Doubek, Günther Bleib über! Erinnerungen an das letzte Kriegsjahr

April 1944 - almost all of Europe is at war with Hitler's Germany. Cities and vast stretches of land have already been devastated, and permanent defensive battles are taking place on all fronts. Subjugated peoples try to free themselves from German occupation. People are war-weary, serious shortcomings are noticeable in all areas of everyday life - Hitler conscripts 15- to 16-year-old boys as war helpers, including Günther Doubek, a high school student from Vienna. Decades later, he writes down his memories, stored with incredible precision, initially only for his children and grandchildren.

"I started writing down my memories when I was 65. In doing so, I tried to put myself intensively into the situation, the knowledge and the emotional state of my childhood and youth, and to fade out insights gained later. What kept me from writing about my military days for a long time, I don't know exactly. There has been no other time in my life when my ideals changed so profoundly - and all this in a period of only 13 months."
What can convey history more realistically than the authentic account of a participant? How do people behave in an extreme form of government in which an individual has practically no voice? Hardly imaginable for us today - and that is why the experiences of a young person at that time, who experienced love, family cohesion and friendship in the midst of dreariness and senselessness, can undoubtedly answer many an unanswered question and make the situation of our grandfathers more understandable.