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47 Days: The True Story of Two Teen Boys Defying Hitler's Reich
In March 1945 Hitler ordered his last propaganda command: send all 15 and 16-year old boys to defend the fatherland. 47 DAYS tells the true story of Günter and Helmut, best friends, who dared to defy and disobey. Without knowing how long the war might continue, they spent 47 harrowing days as fugitives on the run. Being caught meant certain execution.
47 DAYS is a novelette, an excerpt from the novel, SURVIVING THE FATHERLAND—A True Coming-of-age Love Story Set in WWII Germany. Set against the epic panorama of WWII, it is a sweeping saga of family, love, and betrayal and illuminates an intimate part of history seldom seen: the children's war.
47 DAYS is a novelette, an excerpt from the novel, SURVIVING THE FATHERLAND—A True Coming-of-age Love Story Set in WWII Germany. Set against the epic panorama of WWII, it is a sweeping saga of family, love, and betrayal and illuminates an intimate part of history seldom seen: the children's war.
72 pages, Paperback
Published March 1, 2017
205 people are currently reading
1005 people want to read
About the author
Annette Oppenlander
42 books319 followersAnnette Oppenlander is an award-winning writer, literary coach and educator. As a bestselling historical novelist, Oppenlander is known for her authentic characters and stories based on true events, coming alive in well-researched settings. Having lived in Germany the first half of her life and the second half in various parts in the U.S., Oppenlander inspires readers by illuminating story questions as relevant today as they were in the past. Oppenlander’s bestselling true WWII story, Surviving the Fatherland, was elected to IWIC’s Hall of Fame and won the 2017 National Indie Excellence Award. Her historical time-travel trilogy, Escape from the Past, takes readers to the German Middle Ages and the Wild West. Uniquely, Oppenlander weaves actual historical figures and events into her plots, giving readers a flavor of true history while enjoying a good story. Oppenlander shares her knowledge through writing workshops at colleges, libraries and schools. She also offers vivid presentations and author visits. The mother of fraternal twins and a son, she recently returned to her home, Solingen, Germany where she lives with her husband and old mutt, Mocha.
"Nearly every place holds some kind of secret, something that makes history come alive. When we scrutinize people and places closely, history is no longer a date or number, it turns into a story."
"Nearly every place holds some kind of secret, something that makes history come alive. When we scrutinize people and places closely, history is no longer a date or number, it turns into a story."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
September 4, 2023
Super short read, but such a powerful story. It's based on a true story. This was so raw and emotional for me to read. The harrowing aspects of what people in war torn counties have to face and the children that get drafted. I'm so thankful how it ended for both of the main characters. Such a tough journey and experience these two teenagers endured. So sad but shows the effects of wars in countries and the choices you make to survive during those times.
July 28, 2023
A short true story of how two teenage boys defined Hitler’s Reich. It is based on author, Annette Oppenlander’s father throughout World War Two. Their teacher told the boys they were drafted for the army and reported in Marburg in a few days. The boys were only 15 and some had barely turned sixteen. However, most of them were excited about joining the army. Gunter and his friend Helmut did not want to go. What these two brave teens had to endure in order to not fight for Hilter was difficult to read, but impossible to stop reading as their courage and determination at their age is so compelling. I love writing is easy to follow and I felt this book grabbed you in the beginning and kept you till the end. I thoroughly enjoyed this.
February 4, 2025
The fear teen boys and their families must feel when young boys are forced to enter the military during war. Very good book. A long, hard 47 days for these two teen will have you pulled into these characters emotions and thoughts.
February 4, 2020
Before the story begins, there are declarations, avowals, reminders of history to the readers, and more.
"Based on a True Story"
"I don’t want an intellectual education. Knowledge ruins our youth.” –Adolf Hitler"
"Until that fateful spring in 1945, I never realized what ‘home’ meant and what I’d do to keep it in my heart. How deep Hitler’s evil reached. How it changed the way I looked at the world and forced me to make an impossible choice.
"Anymore, my memory plays tricks. But though I struggle to keep my day-to-day life straight, I clearly remember the day everything started.
"I remember when we were ordered to die for the Fatherland."
............
At the end, another declaration:-
"47 DAYS is an excerpt from the novel, SURVING THE FATHERLAND"
If it were part of information about this book on Amazon, one need not have bought this after the novel.
The title, and the cover too, suggests, vaguely, survival of those that suffered the doings of the regime. But startlingly, as one realises somewhere along the line, one has been very cleverly, deliberately misled. It's not about the Jews or the resistance, only about the average citizens who weren't Nazi, and paid for the doings of those they never agreed with.
One has to agree they did suffer. And if one has visited Germany, met Germans in Germany, talked with them, one is all too familiar with several aspects of this - the allied bombings, the Czechoslovakia reprisals against Sudeten Germans post war (not surprisingly no nation East of Germany wanted to keep their ethnic Germans, who'd after all not only been the excuse for Nazi invasions but had often been proud of collaboration with the invaders), and more.
Except, they are usually vague, evasive, or worse, when it comes to talking about the holocaust victims. If they think you are of a certainty ignorant, which they assume if you're non'white', they lie blatantly, for example "Jews migrated" or "their confiscated properties were returned", and if they think they can get away with it, they tell you about Jews they meet in Paris who stop speaking with them when they find out you're German.
