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His Enemy, His Friend
When a German war-criminal-turned-soccer-star comes to play a match in post-war France, old wounds are reopenedConvicted in 1944 of war crimes committed in the occupied village of Nogent-Plage, former German Sergeant Hans von Kleinschrodt is sentenced to ten years’ hard labor. By 1964, he has become the captain and goalie of the German champion soccer team—but he remains infamous throughout France, despite his insistence that he alone defied orders to slaughter the villagers when the Allied Forces arrived. When the German team must face the French champions in Rouen, the very city where Hans was sentenced twenty years earlier, the stage is set for a grudge match—and revenge.
146 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1967
About the author
John R. Tunis
45 books11 followersJohn Roberts Tunis "the 'inventor' of the modern sports story",was an American writer and broadcaster. Known for his juvenile sports novels, Tunis also wrote short stories and non-fiction, including a weekly sports column for the New Yorker magazine. As a commentator Tunis was part of the first trans-Atlantic sports cast and the first broadcast of the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament to the United States.
After graduating from Harvard and serving in the Army during World War I, Tunis began his writing career freelancing for American sports magazines while playing tennis in the Rivera. For the next two decades he wrote short stories and articles about sports and education for magazines including Reader's Digest, The Saturday Evening Post and Esquire.
Tunis' work often protested the increasing professionalization of sports in America. He believed that amateur participation in sports taught values important for good citizenship like perseverance, fair play and equality, and that the emphasis on professional sports was turning America into a country of spectators. His sports books also tackled current social issues such as antisemitism and racial equality.
Though Tunis never considered himself a children's writer, all but one of his twenty-four books were published for juveniles; their success helped create the juvenile fiction book market in the 1940s. Books like Iron Duke (1938), All American (1942) and Keystone Kids (1943) were well received by readers and critics. Iron Duke received the New York Herald Tribune Spring Book Festival Award for best juvenile novel and was named a The Horn Book Magazine Best Book. The Child Study Association of America gave its Golden Scroll Award to Keystone Kids.
In his tribute to the writer, Bernard Hayes said "Tunis has probably made good readers of millions of young people." His success with the juvenile audience helped change the publishing industry. Along with writers like Howard Pease, his books demonstrated to publishers that there was money to be made in targeting books for teenagers. His influence went beyond simply creating a market for young adult books. "In his attempt to link sports with the communities in which they are played, he broached some highly significant issues in the literature written for and about America's youth", according to John S. Simmons in John R. Tunis and the Sports Novels for Adolescents: A Little Ahead of His Time. Tunis never considered himself a writer of boys' books, insisting his stories could be read and enjoyed by adults. He felt that the word "juvenile" was an "odious... product of a merchandising age". Despite his dislike of the term, Tunis' novels helped create and shape the juvenile fiction book market.
After graduating from Harvard and serving in the Army during World War I, Tunis began his writing career freelancing for American sports magazines while playing tennis in the Rivera. For the next two decades he wrote short stories and articles about sports and education for magazines including Reader's Digest, The Saturday Evening Post and Esquire.
Tunis' work often protested the increasing professionalization of sports in America. He believed that amateur participation in sports taught values important for good citizenship like perseverance, fair play and equality, and that the emphasis on professional sports was turning America into a country of spectators. His sports books also tackled current social issues such as antisemitism and racial equality.
Though Tunis never considered himself a children's writer, all but one of his twenty-four books were published for juveniles; their success helped create the juvenile fiction book market in the 1940s. Books like Iron Duke (1938), All American (1942) and Keystone Kids (1943) were well received by readers and critics. Iron Duke received the New York Herald Tribune Spring Book Festival Award for best juvenile novel and was named a The Horn Book Magazine Best Book. The Child Study Association of America gave its Golden Scroll Award to Keystone Kids.
In his tribute to the writer, Bernard Hayes said "Tunis has probably made good readers of millions of young people." His success with the juvenile audience helped change the publishing industry. Along with writers like Howard Pease, his books demonstrated to publishers that there was money to be made in targeting books for teenagers. His influence went beyond simply creating a market for young adult books. "In his attempt to link sports with the communities in which they are played, he broached some highly significant issues in the literature written for and about America's youth", according to John S. Simmons in John R. Tunis and the Sports Novels for Adolescents: A Little Ahead of His Time. Tunis never considered himself a writer of boys' books, insisting his stories could be read and enjoyed by adults. He felt that the word "juvenile" was an "odious... product of a merchandising age". Despite his dislike of the term, Tunis' novels helped create and shape the juvenile fiction book market.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 24, 2018
I saw this recommended as a best sports book. I searched for it in my library. It was available only at the main library in town. When I received it I noticed it had not been checked out since 9/11/2001.
Shedding light on the tensions of foreign occupation during WW2, it is a remarkable story of war and sports overlapping in gut-wrenching ways. An easy read, but long remembered.
Shedding light on the tensions of foreign occupation during WW2, it is a remarkable story of war and sports overlapping in gut-wrenching ways. An easy read, but long remembered.
June 21, 2018
A minor German aristocrat who was a noted footballer before the war, and with family/fame connections, has been taking it easy for a few years in a role as a Sgt in a French seaside town where local people respect him. On the eve of D-Day he's forced to make a big decision that will affect the rest of his life and those in the town.
