The War Years

With the annexation of the SudetenlandSudetenland, annexation in 1938, swiftly followed by German occupation of all the Czech lands in 1939, Herwig’s childhood idyll came to a brutal end. The unstable peace that had prevailed since the largely German-speaking borderlands had been assigned to the newly established Czechoslovakia at the end of the First World War had started to crumble, with the rise of German nationalism translating into electoral success in 1935. The young Herwig had been sheltered from these developments, but by the time he began his final year at the LandskronLandskron (Lanškroun) gymnasiumLandskron gymnasium, an air of anxiety was spreading across Europe. Herwig had little doubt what lay in store for him following his graduation. It was therefore with some trepidation that he packed his bags in March 1942 and left for a small village near BreslauBreslau.