So one has come to harbour a growing suspicion that books like these are being written and published as a cloudy propaganda that frogs up the horrors of holocaust in pointing fingers at those that were supposed to be not victims of nazis and saying "oh but we too were victims, see, this is how we suffered". Such books are proliferating now that survivors of holocaust and their descendents are finally writing their memoirs, publishing them, and leaving records that are as undeniable as the Nuremburg archives.
A significant difference is that the memoirs are far more often just that, memoirs. Books such as these are on the other hand novels set in the era, and sometimes - like this one - based on true stories.
............
"Solingen, Germany, March 5, 1945"
"“Every man, born 1928 or 1929, must report for muster.” He paused, his breath loud in the stillness. “If found fit for battle, your orders are as follows: Travel to Marburg by next Monday, March 12 and find the office of the Hitler youth.” The paper sank. With it Leimer’s voice. “That gives you a week. But first you have to report for muster to update your papers. Everything else will be explained there.”"
............
The boys hiked in the forests, hiding from roads, and often procuring raw food from farms. One remote farmhouse had an old man who fed them. They returned home for a visit, and left again. It was still cold.
"I could never get used to the cold. No matter how fast we walked or how we wrapped ourselves in coat, hat and gloves, the wintry air crept into my bones. First, it sat on top, just a whiff as if somebody breathes on your wet skin. You shiver a bit, but get distracted and forget.
"But the cold doesn’t stop there. It is sneaky and mean as it knocks past the skin and climbs inside you. There it spreads with thousand tentacles until your insides freeze and your muscles stiffen and ache. Shivering is no longer an option, it’s a must. You have no choice. That’s when you get scared to fall asleep and die of hypothermia. When you jump up and windmill your arms to pump the slush in your blood."
Fair description of the cold that, in Europe, sneaks until suddenly one has a backache - unlike the brisk, bracing, freezing arctic air that sweeps through Northeast U.S., waking one into a new vigour, but never letting one imagine it's anything but cold.
The boys couldn't always depend on finding a farm, and once ate a dead bird in the forest.
"Oh, hunger, you nasty brother. Always present, always nagging. Didn’t we have enough worries already? Yet, Russians and Americans, the SS and assorted fanatics paled when it came to an empty stomach. In a way, hunger was a mightier enemy than people. Like the cold, it was sneaky and quiet. Always present, always on your mind. Causing pain in places you didn’t know you had. Hunger shoved aside logical thoughts, our prudence we so desperately needed. It would almost cost us our lives."
He was bitten by a wild sow and treated in the next village by a vet.
"We rested more, but the cold weather wasn’t finished and we soon had to move again. A few times we risked a fire, the damp wood smoldering and giving off little heat. I worried about the smoke being seen.
"More and more convoys clogged the roads. Plain soldiers snaked along in unending streams. I wasn’t as afraid of them now because I knew they had little to do with the SS and Gestapo.
"“Go home, boys,” they whispered when we watched from the side of the street. “We have no ammunition left. The Americans are close.”
"How close, I wanted to shout. How much longer? All I did was nod, afraid to get into a discussion about our wanderings, afraid of looking at Helmut’s face. We saw women pushing wheelbarrows with bedding, coffee grinders, pots and assorted suitcases, worn grandfathers with packs and children…small ones with thumbs in their mouths, some school age like my brother Siegfried. Everyone looked hungry and frightened."
............
"Author Note:-
"The Volkssturm or people’s storm was Hitler’s last propaganda command, not organized by the German military but the NSDAP, the Nazi party. All able-bodied men between 16 and 60 were classified into four groups from most usable to least usable. My father, Günter, born in December 1928, had just turned 16 and was in classification III. Military training was supposed to take place within the Hitler Youth (HJ) by the end of March 1945. At this point in the war, allied troops had been on German ground for months, German soldiers on the retreat. Weapons and equipment were almost impossible to find. It is reported that more than 1.3 million guns were needed, but only 18,000 available. Machine guns were even more rare: 75,000 were needed and 180 available. Originally, the Volkssturm was supposed to defend the home front. In the case of my father, the boys were ordered to find their way about 200 km south to Marburg. I assume this was done in an attempt to stop the advancing U.S. Armies who were already in Siegen, less than sixty miles from Marburg. One can only imagine what happened when these youngsters were confronted with fully equipped and trained U.S. troops. Did they even have guns or did they attempt to stop tanks with their bare hands?
"70% of these boys who’d grown up during the Nazi reign, volunteered. How many boys and men served during the Volkssturm is unknown. Their effect was negligible. They could not even protect single homes, not to mention a professional army.
"To some readers it may appear that this act of defiance, of not answering conscription is nothing special. My father didn’t shoot SS-men nor did he plan an assassination on Hitler. He was neither a killer nor was he in the resistance. But he did one important thing many much older and mature people neglect to do. He thought for himself. Then he took a gamble and followed through on his conviction. The way I see it, this was extremely difficult, considering how much pressure was put on the people to follow orders. In a dictatorship refusing to follow orders means certain punishment. In my father’s case, it would’ve meant certain death because even in the spring of 1945, cells of fanatical SS-men remained and many innocent people were shot.
