The Human Element of WWII in Europe

Over the past 20 years or so, my interest in World War II has increased considerably, and with that I have turned that interest into a passion. I have read a great number of book on specific topics of the war and, in doing so, have discovered some real gems. I would love to share these with you. If you have even the slightest interest in expanding your knowledge beyond what you learned in school, here are some very notable books. This photo is a screencap of the wonderful actor Norbert Weisser who played a German POW in a movie set during World War II -- a great film about German POWs in America -- "The Incident." Information about this movie is below.

Most of these books deal with personal accounts and special people rather than actual war strategy and objectives -- it's not about sides, who the good guys were or who had the bigger bombs. They aren't history lessons, but lessons in humanity that we should all pay attention to. These books pretty much all tell real-life stories of people who shouldn't have survived. There are stories of people who were saved by the kindness of an individual -- often times someone who risked their own life to save another. There are stories of inner courage and determination, escape and long walks through dangerous terrain and enemy territory, unspeakable hardships and personal tragedy. There are tales of prisoners and captives who may have started out as enemies with those who were imprisoning them, but who intstead made friendships that have lasted to this day. Imagine an annual reunion of former German POWs and their American hosts in Aliceville, Alabama -- the location of one of the first and largest POW camps in America.

Assessing what I learned in school about WWII, especially the European theater, just about everything that I was taught was a lesson on who was right, who was wrong, who won the war and horray for our side. Not too much was even mentioned about how everyone should be alert to prevent something like the holocaust from happening again. It wasn't until later on that the very real human element began to be much more important -- and obvious -- to me. Veterans were passing away, and with each one, there was a story of an individual or a few individuals, not entire armies or air corps. All of a sudden the war had a personality -- a face to go with it -- sometimes a happy ending, sometimes a tragic one -- but always a personal, human story and touch. Reunions on December 7 at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii had fewer attendees each year. Many still felt so close to their shipmates that they chose to be interned or to have their ashes scattered on the USS Arizona when they passed away. A war that had been all too generalized in school became the faces of the people involved in it.

These books deal with the Holocaust, German POWS in America, Army Nurses in North Africa and Bataan or taken captive briefly by German soldiers, children who were left without parents yet who found caring people to look after them, and most interestingly -- kindness where you would never expect to find it. These books will make your life richer. These are all fascinating accounts of people and a testamet to the human spirit.

If you have an interest in World War II, I honestly believe you will thoroughly enjoy these noteworthy books and a the select DVDs I recommend. They are in no particular order. Most of them are available on Amazon through third party vendors at reasonable prices or are available at your local bookstore or public library. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.