A Tale of Two Soldiers: The Unexpected Friendship between a WWII American Jewish Sniper and a German Military Pilot

Max Gendelman

ISBN 10: 162652288X / ISBN 13: 9781626522886

Published by Two Harbors Press, 2013

About this Item

Seller Inventory # Abebooks553849

Bibliographic Details

• Title: A Tale of Two Soldiers: The Unexpected Friendship between a WWII American Jewish Sniper and a German Military Pilot
• Publisher: Two Harbors Press
• Publication Date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 162652288X
• ISBN 13: 9781626522886
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

A Tale of Two Soldiers is a memoir about the unlikely friendship an American Jewish G.I. and trained sniper for the US Army, formed with a German Luftwaffe pilot during WWII.

On Dec. 18, 1944, twenty-one-year-old Max Gendelman was captured in the Battle of the Bulge, one of only a handful in his company to survive. Starving and dazed, his dog tags blown off, he was marched through German villages and eventually arrived at a farm the Reich had commandeered from a German family.

The family's grandson, Karl Kirschner, a lieutenant in the Luftwaffe conscripted against his will, was hiding out in one of the barns. To Max's astonishment one day Karl spoke to him through the fence; they discovered a shared passion for chess, and began to secretly meet to play the game.

As they got to know each other, they recognized what they needed to do; they formed a pact, a plan to escape together. This was the start of a friendship that would endure for more than six decades.

About the Author

A young Jewish G.I. taken prisoner in the Battle of the Bulge witnessed horrific images that left him shell-shocked. For sixty years Max Gendelman avoided painful memories by nurturing his family, business, and a lifelong friendship with the German Luftwaffe pilot who helped him escape. He received the Purple Heart and was named by the French Republic ''Chevalier of The Legion Of Honor.'' He died in June 2012, one month after he finished A Tale of Two Soldiers; he was buried with military honors.