"None of Günter’s classmates were ever heard of or seen again."
............
"At last, we got brave enough to hitch a ride on one of the military trucks of a German convoy. Well, that is, I moved out into the line, hoping that Helmut would follow.
"“Hop on up, boys,” said one of the soldiers walking past. He smiled grimly through the muck on his face, his uniform jacket splattered with dried dirt.
"So we scrambled onto one of the trucks, feet dangling over the edge.
"“Did you see the truck behind us?” I shouted over the engine noise, somehow emboldened by our ride.
"“No, why?” Helmut yelled back, his attention on one of the soldiers plopping down by the side of the road. The man’s boots were torn and he was in the process of taking one off. The sock underneath was dotted with holes.
"“They’re loaded with food, you know, military bread.”
"“Kommissbrot?”
"“We should ask for some.” Without waiting for an answer, I jumped off the platform, immediately regretting it as a dull ache shot up my right calf. After passing two vehicles, I noticed a soldier marching alongside with his hands on a rifle. That had to be it. Sure enough, the provisions truck was stacked to its tarped ceiling with dark square loaves like shoe cartons.
"“You think you could spare some bread?” I asked, thinking that it felt good to hear Helmut’s voice.
"The soldier, not much older than I, shot me an appraising look. “Two loaves. We aren’t going to slow down for you.”
"I glanced at the tall truck and the broad tires ready to squash me. I’d wait. “No problem, thanks.” Then I yelled over at Helmut, “We can get some, but I’ll have to wait to climb up till they stop or slow down enough.”
"He made a face and kept silent. Stubborn idiot.
"When the road turned steep, the caravan decelerated to a crawl. The guard winked as I took hold of the back ramp and pulled myself up. I carefully selected two loaves and stuffed them in my shirt, making sure not to upset the load. Though the Kommissbrot was dry and hard, the whole rye, wheat and molasses would fill our stomachs like a real meal. I wondered if the rumors were true that they contained sawdust.
"A shout made me look up. Like in a movie, the soldiers a few hundred yards back were jumping into ditches and running for the trees.
"That’s when I grew aware of a buzzing sound, growing rapidly louder as if someone had unleashed a giant nest of hornets. Gray specks appeared in the sky. They grew larger quickly—a squadron of low-flying enemy planes. Before I had time to act, machine gun fire exploded and the back of the convoy dissolved into a cloud of dust.
"Terror crept up my legs. The shooting sensation of adrenalin hit my gut like a fist. I was in the open, ten feet above the road, a perfect target. There was no time to climb down and find Helmut on the other truck.
"I jumped…flew…
"Rat-a-tat-tat-tat…The ground rushed up to me. I rolled into the ditch as the sky darkened above me. Bullets shredded the bread truck, pierced tarps and metal with ease. I covered my head and lay still. My right calf throbbed—the noise was deafening. All I could do was lie there and wait and hope that none of the bullets or shrapnel found me.
"When the blasts subsided, I sat up, noticing with relief that I was unhurt. Many others hadn’t been so lucky. The sounds of human suffering drilled into my brain—men moaning and crying. My first impulse was to run. Run as far as my legs would carry me.
"That’s when I remembered Helmut, and cold panic seized me. What if Helmut had been shot? Unable to control my shaking hands, I scanned the road. Soldiers lay strewn between broken-down trucks like throwaway dolls. Most lay still.
"I recognized the friendly guard from the bread truck a few feet away. He was on his back, eyes wide open, staring into the sky. His helmet had flown off, and the top of his skull was gone, reddish gray oozing onto the pavement.
"Another man lay on his side near the ditch crying softly, “Help me.” The front of his army coat had blown to shreds, his intestines visible. I tried to look away, but the man stared straight at me. Since I was still in the ditch we were at eye level.
"The man had blond hair, shaven around the ears, his eyebrows brownish caterpillars that didn’t match the reddish tinge of stubble on his chin. Blood gurgled from his mouth, and he sputtered as if he were under water. At last, he stopped moving, his gaze frozen.
"I climbed out of the ditch. I had to find Helmut. In my confusion, I couldn’t remember where I’d left him. My heart raced worse than when I’d run sprints in school. I hurried along the road, turned this way and that. I recognized the truck we’d been on, now broken down, shot to pieces. The wooden bed had splintered, its tires flat. Helmut wasn’t there.
"“Helmut?” I cried, voice high in my throat.
"Men were running and shouting orders, checking for wounded and dead. I dashed around the broken-down truck. I checked the ditch. No Helmut.
"With every step I grew more convinced that Helmut was dead and that I was alone, an island among the frantic activity around me. Until I couldn’t walk any farther. I stood amidst the chaos, my mind blank, my body paralyzed.
"“Günter?” Helmut’s voice drifted through the fog. “Over here.”
"I turned on my heels, watching uncomprehendingly as Helmut rushed up to me. Mud stuck to his right cheek and temple, but he looked whole.
"“I went to look for you,” Helmut panted, his eyes huge in his face.
