Eymann, Karl Verlorene Jahre

Kriegstagebücher 1941-1945

The invasion of the Soviet Union, the Russian winters, the siege of Voronezh, the retreat, captivity: Karl Eymann, who hails from Kleincarsdorf near Kreischa in southern Dresden, takes readers with him on his lost years, to the front lines and into the era of the Second World War. Karl's story is that of an air force radio operator in an anti-aircraft battery who rose from gunner to non-commissioned officer. He found and lost friends and comrades. He did not write his diaries after the event, but on the spot: during breaks in the fighting, in shelters, during sleepless nights, on journeys through the war zone. They found their way home in an inexplicable way and were preserved. Karl Eymann's war diaries, together with his photo albums filled with pictures, are not only a unique testimony to local history, they are also a reminder of the horror that war can reveal. Karl Eymann (1917-1991) was the son of a bricklayer foreman and his wife, who ran a small grocery store in their family home in Kleincarsdorf (municipality of Kreischa). After leaving school, he became a painter's apprentice until he was drafted into the Reich Labour Service (RAD). From there, he seamlessly transitioned into the Wehrmacht. In 1939, he took part in the occupation of Czechoslovakia, and in 1939 in the beginning of the Polish campaign and the Blitzkrieg in the West. His initial enthusiasm gradually gave way to resignation, bitterness and doubt. Eymann experienced the war in the East from 1941 to 1945, close to the front line. After his release from captivity, he opened a successful paint shop, which he ran until his retirement in 1982. Throughout his life, he had an artistic and creative streak, which he only fully explored in his retirement. He left his war diaries to his descendants, who have now released them for publication.