Max’s War: The Story of a Ritchie Boy (The Revolution Sagas)
In 1932, sixteen-year-old Max Steiner has all the traits needed to succeed in his native Regensburg, Germany. He is handsome, smart, and a good athlete. Raised in a loving home, his auto mechanic father teaches him to repair high-end cars. But Max and his family are Jewish, and Hitler’s evil henchmen have been let loose on Jews, their schools and synagogues, homes and businesses.
Max’s school forces him out. The Gestapo imprisons Max’s father and then releases him but in terrible health. Max’s family closes the repair shop, sells its house at a discount and flees to Holland. Hitler follows them, and Max must escape alone to New York and then Chicago. When Max learns his parents have been killed by the Nazis, he enlists in the US Army. His intelligence, natural leadership, and language skills help him rise to the top in rigorous counter-intelligence training regimens. He is sent back to Holland and Germany, where he carries out dangerous missions and interrogates German POWs to learn the details of German military installations and plans.
The tormenting sweep of history from 1932 to 1945 tears apart not only Max’s family, but also his romances with two women, as well as friendships with schoolmates, co-workers, neighbors, and fellow soldiers. Author Hellmann presents these close personal stories side-by-side with larger-scope narrative accounts about the rise of the Nazis, their vicious aggression, and military milestones of WWII. The back-and-forth balance of personal and larger history blends well; however, the often tragic and sometimes triumphant personal stories easily stand alone and are the strength of this work.