"I searched for my voice. “I couldn’t find you,” I croaked. “I thought you were…”
"Helmut patted me on the back, a grim smile on his lips. It was the first I’d seen since the pigeon roast.
"“I’m all right.” I grinned back, then glanced at the sky. “Let’s go. They may return.”"
............
"Nearly six weeks into our journey and after finding nothing but rotten potatoes in a deserted field, we reached a small village about sixty kilometers from home. A pub was the only official building. No matter how small a village, every place had at least one tavern."
Still true. Even the large cities, it's not easy to find medical or pharmaceutical help on weekends and holidays in Germany or Austria and nor is it easy to buy milk for a baby, but pubs are everywhere and definitely open.
They met SS soldiers in the tavern, one of them known who recognised them, and were trapped, but escaped into the forest a little before dawn.
............
They were homesick and decided to visit home, even if for a few hours. There were white bedsheets hanging from homes including his, and he couldn't find his mom. He sat and wept.
"“Günter?” Mother ....
"Based on a True Story"
"I don’t want an intellectual education. Knowledge ruins our youth.” –Adolf Hitler"
"Until that fateful spring in 1945, I never realized what ‘home’ meant and what I’d do to keep it in my heart. How deep Hitler’s evil reached. How it changed the way I looked at the world and forced me to make an impossible choice.
"Anymore, my memory plays tricks. But though I struggle to keep my day-to-day life straight, I clearly remember the day everything started.
"I remember when we were ordered to die for the Fatherland."
............
At the end, another declaration:-
"47 DAYS is an excerpt from the novel, SURVING THE FATHERLAND"
If it were part of information about this book on Amazon, one need not have bought this after the novel.
The title, and the cover too, suggests, vaguely, survival of those that suffered the doings of the regime. But startlingly, as one realises somewhere along the line, one has been very cleverly, deliberately misled. It's not about the Jews or the resistance, only about the average citizens who weren't Nazi, and paid for the doings of those they never agreed with.
One has to agree they did suffer. And if one has visited Germany, met Germans in Germany, talked with them, one is all too familiar with several aspects of this - the allied bombings, the Czechoslovakia reprisals against Sudeten Germans post war (not surprisingly no nation East of Germany wanted to keep their ethnic Germans, who'd after all not only been the excuse for Nazi invasions but had often been proud of collaboration with the invaders), and more.
Except, they are usually vague, evasive, or worse, when it comes to talking about the holocaust victims. If they think you are of a certainty ignorant, which they assume if you're non'white', they lie blatantly, for example "Jews migrated" or "their confiscated properties were returned", and if they think they can get away with it, they tell you about Jews they meet in Paris who stop speaking with them when they find out you're German.
So one has come to harbour a growing suspicion that books like these are being written and published as a cloudy propaganda that frogs up the horrors of holocaust in pointing fingers at those that were supposed to be not victims of nazis and saying "oh but we too were victims, see, this is how we suffered". Such books are proliferating now that survivors of holocaust and their descendents are finally writing their memoirs, publishing them, and leaving records that are as undeniable as the Nuremburg archives.
A significant difference is that the memoirs are far more often just that, memoirs. Books such as these are on the other hand novels set in the era, and sometimes - like this one - based on true stories.
............
"Solingen, Germany, March 5, 1945"
"“Every man, born 1928 or 1929, must report for muster.” He paused, his breath loud in the stillness. “If found fit for battle, your orders are as follows: Travel to Marburg by next Monday, March 12 and find the office of the Hitler youth.” The paper sank. With it Leimer’s voice. “That gives you a week. But first you have to report for muster to update your papers. Everything else will be explained there.”"
............
The boys hiked in the forests, hiding from roads, and often procuring raw food from farms. One remote farmhouse had an old man who fed them. They returned home for a visit, and left again. It was still cold.
"I could never get used to the cold. No matter how fast we walked or how we wrapped ourselves in coat, hat and gloves, the wintry air crept into my bones. First, it sat on top, just a whiff as if somebody breathes on your wet skin. You shiver a bit, but get distracted and forget.
"But the cold doesn’t stop there. It is sneaky and mean as it knocks past the skin and climbs inside you. There it spreads with thousand tentacles until your insides freeze and your muscles stiffen and ache. Shivering is no longer an option, it’s a must. You have no choice. That’s when you get scared to fall asleep and die of hypothermia. When you jump up and windmill your arms to pump the slush in your blood."
Fair description of the cold that, in Europe, sneaks until suddenly one has a backache - unlike the brisk, bracing, freezing arctic air that sweeps through Northeast U.S., waking one into a new vigour, but never letting one imagine it's anything but cold.
The boys couldn't always depend on finding a farm, and once ate a dead bird in the forest.
"Oh, hunger, you nasty brother. Always present, always nagging. Didn’t we have enough worries already? Yet, Russians and Americans, the SS and assorted fanatics paled when it came to an empty stomach. In a way, hunger was a mightier enemy than people. Like the cold, it was sneaky and quiet. Always present, always on your mind. Causing pain in places you didn’t know you had. Hunger shoved aside logical thoughts, our prudence we so desperately needed. It would almost cost us our lives."
