A Little Life

As a little boy, the author wanted to know what role his grandfather Karl, a Wehrmacht soldier in World War II, played. Sometimes the grandfather allows himself to recount a certain episode from his military biography. The sparse tales are filled with charm and horror. Seventy years after the end of the war, the author embarks on a journey to the places where his soldier grandfather once lived. He learns very little new about his grandfather, and much more about himself and his family. The places, people, encounters, and historical relics speak for themselves and for entire post-war generations, wherever the events took place: in Ukraine, France, Poland, Czech Republic, West or East Germany.