It has been said that history is written by the winners; events from the past have been written with propaganda that suits the winners. Keeping this in mind, it is not surprising that most written history about WWII focuses on the horrors of Nazi war crimes. However, Forgotten Soldier – the memoirs of Guy Sajer, a sixteen year old boy recruited into the German Army and sent to fight on the Russian Front in 1942 - provides a different view. This book is an account of WWII from the point of view of a normal teenaged soldier doing his duty and just trying to survive. According to his memoirs, Sajer naively joins the German army in 1942, expecting action and adventure. In his first year, he is a truck driver, running supplies and transporting soldiers to the eastern front. In the spring of 1943, Sajer volunteers for the Gross Deutschland division, an elite German unit. As the tide of the war changes, German units are pushed back and Sajer’s story changes from one of duty to one of survival. His life is threatened by not only the Russian enemy, but the harsh weather, difficult living conditions, and starvation. However, even as he struggles through many horrific experiences, he remains humane. While many of his comrades lose their human qualities, it is Sajer’s desire to maintain his humanity that enables him to get through. During a retreat from the Russian front, as his unit is walking back to Germany, Sajer is captured by the British and becomes a prisoner of war. Because he is half French, he is sent to France to help rebuild France. Sajer’s memoirs end with the recognition of all the people he knew who died during the war. One of the main themes throughout Sajer’s memoir is the effect of war on men; he constantly remarks about other soldiers losing their human qualities. He himself does his best to maintain his humanity. Unfortunately, at the end, he realizes that the war greatly impacted on him too. The last sentence of his memoir states “There is another man, whom I must forget. He was called Guy Sajer.” Sajer does not want to remember the man he became during the war. The strength of this book is it’s a personal account of a common soldier. It tells a story that is normally not in usual WWII books such as the fears that soldiers felt or how they were forced to forget about their dead comrades. The weakness is its view point could be considered narrow. Since it’s a memoir of one soldier, the whole story only revolves around one man’s view point. Therefore, Sajer’s opinions could be one sided. Stories of WWII are mostly about Hitler or the victims that are believed to have suffered the most during the war. However, nobody was really truly free from the war. Sajer himself was somewhat a prisoner. It is easy to forget that in every war, the actual battles are fought by normal, everyday people, with only a uniform that distinguish the sides. Therefore, this memoir, a story of one soldier, is a work of soul.
It has been said that history is written by the winners; events from the past have been written with propaganda that suits the winners. Keeping this in mind, it is not surprising that most written history about WWII focuses on the horrors of Nazi war crimes. However, Forgotten Soldier – the memoirs of Guy Sajer, a sixteen year old boy recruited into the German Army and sent to fight on the Russian Front in 1942 - provides a different view. This book is an account of WWII from the point of view of a normal teenaged soldier doing his duty and just trying to survive.
ReplyDeleteAccording to his memoirs, Sajer naively joins the German army in 1942, expecting action and adventure. In his first year, he is a truck driver, running supplies and transporting soldiers to the eastern front. In the spring of 1943, Sajer volunteers for the Gross Deutschland division, an elite German unit. As the tide of the war changes, German units are pushed back and Sajer’s story changes from one of duty to one of survival. His life is threatened by not only the Russian enemy, but the harsh weather, difficult living conditions, and starvation. However, even as he struggles through many horrific experiences, he remains humane. While many of his comrades lose their human qualities, it is Sajer’s desire to maintain his humanity that enables him to get through. During a retreat from the Russian front, as his unit is walking back to Germany, Sajer is captured by the British and becomes a prisoner of war. Because he is half French, he is sent to France to help rebuild France. Sajer’s memoirs end with the recognition of all the people he knew who died during the war.
One of the main themes throughout Sajer’s memoir is the effect of war on men; he constantly remarks about other soldiers losing their human qualities. He himself does his best to maintain his humanity. Unfortunately, at the end, he realizes that the war greatly impacted on him too. The last sentence of his memoir states “There is another man, whom I must forget. He was called Guy Sajer.” Sajer does not want to remember the man he became during the war.
The strength of this book is it’s a personal account of a common soldier. It tells a story that is normally not in usual WWII books such as the fears that soldiers felt or how they were forced to forget about their dead comrades. The weakness is its view point could be considered narrow. Since it’s a memoir of one soldier, the whole story only revolves around one man’s view point. Therefore, Sajer’s opinions could be one sided.
Stories of WWII are mostly about Hitler or the victims that are believed to have suffered the most during the war. However, nobody was really truly free from the war. Sajer himself was somewhat a prisoner. It is easy to forget that in every war, the actual battles are fought by normal, everyday people, with only a uniform that distinguish the sides. Therefore, this memoir, a story of one soldier, is a work of soul.