The Death of Karl, a Memoir of a Lifetime

Karl was conscripted into the penal 990 ninth division of the vermact. He and his comrades laid land mines, a task that cost many lives. His unit took part in the withdrawal through the balkans towards austria. They were always the rear guard of the rearguard,. left in the most extreme and exposed positions. Their mission was simply to die while slowing the enemy's advance. If the enemy didn't get you, your own people almost certainly would - just for having retreated. Eventually, karl made it back to austria as one of only a handful of survivors from his unit. And as the war dragged itself to its conclusion, he managed to desert