Boy Soldiers: A personal story of Nazi elite schooling and its legacy of trauma

This moving account of the ‘last forgotten group of Nazi victims’ is based on the diary and other documents of Dr Hans Dunker, brought to life by his daughter, Helene Munson. As a nine-year-old boy, Hans left his family behind in South Africa to embark upon what they thought would be a first-class German boarding school education. Instead, Hans has unwittingly started on the path that would lead to him becoming a boy soldier of the Nazi regime. As an underage combatant, with little in the way of provisions and training, he was sent to the Eastern Front to make a last desperate stand in the dying months of World War II.

As you would expect, this is a sobering story and Helene’s perspective from a family point of view is also very interesting, as she explores the effect that her father’s childhood experiences had on his personal and professional life in the decades that followed. • Published by The History Press at £20 (hb), £8.99 (eb), ISBN 9780750997119 RB