He was bitten by a wild sow and treated in the next village by a vet.
"We rested more, but the cold weather wasn’t finished and we soon had to move again. A few times we risked a fire, the damp wood smoldering and giving off little heat. I worried about the smoke being seen.
"More and more convoys clogged the roads. Plain soldiers snaked along in unending streams. I wasn’t as afraid of them now because I knew they had little to do with the SS and Gestapo.
"“Go home, boys,” they whispered when we watched from the side of the street. “We have no ammunition left. The Americans are close.”
"How close, I wanted to shout. How much longer? All I did was nod, afraid to get into a discussion about our wanderings, afraid of looking at Helmut’s face. We saw women pushing wheelbarrows with bedding, coffee grinders, pots and assorted suitcases, worn grandfathers with packs and children…small ones with thumbs in their mouths, some school age like my brother Siegfried. Everyone looked hungry and frightened."
............
"Author Note:-
"The Volkssturm or people’s storm was Hitler’s last propaganda command, not organized by the German military but the NSDAP, the Nazi party. All able-bodied men between 16 and 60 were classified into four groups from most usable to least usable. My father, Günter, born in December 1928, had just turned 16 and was in classification III. Military training was supposed to take place within the Hitler Youth (HJ) by the end of March 1945. At this point in the war, allied troops had been on German ground for months, German soldiers on the retreat. Weapons and equipment were almost impossible to find. It is reported that more than 1.3 million guns were needed, but only 18,000 available. Machine guns were even more rare: 75,000 were needed and 180 available. Originally, the Volkssturm was supposed to defend the home front. In the case of my father, the boys were ordered to find their way about 200 km south to Marburg. I assume this was done in an attempt to stop the advancing U.S. Armies who were already in Siegen, less than sixty miles from Marburg. One can only imagine what happened when these youngsters were confronted with fully equipped and trained U.S. troops. Did they even have guns or did they attempt to stop tanks with their bare hands?
"70% of these boys who’d grown up during the Nazi reign, volunteered. How many boys and men served during the Volkssturm is unknown. Their effect was negligible. They could not even protect single homes, not to mention a professional army.
"To some readers it may appear that this act of defiance, of not answering conscription is nothing special. My father didn’t shoot SS-men nor did he plan an assassination on Hitler. He was neither a killer nor was he in the resistance. But he did one important thing many much older and mature people neglect to do. He thought for himself. Then he took a gamble and followed through on his conviction. The way I see it, this was extremely difficult, considering how much pressure was put on the people to follow orders. In a dictatorship refusing to follow orders means certain punishment. In my father’s case, it would’ve meant certain death because even in the spring of 1945, cells of fanatical SS-men remained and many innocent people were shot.
"None of Günter’s classmates were ever heard of or seen again."
............
"At last, we got brave enough to hitch a ride on one of the military trucks of a German convoy. Well, that is, I moved out into the line, hoping that Helmut would follow.
"“Hop on up, boys,” said one of the soldiers walking past. He smiled grimly through the muck on his face, his uniform jacket splattered with dried dirt.
"So we scrambled onto one of the trucks, feet dangling over the edge.
"“Did you see the truck behind us?” I shouted over the engine noise, somehow emboldened by our ride.
"“No, why?” Helmut yelled back, his attention on one of the soldiers plopping down by the side of the road. The man’s boots were torn and he was in the process of taking one off. The sock underneath was dotted with holes.
"“They’re loaded with food, you know, military bread.”
"“Kommissbrot?”
"“We should ask for some.” Without waiting for an answer, I jumped off the platform, immediately regretting it as a dull ache shot up my right calf. After passing two vehicles, I noticed a soldier marching alongside with his hands on a rifle. That had to be it. Sure enough, the provisions truck was stacked to its tarped ceiling with dark square loaves like shoe cartons.
"“You think you could spare some bread?” I asked, thinking that it felt good to hear Helmut’s voice.
"The soldier, not much older than I, shot me an appraising look. “Two loaves. We aren’t going to slow down for you.”
"I glanced at the tall truck and the broad tires ready to squash me. I’d wait. “No problem, thanks.” Then I yelled over at Helmut, “We can get some, but I’ll have to wait to climb up till they stop or slow down enough.”
"He made a face and kept silent. Stubborn idiot.
"When the road turned steep, the caravan decelerated to a crawl. The guard winked as I took hold of the back ramp and pulled myself up. I carefully selected two loaves and stuffed them in my shirt, making sure not to upset the load. Though the Kommissbrot was dry and hard, the whole rye, wheat and molasses would fill our stomachs like a real meal. I wondered if the rumors were true that they contained sawdust.
"A shout made me look up. Like in a movie, the soldiers a few hundred yards back were jumping into ditches and running for the trees.
"That’s when I grew aware of a buzzing sound, growing rapidly louder as if someone had unleashed a giant nest of hornets. Gray specks appeared in the sky. They grew larger quickly—a squadron of low-flying enemy planes. Before I had time to act, machine gun fire exploded and the back of the convoy dissolved into a cloud of dust.