It's a great little story or all ages that I polished in a couple of nights (rare for me). It's got an interesting premise with no fluff and just enough character detail for me to buy into it (could have been stronger) and want to know how the drama played out. I thought it took a fairly balanced view of history as well, not making French saints nor Germans all brutish Nazis. Same was true for the post-war episodes. Over-all I loved it and thought that it'd make a great movie for this history-loving jock. :)
It's a great little story or all ages that I polished in a couple of nights (rare for me). It's got an interesting premise with no fluff and just enough character detail for me to buy into it (could have been stronger) and want to know how the drama played out. I thought it took a fairly balanced view of history as well, not making French saints nor Germans all brutish Nazis. Same was true for the post-war episodes. Over-all I loved it and thought that it'd make a great movie for this history-loving jock. :)
September 26, 2012
His Enemy His Friend by John Tunis
5 Stars and a Favorite
This is a comfort read for me. It is one of my favorites from high school and got me hooked on fiction. Up to this read I read strictly non-fiction historical pieces. I turned to this right after surgery. It is a read I turn to often even though I rarely re-read books. It also gave me a chance to write a review of it. It probably doesn't rate among the best novels ever written but for sentimental value I give it a 5 and a heart.
In the author's note Tunnis comments "This is a book about the conscience of a man." This is the best description I could give this book. Set in Nazi occupied France (Nogent Plage), Sergeant Hans von Kleinschrodt, a member of the World Cup German soccer team is more friend than foe to the citizens of Nogent Plage. Kleinschrodt is a mid level commander, accepting the position based on family commitment rather than commitment to the Reich. Kleinschrodt forms good relationships with the adults of the community and is seen as a hero to the young boys, particularly young Jean Paul Varin, who is a talented soccer player in his own right.
Days before the Normandy invasion, an underground attack from outside Nogent-Plage leaves a Nazi officer dead and Kleinschrodt is in charge because the upper level commandants are out of the area. Kleinschrodt receives orders from Germany to prisoner six men who are preidentified. One of them is Varin's father, a suspected Communist. They are to be held prisoner until they "give up the assassin". Of course, no one can identify the perpetrator because it did not originate in Nogent Plage. With no cooperation from the prisoners, Kleinschrodt is ordered to execute all six via firing squad. Not following his conscience Kleischrodt allows the order to take place. After the Allied victory, Kleinschrodt stands trial for the murder of the six and becomes known as "The Butcher of Nogent Plage". Kleinschrodt is sentenced to ten years of hard labor.
In the meantime, Jean Paul Varin grows up to become a star soccer player for the French always remembering the execution of his father and feeling the betrayal of his childhood hero. June 1964 France and Germany face off in the World Cup with Kleinschrodt playing goalie and Varin as the star forward. The story builds to a tragic end that provides closure for both men.
One of my favorite parts of the book is Kleinschrodt's address to the court before he is sentenced. It is a reminder to follow your conscience, that to do nothing makes one just as guilty as follow through, and that a nation should not become self righteous in its judgment towards others remembering that history can repeat itself.
5 Stars and a Favorite
This is a comfort read for me. It is one of my favorites from high school and got me hooked on fiction. Up to this read I read strictly non-fiction historical pieces. I turned to this right after surgery. It is a read I turn to often even though I rarely re-read books. It also gave me a chance to write a review of it. It probably doesn't rate among the best novels ever written but for sentimental value I give it a 5 and a heart.
In the author's note Tunnis comments "This is a book about the conscience of a man." This is the best description I could give this book. Set in Nazi occupied France (Nogent Plage), Sergeant Hans von Kleinschrodt, a member of the World Cup German soccer team is more friend than foe to the citizens of Nogent Plage. Kleinschrodt is a mid level commander, accepting the position based on family commitment rather than commitment to the Reich. Kleinschrodt forms good relationships with the adults of the community and is seen as a hero to the young boys, particularly young Jean Paul Varin, who is a talented soccer player in his own right.
Days before the Normandy invasion, an underground attack from outside Nogent-Plage leaves a Nazi officer dead and Kleinschrodt is in charge because the upper level commandants are out of the area. Kleinschrodt receives orders from Germany to prisoner six men who are preidentified. One of them is Varin's father, a suspected Communist. They are to be held prisoner until they "give up the assassin". Of course, no one can identify the perpetrator because it did not originate in Nogent Plage. With no cooperation from the prisoners, Kleinschrodt is ordered to execute all six via firing squad. Not following his conscience Kleischrodt allows the order to take place. After the Allied victory, Kleinschrodt stands trial for the murder of the six and becomes known as "The Butcher of Nogent Plage". Kleinschrodt is sentenced to ten years of hard labor.
In the meantime, Jean Paul Varin grows up to become a star soccer player for the French always remembering the execution of his father and feeling the betrayal of his childhood hero. June 1964 France and Germany face off in the World Cup with Kleinschrodt playing goalie and Varin as the star forward. The story builds to a tragic end that provides closure for both men.
One of my favorite parts of the book is Kleinschrodt's address to the court before he is sentenced. It is a reminder to follow your conscience, that to do nothing makes one just as guilty as follow through, and that a nation should not become self righteous in its judgment towards others remembering that history can repeat itself.
January 24, 2016
The title says it all. It was one of my favorite novels to teach because it had such a good message about human responsibility to others and students could relate to the characters who were much like them in their interests in sports and friends. The earlier review gives a great summary of the many conflicts in the story, so there's no need to redo that. If you want a story you can relate to that will make you think about hard choices and humanity, Tunis give it to you in this novel. I believe the story of Ourador sur Glane influenced the author to write this in the decades soon after WW II. This story of conflicted friendship may be more applicable today than it was when it was first published.
decided-not-to-read
October 30, 2009I started reading this and had a feeling that it could only end badly, and this is not the kind of thing I feel like reading at the moment.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews