Zeitsplitter: Erinnerungen an die Seefahrt in den 1940er Jahren

Abstract

This first-hand report sheds light on a phase in German shipping history in which the end of World War II marked a decisive turning point. The author describes his career and experiences during the "Third Reich" - from his service in the Hitler Naval Youth and training for wartime naval activity to his deployment to operations off the British Channel Islands and the western front, his return to Germany and his imprisonment - as well as in the difficult stage of the merchant marine’s new post-war beginnings, first on Swedish, later on German ships, and finally his attendance of navigation school in 1951. Not only the initial enthusiasm with regard to the war and the lessons learned from the war events are conveyed. The encounters with persons of various nationalities also grant a certain insight into the employment of German seamen abroad in the period immediately following the war. The article is an excerpt from the author’s hitherto unpublished memoirs, which were written on the basis of diaries kept by members of the family, personal notes and conversations.