Henry Metelmann

Henry Friedrich Carl Metelmann was born on Christmas Day in 1922 in a working-class town near Hamburg, the only son of Fritz, a railway worker who was a staunch socialist, and Alma, his highly religious mother. Throughout the 1930s he was an enthusiastic member of his local scout group, which was merged with the Hitler Youth. He was seduced by the lure of Hitler and the glamour of the brown and black uniforms, the banners, fanfares and promises of glory, something that caused immense sorrow to his father, who died in 1940.

Aged 18 in 1941, Metelmann was drafted into the Wehrmacht – the armed forces of Nazi Germany – and the 22nd Panzer division. A tank driver, he took part in the advance across the Soviet Union. His unit was nearly destroyed in the Russian pincer movement at Stalingrad in November 1942 and he only narrowly avoided being captured along with the rest of the German Sixth Army at what proved to be a pivotal point of the war. The next two years consisted in near-constant retreat until his war ended when he surrendered to the Americans in western Germany in the spring of 1945.

He spent a year as a prisoner of war in the US before, in 1946, he was sent to Britain. He worked on farms across southern England until he was released in 1948. Most of his family were dead; his mother had died from injuries sustained in an allied air raid. On his return to his homeland, Metelmann found himself increasingly alienated by his countrymen's reluctance to talk about their culpability in allowing the rise of Hitler.

So, within four weeks he returned to Britain, where he worked as a railway porter and a signalman. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that this choice of job for such an intelligent and articulate man was influenced by guilty memories of his father. Rarely did he encounter enmity in Britain, although he was once thrown off a bus by a conductor, despite the protests of other passengers. Turnstile operators would let him in for free at the Dell to watch Southampton football club.

In 1952 he had married Monika, a Swiss au pair he met while working on a Hampshire farm, and they had a son, Mark, and a daughter, Gisela. In later years they lived in Godalming, Surrey, where Metelmann worked as a groundsman at Charterhouse school.

Encouraged by his children, he began to write, and vividly chronicled his early life and military experiences in `Through Hell for Hitler’ (1990) and `A Hitler Youth’ (1997). He recounted an episode when the tank he was driving approached a group of Russian prisoners who were carrying a wounded comrade. On the approach of his tank, the injured man was left in the road. Metelmann stopped. His officer ordered him to carry on. "I had to run over the injured man and kill him. I became a murderer," he wrote. He also described how peasants' houses were burned down in the middle of winter, when temperatures dropped to minus 40C.

He portrayed himself as a coward. After the Russian counter-offensive at Stalingrad, he left badly wounded comrades to die in the snow while he slid away to hide in a warm bunker. On contact with the enemy, his first priority was to find the safest spot.

The book also recalls friendship with Russians on whom the German troops were billeted. Some critics suggested he gave a rose-tinted view of ordinary Russians, who are portrayed as universally heroic, intelligent and humane. The books brought Metelmann national attention, leading to an interview in the Guardian in 2001 and a BBC Timewatch drama documentary in 2003.

Metelmann was keen to talk about his experiences, especially to the young, and equated the invasion of the Soviet Union by an oil-hungry Germany with the American assault on oil-rich Iraq in 2003. He remained a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain until its dissolution in 1991. and peace activist

In `Through Hell for Hitler’, he wrote: "The feeling of guilt for what in a collective way I have done to others, especially the people of Russia, lies very heavily on me. Coming to the evening of my life now, I sometimes wonder what it has been, a drama, a tragedy, a crime or a comedy. I cannot be quite sure. I have regrets for the suffering I have caused others, but no complaints about what others have done to me."

Monika died of cancer in 1980. Metelmann is survived by his children and a grandson.

Metelmann died on the 24th July 2011, aged 88,

Source: 22^nd September 2011 Guardian ???????????????GDN

Henry Friedrich Carl Metelmann  was born on Christmas Day in 1922 in a working-class town near Hamburg, the only son of Fritz, a railway worker who was a staunch socialist, and Alma, his highly religious mother. Throughout the 1930s he was an enthusiastic member of his local scout group, which was merged with the Hitler Youth. He was seduced by the lure of Hitler and the glamour of the brown and black uniforms, the banners, fanfares and promises of glory, something that caused immense sorrow to his father, who died in 1940.

Aged 18 in 1941, Metelmann was drafted into the Wehrmacht – the armed forces of Nazi Germany – and the 22nd Panzer division. A tank driver, he took part in the advance across the Soviet Union. His unit was nearly destroyed in the Russian pincer movement at Stalingrad in November 1942 and he only narrowly avoided being captured along with the rest of the German Sixth Army at what proved to be a pivotal point of the war. The next two years consisted in near-constant retreat until his war ended when he surrendered to the Americans in western Germany in the spring of 1945.

He spent a year as a prisoner of war in the US before, in 1946, he was sent to Britain. He worked on farms across southern England until he was released in 1948. Most of his family were dead; his mother had died from injuries sustained in an allied air raid. On his return to his homeland, Metelmann found himself increasingly alienated by his countrymen's reluctance to talk about their culpability in allowing the rise of Hitler.

So, within four weeks he returned to Britain, where he worked as a railway porter and a signalman. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that this choice of job for such an intelligent and articulate man was influenced by guilty memories of his father. Rarely did he encounter enmity in Britain, although he was once thrown off a bus by a conductor, despite the protests of other passengers. Turnstile operators would let him in for free at the Dell to watch Southampton football club.

In 1952 he had married Monika, a Swiss au pair he met while working on a Hampshire farm, and they had a son, Mark, and a daughter, Gisela. In later years they lived in Godalming, Surrey, where Metelmann worked as a groundsman at Charterhouse school.

Encouraged by his children, he began to write, and vividly chronicled his early life and military experiences in `Through Hell for Hitler’ (1990) and `A Hitler Youth’ (1997). He recounted an episode when the tank he was driving approached a group of Russian prisoners who were carrying a wounded comrade. On the approach of his tank, the injured man was left in the road. Metelmann stopped. His officer ordered him to carry on. "I had to run over the injured man and kill him. I became a murderer," he wrote. He also described how peasants' houses were burned down in the middle of winter, when temperatures dropped to minus 40C.

He portrayed himself as a coward. After the Russian counter-offensive at Stalingrad, he left badly wounded comrades to die in the snow while he slid away to hide in a warm bunker. On contact with the enemy, his first priority was to find the safest spot.

The book also recalls friendship with Russians on whom the German troops were billeted. Some critics suggested he gave a rose-tinted view of ordinary Russians, who are portrayed as universally heroic, intelligent and humane. The books brought Metelmann national attention, leading to an interview in the Guardian in 2001 and a BBC Timewatch drama documentary in 2003.

Metelmann was keen to talk about his experiences, especially to the young, and equated the invasion of the Soviet Union by an oil-hungry Germany with the American assault on oil-rich Iraq in 2003. He remained a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain until its dissolution in 1991. and peace activist

In `Through Hell for Hitler’, he wrote: "The feeling of guilt for what in a collective way I have done to others, especially the people of Russia, lies very heavily on me. Coming to the evening of my life now, I sometimes wonder what it has been, a drama, a tragedy, a crime or a comedy. I cannot be quite sure. I have regrets for the suffering I have caused others, but no complaints about what others have done to me."

Monika died of cancer in 1980. Metelmann is survived by his children and a grandson.

Metelmann died on the 24th July 2011, aged 88,

Source: 22^nd September 2011 Guardian