the dead and the barely living, he underwent a change that took charge of the rest of his life. From that moment, he became a fierce advocate for non-violence, for peace, and a dedicated enemy of all hatred. And he has never stopped. He has given his heart and his soul to erasing even the most remote possibility that any kind of hate movement could ever arise again. He pulls no punches, makes no attempt to deny guilt, fully accepts the karma that has painted his destiny as an activist. This man is to be respected. Hitler's Last Courier was written for a reason. At this point in time, at this juncture between peace and a possibly deadly World War III, we must all heed the message his message. This book is for all ages. Every potential skinhead, racist, Aryan Nation member, and homophobic kid on the block needs to read it, learn from it. History, in fact, does not need to repeat itself.
Summary of Hitler's Last CourierVictory of the Allies was no longer in doubt. Russian forces had reached Berlin. Yet, Hitler ordered his troops to keep on fighting. Among the last who defended his headquarters, an underground bunker in the Reich Chancellery garden, were boy soldiers, 13 to 17 years old, members of the Hitler Youth Volkssturm (home defence force). The dictator had reached the point where he wanted the earth scorched. Facing total defeat, he now was willing to sacrifice everything and everybody, including the German people, even the youngest. Lehmann was a witness to what happened in the Fuehrerbunker. He was the runner who carried some of the last orders issued by the dictator, right up to his suicide. Many details as described in this book have never before been disclosed. This is a gripping story of survival - and later of redemption - a story of endurance amidst the horrors and brutalities, a first-hand historical account, already highly acclaimed by leading historians.
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