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The War Within, The Story of Josef
This book is a biographical novel of Josef, a teenage Christian Polish slave laborer, forced to work in Nazi Germany.
At the outset of the story, he awakens after his left leg was amputated due to an accident in the factory where he worked in Southern Germany. A talented mechanic, even at his young age, Josef has a natural ability to understand, repair and fabricate machinery. Because of his usefulness, his life is spared, although slave laborers are normally considered expendable, and when injured, are summarily executed. German citizens are prohibited from helping slave laborers. Yet, Willie, a German ambulance driver only a few years older than Josef, saves Josef's life by taking him to the hospital and allowing him to recuperate in his own home. Willie lives with his mother, Sonya, a loyal German.
Through the course of his recuperation, Josef fights his hatred of the Germans; Sonya roils with emotion as she comes to see the injured boy as a human being, rather than "the enemy", while Willie questions his own motivations for helping the young Pole. Ella, a young German girl who is a cook and maid in a nearby house, befriends Josef. She struggles with her own mother's decision to remove her from school, forcing her to work as a servant. Josef and Ella fall in love and keep their love a secret through the war. When the war ends, they remain in French-occupied Germany, marry, and start a family. As a mixed Polish-German couple they face the ire of the Germans, and, when their eldest son develops tuberculosis, they fear losing him. Through the years, Josef and Willie deepen their friendship, but Ella and Josef decide to emigrate to the US.
This story offers a window into the ways some Germans broke the rules to help their declared enemies, and depicts the lives of ordinary people through the last two years of the World War II, Allied occupation, near-starvation, the agonizing decision to leave Europe, and their early years in a new land.
At the outset of the story, he awakens after his left leg was amputated due to an accident in the factory where he worked in Southern Germany. A talented mechanic, even at his young age, Josef has a natural ability to understand, repair and fabricate machinery. Because of his usefulness, his life is spared, although slave laborers are normally considered expendable, and when injured, are summarily executed. German citizens are prohibited from helping slave laborers. Yet, Willie, a German ambulance driver only a few years older than Josef, saves Josef's life by taking him to the hospital and allowing him to recuperate in his own home. Willie lives with his mother, Sonya, a loyal German.
Through the course of his recuperation, Josef fights his hatred of the Germans; Sonya roils with emotion as she comes to see the injured boy as a human being, rather than "the enemy", while Willie questions his own motivations for helping the young Pole. Ella, a young German girl who is a cook and maid in a nearby house, befriends Josef. She struggles with her own mother's decision to remove her from school, forcing her to work as a servant. Josef and Ella fall in love and keep their love a secret through the war. When the war ends, they remain in French-occupied Germany, marry, and start a family. As a mixed Polish-German couple they face the ire of the Germans, and, when their eldest son develops tuberculosis, they fear losing him. Through the years, Josef and Willie deepen their friendship, but Ella and Josef decide to emigrate to the US.
This story offers a window into the ways some Germans broke the rules to help their declared enemies, and depicts the lives of ordinary people through the last two years of the World War II, Allied occupation, near-starvation, the agonizing decision to leave Europe, and their early years in a new land.
381 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 26, 2016
19 people are currently reading
16 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 8, 2018
A different view of Hitler's war.
The War Within, the Story of Josef is a story about the collateral damage of war. Josef, pronounced Yusuf, was a Pole. In my youth we called him Polacks and there were dozens of jokes about the stupid Polacks. Josef was not stupid nor was he untalented. He got caught up in Hitler's war because he was untermensch, a subhuman. It's the same reason all humans have ended up as collateral damage. Josef was talented with machines and could fix anything. Not so stupid after all. Those that we devalue in the same way , like the Africans we in slaves and the Irish we enslaved call taking them off of their lands and transporting them to new worlds, where also collateral damage. That is the point of war , not just to win or to obtain land, but to make everyone else collateral damage but not ourselves. That is the way this world works and has worked and will continue to work as long as one group of people make others collateral damage.
The best book I have ever read on Hitler's war was "The I Tetralogy". That book demonstrated how Hitler was able to motivate average people into believing they were better than everyone else. Germany was diminished and devastated by the reparations of World War I under the Kaiser and Hitler got the railroads running on time and began building and rebuilding the country after the devastation of World War I. Patricia Walkow's story fits into Hitler's war and demonstrates how Germany and Europe were part of the collateral damage. No one wins in the war. No one won in this war. Read Anne Frank and see how people were willing to help each other no matter the cost to them in spite of how many Germans were caught up on both sides of the war.
Walkow's book demonstrates that at heart people are decent. In spite of what the government does and how it twists reality, people are still decent. It was heartwarming and affirming to read how Joseph dealt with is struggle after he was injured and how his wife, a German, dealt with her burgeoning attraction and love for her Polish husband. Walkow's prose demonstrates how the characters come to grips with their part , willing or unwilling, in Hitler's war and in dealing with the aftermath. Germans married to Poles no longer felt welcome in their own country or in Europe and came to the United States to begin again and flourish with the talents and skills they brought with them. After reading about these Polish workers I no longer think of them as Polacks as I did in my youth and would not other a Polish joke.