"Terror crept up my legs. The shooting sensation of adrenalin hit my gut like a fist. I was in the open, ten feet above the road, a perfect target. There was no time to climb down and find Helmut on the other truck.
"I jumped…flew…
"Rat-a-tat-tat-tat…The ground rushed up to me. I rolled into the ditch as the sky darkened above me. Bullets shredded the bread truck, pierced tarps and metal with ease. I covered my head and lay still. My right calf throbbed—the noise was deafening. All I could do was lie there and wait and hope that none of the bullets or shrapnel found me.
"When the blasts subsided, I sat up, noticing with relief that I was unhurt. Many others hadn’t been so lucky. The sounds of human suffering drilled into my brain—men moaning and crying. My first impulse was to run. Run as far as my legs would carry me.
"That’s when I remembered Helmut, and cold panic seized me. What if Helmut had been shot? Unable to control my shaking hands, I scanned the road. Soldiers lay strewn between broken-down trucks like throwaway dolls. Most lay still.
"I recognized the friendly guard from the bread truck a few feet away. He was on his back, eyes wide open, staring into the sky. His helmet had flown off, and the top of his skull was gone, reddish gray oozing onto the pavement.
"Another man lay on his side near the ditch crying softly, “Help me.” The front of his army coat had blown to shreds, his intestines visible. I tried to look away, but the man stared straight at me. Since I was still in the ditch we were at eye level.
"The man had blond hair, shaven around the ears, his eyebrows brownish caterpillars that didn’t match the reddish tinge of stubble on his chin. Blood gurgled from his mouth, and he sputtered as if he were under water. At last, he stopped moving, his gaze frozen.
"I climbed out of the ditch. I had to find Helmut. In my confusion, I couldn’t remember where I’d left him. My heart raced worse than when I’d run sprints in school. I hurried along the road, turned this way and that. I recognized the truck we’d been on, now broken down, shot to pieces. The wooden bed had splintered, its tires flat. Helmut wasn’t there.
"“Helmut?” I cried, voice high in my throat.
"Men were running and shouting orders, checking for wounded and dead. I dashed around the broken-down truck. I checked the ditch. No Helmut.
"With every step I grew more convinced that Helmut was dead and that I was alone, an island among the frantic activity around me. Until I couldn’t walk any farther. I stood amidst the chaos, my mind blank, my body paralyzed.
"“Günter?” Helmut’s voice drifted through the fog. “Over here.”
"I turned on my heels, watching uncomprehendingly as Helmut rushed up to me. Mud stuck to his right cheek and temple, but he looked whole.
"“I went to look for you,” Helmut panted, his eyes huge in his face.
"I searched for my voice. “I couldn’t find you,” I croaked. “I thought you were…”
"Helmut patted me on the back, a grim smile on his lips. It was the first I’d seen since the pigeon roast.
"“I’m all right.” I grinned back, then glanced at the sky. “Let’s go. They may return.”"
............
"Nearly six weeks into our journey and after finding nothing but rotten potatoes in a deserted field, we reached a small village about sixty kilometers from home. A pub was the only official building. No matter how small a village, every place had at least one tavern."
Still true. Even the large cities, it's not easy to find medical or pharmaceutical help on weekends and holidays in Germany or Austria and nor is it easy to buy milk for a baby, but pubs are everywhere and definitely open.
They met SS soldiers in the tavern, one of them known who recognised them, and were trapped, but escaped into the forest a little before dawn.
............
They were homesick and decided to visit home, even if for a few hours. There were white bedsheets hanging from homes including his, and he couldn't find his mom. He sat and wept.
"“Günter?” Mother ....
January 20, 2024
Super short read, but very interesting with great perspective. I do read a lot of historical books , and never read one of German citizens escaping enlistment . Highly recommend but kind of wish there was more on the aftermath.
May 30, 2022
I really enjoyed this book.
January 9, 2019
47 Days: The True Story of Two Teen Boys Defying Hitler's Reich
by Annette Oppenlander
My first book for 2019!
47 DAYS, a novelette and an excerpt from “Surviving the Fatherland“, is a true story. Based on my enjoyment of this excerpt, I’ll be reading “Surviving the Fatherland”, I’ve added that to my “to be read” list.
In the last few months of WWII, desperation drives Hitler to start enlisting the young 15 and 16 year old boys of the Hitler Youth group to defend the Fatherland. Best friends, Helmut and Günther, observe the demoralized German troops retreating from the advancing Russians and Americans, so they know the war cannot last that much longer and decide to disobey the order. Instead of presenting themselves for duty, they decide to hide and roam the forests for as long as the war lasts. Dangerous, for if they are caught they would be executed.
I appreciated reading about the German side of things and what they endured. The story is well written.
by Annette Oppenlander
My first book for 2019!
47 DAYS, a novelette and an excerpt from “Surviving the Fatherland“, is a true story. Based on my enjoyment of this excerpt, I’ll be reading “Surviving the Fatherland”, I’ve added that to my “to be read” list.
In the last few months of WWII, desperation drives Hitler to start enlisting the young 15 and 16 year old boys of the Hitler Youth group to defend the Fatherland. Best friends, Helmut and Günther, observe the demoralized German troops retreating from the advancing Russians and Americans, so they know the war cannot last that much longer and decide to disobey the order. Instead of presenting themselves for duty, they decide to hide and roam the forests for as long as the war lasts. Dangerous, for if they are caught they would be executed.
