Forgive Us, Wolves

Drafted into the army after one and a half years at the university, I was one of twelve inexperienced reinforcements sent to northern Poland to replace 43 experienced soldiers of an Austrian artillery unit who were killed in battle. On our march through Lithuania and Russia, members of the invading army lived with peasants ruled, until now, by Joseph Stalin. Shocked by the primitive conditions, we were convinced that Russians would welcome life under the Nazi Regime.

At the front line, I was...