This was an excellent book and minute in its details of people being people and not combatants or evil people bent on humiliation and destruction of their enemies. This is the reality of war and the reality of good people being led down a bad path. I applaud the authors use of seemingly ordinary people caught up in extraordinary circumstances beyond their control and how they dealt with the restrictions Hitler and war imposed upon them. This was a dark period in world history dealt with in a humane manner without demonizing either side. In the end at heart all people are basically good. Well done, Patricia. A must read.
The War Within, the Story of Josef is a story about the collateral damage of war. Josef, pronounced Yusuf, was a Pole. In my youth we called him Polacks and there were dozens of jokes about the stupid Polacks. Josef was not stupid nor was he untalented. He got caught up in Hitler's war because he was untermensch, a subhuman. It's the same reason all humans have ended up as collateral damage. Josef was talented with machines and could fix anything. Not so stupid after all. Those that we devalue in the same way , like the Africans we in slaves and the Irish we enslaved call taking them off of their lands and transporting them to new worlds, where also collateral damage. That is the point of war , not just to win or to obtain land, but to make everyone else collateral damage but not ourselves. That is the way this world works and has worked and will continue to work as long as one group of people make others collateral damage.
The best book I have ever read on Hitler's war was "The I Tetralogy". That book demonstrated how Hitler was able to motivate average people into believing they were better than everyone else. Germany was diminished and devastated by the reparations of World War I under the Kaiser and Hitler got the railroads running on time and began building and rebuilding the country after the devastation of World War I. Patricia Walkow's story fits into Hitler's war and demonstrates how Germany and Europe were part of the collateral damage. No one wins in the war. No one won in this war. Read Anne Frank and see how people were willing to help each other no matter the cost to them in spite of how many Germans were caught up on both sides of the war.
Walkow's book demonstrates that at heart people are decent. In spite of what the government does and how it twists reality, people are still decent. It was heartwarming and affirming to read how Joseph dealt with is struggle after he was injured and how his wife, a German, dealt with her burgeoning attraction and love for her Polish husband. Walkow's prose demonstrates how the characters come to grips with their part , willing or unwilling, in Hitler's war and in dealing with the aftermath. Germans married to Poles no longer felt welcome in their own country or in Europe and came to the United States to begin again and flourish with the talents and skills they brought with them. After reading about these Polish workers I no longer think of them as Polacks as I did in my youth and would not other a Polish joke.
This was an excellent book and minute in its details of people being people and not combatants or evil people bent on humiliation and destruction of their enemies. This is the reality of war and the reality of good people being led down a bad path. I applaud the authors use of seemingly ordinary people caught up in extraordinary circumstances beyond their control and how they dealt with the restrictions Hitler and war imposed upon them. This was a dark period in world history dealt with in a humane manner without demonizing either side. In the end at heart all people are basically good. Well done, Patricia. A must read.
August 21, 2017
“The War within, The Story of Josef “, is a tale of endurance, hope and providence during WWII Nazi Germany. He is a Polish slave who lives and works in a factory in Stockach. When he loses his leg in an accident, he finds his life in peril because the Nazi solution to an injured slave is death. Josef is just seventeen years old.
The author describes Josef having to wear a patch with a “P” to designate himself as a “sub-human” Polish slave. There are strict rules to follow for slave workers and German citizens. But providence steps in when a small German family takes Josef into their home to care for him.
I always find it encouraging when I read stories like this. I find it validating when I see the best in humanity demonstrated by people who choose compassion over extreme challenges finding ways to overcome terrible obstacles.
Nazi Germany falls. Josef eventually marries Ella, a German citizen who also bears the social stigma of marrying a Polish man. Discrimination is too difficult for them and they worry for their children’s future. They make their way to America.
The way our government handled the “Displaced Persons” problem is well described. I learned more about this part of American history making me feel proud. These immigrants were hard workers, the best of the best who helped make America strong.
The family works hard, saves money and succeeds in life. When I finished reading the book, I felt encouraged. This is a true story.
The author describes Josef having to wear a patch with a “P” to designate himself as a “sub-human” Polish slave. There are strict rules to follow for slave workers and German citizens. But providence steps in when a small German family takes Josef into their home to care for him.
I always find it encouraging when I read stories like this. I find it validating when I see the best in humanity demonstrated by people who choose compassion over extreme challenges finding ways to overcome terrible obstacles.
Nazi Germany falls. Josef eventually marries Ella, a German citizen who also bears the social stigma of marrying a Polish man. Discrimination is too difficult for them and they worry for their children’s future. They make their way to America.
The way our government handled the “Displaced Persons” problem is well described. I learned more about this part of American history making me feel proud. These immigrants were hard workers, the best of the best who helped make America strong.