I appreciated reading about the German side of things and what they endured. The story is well written.
March 8, 2017
What if you were ordered by the leader of your country to march to a certain doom, to fight an inglorious war that you know is wrong on so many levels? That’s the dilemma two 16-year-old boys faced in Germany during the last days of Hitler’s infamous rule. 47 Days is the true, gripping tale that follows Gunter and Helmut and the path they chose to take to ensure their survival in a world that seemed doomed. This book will make you want to read the full “Surviving the Fatherland” novel from which this slim volume was excerpted.
February 4, 2022
I like how it is a ‘true story’, however, it is just about two boys who just hide in the woods and hide from solders so they do not have to join Hitler’s army.
I am not shaming the persons life story, but I am glad it was a short story.
I am not shaming the persons life story, but I am glad it was a short story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 5, 2023
Near the end of World War II, Hitler knew he was losing. This did not stop him from continuing the fight. When man power was dwindling, he reached out and drafted the Hitler Youth. These were young school boys. Helmet and Günter were best friends. They receive their draft notice in school and are required to report within one week to Marburg. They were told there would be no transportation and they would need to find their own way there. Günter goes to find Helmut. He tells him he doesn't plan to go. Helmut agrees. If they are caught they will be shot on the spot as traitors. Günter's father went to ward almost five years earlier and his brother left last year. This will leave his mother and younger brother all alone. Günter and Helmut start walking, slowly, deciding they will hide out in hopes the war will end before they actually get there.
This story is the true story lived by the author's grandfather Günter and his best friend Helmut. It is a quick read, yet a hold-your-breath type of read. I worried the entire time I was reading about what they were going through. I hear our youth today complain about such simple things when kids like Günter and Helmut had to worry about war, being killed, starving, freezing to death. It made me think about what was going on in Ukraine right now and how those children are living something similar. This should be in every middle school classroom. This is a definite must read.
This story is the true story lived by the author's grandfather Günter and his best friend Helmut. It is a quick read, yet a hold-your-breath type of read. I worried the entire time I was reading about what they were going through. I hear our youth today complain about such simple things when kids like Günter and Helmut had to worry about war, being killed, starving, freezing to death. It made me think about what was going on in Ukraine right now and how those children are living something similar. This should be in every middle school classroom. This is a definite must read.
February 3, 2023
I will be getting “Surviving the Fatherland” to hopeful see more of this story unfold.
This is a quick read- I didn’t realize how quick. I should’ve paid a little more attention on the details listed on Amazon.
This book details the story of two German boys who were drafted to serve towards the end of WWII. The author is the daughter of one of the survivors.
Best friends deflect war- or at least that’s their plan. They survive hardships, enemy fire, a run in with officers and wild animals. All the time they are ordered to go fight for Hitler but Gunter has other plans. He has seen his family drafted and not return, it’s not clear in the book if they have survived, but he doesn’t want to end up in that situation. He wants to wait out the draft until the war is over.
It really hits hard to know that innocent people were struggling to survive because of someone’s greed and discrimination. There were families torn apart and children sent off to fight a war they wanted no part of.
It’s really heart wrenching to read view points from German citizens who did not support the war but their lives were torn apart because of it.
It really opens your eyes to everything that happened. I’ve always been interested in WWII and I’ll be finding more stories to read because this has piqued my interest.
This is a quick read- I didn’t realize how quick. I should’ve paid a little more attention on the details listed on Amazon.
This book details the story of two German boys who were drafted to serve towards the end of WWII. The author is the daughter of one of the survivors.
Best friends deflect war- or at least that’s their plan. They survive hardships, enemy fire, a run in with officers and wild animals. All the time they are ordered to go fight for Hitler but Gunter has other plans. He has seen his family drafted and not return, it’s not clear in the book if they have survived, but he doesn’t want to end up in that situation. He wants to wait out the draft until the war is over.
It really hits hard to know that innocent people were struggling to survive because of someone’s greed and discrimination. There were families torn apart and children sent off to fight a war they wanted no part of.
It’s really heart wrenching to read view points from German citizens who did not support the war but their lives were torn apart because of it.
It really opens your eyes to everything that happened. I’ve always been interested in WWII and I’ll be finding more stories to read because this has piqued my interest.
April 19, 2021
So the opening scene of 47 Days by Annette Oppenlander, was that Gunter , the main character, said that he was sitting on his hands to keep them warm, and in my opinion I thought that was cool because I knew that it was in the winter. After the citywide bombing of November really drew me in because right when I read that I thought it was a survival story. I really enjoyed this book because there were just 2 boys running towards and from war and I thought that was really interesting. I did not think that the ending of the book was going to end the way that it did. I thought the ending was going to be something exciting and dangerous but it was the opposite. I would recommend this book to others because it is a survival book and if people like survival books then this would be a perfect fit.
I would rate this book 4 stars.
I would rate this book 4 stars.
