The Boy Who Went to War (30 page)

Reiner, Gunhild, Erwin and Marie Charlotte in the dining room. The house in Eutingen was filled with beautiful furniture.

 

Pforzheim's reformed synagogue was the principal meeting place for the town's large Jewish population. It was attacked and seriously damaged in November 1938.

 

The Marktplatz (or market square) in central Pforzheim. It was here, in 1933, that the town's Nazi authorities staged a public burning of books deemed un-German.

 

Wolfram's wood-sculpting tutor in Oberammergau, Johann Georg Lang. Wolfram became good friends with Lang's nephew, Werner, when they served together in a communications team in Normandy.

 

Wolfram, on the right of the picture, greatly enjoyed his time in Oberammergau. He was infuriated when he was conscripted into the Reich Labour Service.

 

The studio in Oberammergau. Wolfram excelled at his studies and was one of the best students in his year. He returned there after the war; it was the beginning of a lifetime's creativity.

 

A youthful Peter Rodi says farewell to his sister, Ev-Marie, as he begins his obligatory service in the heimatflak, or home defence, the first inevitable step towards military conscription.

 

Wolfram on leave in February 1944, his final holiday before invasionstag (or D-Day). It was the last time his parents saw him for more than two years.

 

Adolf Hitler visits Pforzheim and Eutingen, en route to the fire-damaged village of Öschelbronn, in September 1933. The Aïchele family were criticised by neighbours for declining to join the cheering crowds.

 

The Nazi leader of Baden, Robert Wagner, inspects a rally in the market square of Pforzheim, November 1934. Wagner was one of the most fanatical regional leaders.

 

Election poster, 1932. Women were instructed to vote for Hitler. Wolfram saw posters like this all over Pforzheim.

 

Poster celebrating the League of German Girls – the female branch of the Hitler Youth. Girls went from door to door collecting money, in this case for ‘youth hostels and homes.'

 

A 1933 street march of the League of German Girls in Hornburg, near Pforzheim.