The family works hard, saves money and succeeds in life. When I finished reading the book, I felt encouraged. This is a true story.
July 25, 2016
There are millions of stories resulting from the horrific Second World War. The War Within, The Story of Josef is unlike most you have read let alone heard passed on by elders. Simply put, most of that generation did not talk about what happened.
Pat Walkow has done us all a service by peeling back the onion of what was life for a “guest” laborer in Germany during the war. Theirs’s is a different tale. Deprivation and hardship. For Joseph, a Pole working in a factory in southern Germany, it was doubly difficult. Joseph lost his leg in an accident.
We learn through this fictionalized biography not all Germans were Nazis and not all outcomes were in death camps. Many Christians also endured life in a conquered nation where human rights were not well respected. Joseph survived, made friends, blossomed with forbidden love, and brought his new German wife and two young sons to America – the land of opportunity.
Join Pat on a heart breaking emotional roller coaster as she weaves a tale you will not soon forget - The War Within, The Story of Josef.
Pat Walkow has done us all a service by peeling back the onion of what was life for a “guest” laborer in Germany during the war. Theirs’s is a different tale. Deprivation and hardship. For Joseph, a Pole working in a factory in southern Germany, it was doubly difficult. Joseph lost his leg in an accident.
We learn through this fictionalized biography not all Germans were Nazis and not all outcomes were in death camps. Many Christians also endured life in a conquered nation where human rights were not well respected. Joseph survived, made friends, blossomed with forbidden love, and brought his new German wife and two young sons to America – the land of opportunity.
Join Pat on a heart breaking emotional roller coaster as she weaves a tale you will not soon forget - The War Within, The Story of Josef.
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March 24, 2018MWSA Review
The War Within, The Story of Josef: A young man's wartime journey through cruelty and kindness, hatred and love, despair and hope.
Patricia Walkow expertly weaves a biography into a book that reads like a classic novel. In The War Within, the Story of Josef, we meet Walkow’s father-in-law during his time as a slave laborer for the Third Reich. Conscripted in his native Poland in 1939, Josef works first in construction on roads in the vicinity of the concentration camps. He’s then shipped to Germany to work in a factory. There, a deadly accident with a barrel incapacitates him severely enough that he cannot work. He will be executed by his captors when they discover his injury.
In defiance of the rules, Willie Mirz, a German ambulance driver, arranges for Josef to receive medical care by a German doctor and recover in a German home for a long enough time that Josef begins to fall into love with a German girl. This is a side to Nazi Germany that is rarely reported. Josef struggles not only with the amputation of his leg, but also with the concept of receiving aid from compassionate Germans at a time and place where they could be imprisoned or worse for helping him.
As Josef adjusts to losing a leg and grows to appreciate and understand his benefactors, he asks the question, “Heart to heart, are there any enemies?” It’s a profound and deeply philosophical question for a young enslaved Pole to ask. And it truly is the heart of this well-written and insightful book. Other threads that make up the warp and woof of this remarkable story are the themes of determination, courage, hope, fear, despair, love, joy, and new beginnings.
Meticulously researched and skillfully written, this novel begs us to depart from what we think we know and open our hearts to what can be. Josef Walkow and Willie Mirz have shown us the way. Patricia Walkow has faithfully recorded it. What will be our response as we make our choices throughout our lives?
By Betsy Beard, MWSA Reviewer
The War Within, The Story of Josef: A young man's wartime journey through cruelty and kindness, hatred and love, despair and hope.
Patricia Walkow expertly weaves a biography into a book that reads like a classic novel. In The War Within, the Story of Josef, we meet Walkow’s father-in-law during his time as a slave laborer for the Third Reich. Conscripted in his native Poland in 1939, Josef works first in construction on roads in the vicinity of the concentration camps. He’s then shipped to Germany to work in a factory. There, a deadly accident with a barrel incapacitates him severely enough that he cannot work. He will be executed by his captors when they discover his injury.
In defiance of the rules, Willie Mirz, a German ambulance driver, arranges for Josef to receive medical care by a German doctor and recover in a German home for a long enough time that Josef begins to fall into love with a German girl. This is a side to Nazi Germany that is rarely reported. Josef struggles not only with the amputation of his leg, but also with the concept of receiving aid from compassionate Germans at a time and place where they could be imprisoned or worse for helping him.
As Josef adjusts to losing a leg and grows to appreciate and understand his benefactors, he asks the question, “Heart to heart, are there any enemies?” It’s a profound and deeply philosophical question for a young enslaved Pole to ask. And it truly is the heart of this well-written and insightful book. Other threads that make up the warp and woof of this remarkable story are the themes of determination, courage, hope, fear, despair, love, joy, and new beginnings.
Meticulously researched and skillfully written, this novel begs us to depart from what we think we know and open our hearts to what can be. Josef Walkow and Willie Mirz have shown us the way. Patricia Walkow has faithfully recorded it. What will be our response as we make our choices throughout our lives?
By Betsy Beard, MWSA Reviewer
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