April 3, 2023
47 days is certainly a mixed read for me. The story starts off interesting, slows down it’s pace heavily for the exposition, and comes back with a really interesting and unexpected climax. The story gets a bit repetitive though, due to half of the plot just being conversations between Gunter and Helmut in a non-thoroughly described forest. However, there were some things I enjoyed about the book. There’s only two main characters, so it’s easy to keep track of the plot. Germans having defied Hitlers Reich is a topic I would have never seen or even thought about before I read this book. And, on top of this, the cherry on top has to be chapters being named on the number of days survived. There isn’t much else to talk about though, as this book was pretty basic, with not much else sticking out to me. Overall, due to the many upsides and downsides in the book, I’d rate it 3/5 stars.
August 13, 2025
This story was beautifully written. It captivated such a heart wrenching story about the reality of German boys; who were full of fear of the war and mistrust in Hilter. Choosing to dodge the SS and nazi soldiers, two boys embark in an unknown journey, finding their way into dangerous situations. Visiting various villages during their journey, not knowing the outcome of who may open their home to let them eat or turn them into the SS. Unsure of the outcome of war, and how long can they keep up their journey, they keep pushing regardless of their bickering and second thoughts. Will their family still be alive if they go back home, if the war is even over anytime soon? Will they be shot at? Will their village even be there if they come back? Do they turn themselves in? Powerful, it will keep you at the edge of your seat. Enjoyed this lovely book. Bravo!
September 6, 2017
No matter how many books I read about WW2, I learn something new every time. There are so many aspects to that war, that it could take a lifetime to delve into all of them. This book was more of a novelette, which is a complaint of mine. I wish there were more about the before or after of these boys' lives. However, as the title states, this book is focused on their 47 days. So I get that. But the simple, human way in which the tale was told was perfect. I think in the United States we often focus on the Nazis or devoted Hitler followers during WW2, but there were probably equal if not more German people who just tried to get by. This was the perfect example of that, and a quick, worthwhile read.
June 18, 2022
First off, I love the cover. The story was very interesting and engaging, though it started to drag a little bit for me about two-thirds of the way through, but it does pick up in intensity soon there after. I think many boys at our school will really like this book and the fact that it is a short novelette will be a help for reluctant readers. I will be recommending this book to our students. My biggest knock against the book is the font used, something more standard would have been easier to read. Clean read.
October 8, 2024
This is an excerpt of Surviving The Fatherland by Annette Oppenlander, a brief published novelette that tells of the two boys who chose to run away when Hitler called for 15 and 16-year-olds to be drafted. It was near the end of World War II, and he was losing and desperate. What they did and how they survived, sometimes roasting a dead wild bird, roasting and eating that small thing just to keep going, often sleeping in freezing weather, shows their incredible determination to escape war and survive. It's quick but certainly memorable.
February 19, 2019
My only complaint is that the title misleads readers into thinking it's a memoir when instead Annette must have recorded the story. Also that it is very brief, too brief and should be more openly identified as a segment of a larger work. The story itself sounds as if it were narrated to Ms. Oppenlander: it sounds authentic.
October 22, 2025
Amazing book, I couldn’t stop reading it as it was amazing to read it through the eyes of Günter and see just how mature he was at 16 years old and how aware he was. The writing and layout of this is insanely good as it reminds me of a diary but focuses on the important dates rather than every single day
August 27, 2022
I really liked this story. It’s about resistance that isn’t as often talked about from WW2. Her writing is captivating and I love that it’s her father’s story. I wish it was a full novel though and not a novelette because I want to know more about his life before.
January 28, 2024
Beyond spectacular read for people who want to learn how life in the final stages of the second World War. It supports such a strong story with great story telling, in which causes you to fully immerse yourself inside the text. Great read, recommend greatly.
April 6, 2024
This was difficult to read at times, as many true life experiences during World War ll are. I wish the author would have included the outcome for Gunter’s father and older brother. I did some research, but couldn’t find anything.
December 22, 2024
This is a good novella, based on a true story. I think you could add more detail, add more days, go deeper in the story and have a really good novel. It is hard to really feel the story since it is so short.
March 12, 2025
Realistic and Thrilling
This saga of two young teenagers conscripted into the German Army, follows their adventures in avoiding reporting to their assigned station.
Interesting and factual.
This saga of two young teenagers conscripted into the German Army, follows their adventures in avoiding reporting to their assigned station.
Interesting and factual.
May 16, 2025
A true story of two teenage boys defying Hitter’s Reich. This is a beautiful story of how two boys think for themselves and decide they do not want to be a part of Hitler’s army and the struggles they encounter to stay hidden.
Read
July 25, 2025I can’t rate this book. It’s an excerpt from a novel - Surviving the Fatherland - which was an excellent book. I just didn’t realize it when I purchased the book. It’s more like reading a diary but well with the read.
March 19, 2019
Guess I'll be reading the full version now. That was only a prequel.
July 24, 2021
This was a story about kids trying to avoid the draft in Nazi Germany. I'm sure my students will like it. It's presented in a way that's pretty easy to understand and relate to.
December 9, 2022
read for grade 11 literary studies class
March 26, 2023
It definitely made me wat to read Surviving The Fatherland. This was a good excerpt.
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