The Way of the Hunter: The Story of Gottfried Winkler, His Comrades and His Enemies

On April 6, 1941, German troops along with Italian, Hungarian, and Bulgarian military units invaded the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, setting the stage for a bloody civil war. This book provides a distinctive account of the Yugoslavian theater of conflict in WW2, based on the diaries of Gottfried Winkler, a naive patriotic teen drafted into the German Wehrmacht. It combines personal interviews with firsthand accounts of the horrors and humanity of common foot soldiers, along with photographs to bring the past to life.

Format: Hardback
Length: 304 pages
Publication date: 28 March 2024
Publisher: Casemate Publishers

On April 6, 1941, German troops, accompanied by Italian, Hungarian, and Bulgarian military units, launched a devastating invasion into the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Within a span of less than two weeks, the Kingdom fell, paving the way for a protracted and brutal civil war that the occupying Axis forces desperately sought to control. This book, based on extensive research spanning years, presents a unique perspective on the relatively unknown and under-researched Yugoslavian theater of conflict during World War II. The narrative unfolds through the detailed diaries of Gottfried Winkler, a young and patriotic teen from a small town in Saxony who, against his will, is drafted into the German Wehrmacht and sent to Yugoslavia for occupation duty. This is the story of an emerging adult navigating the challenges of war, balancing his friendships and romantic relationships with his daily existence in combat and striving to survive. However, the book goes beyond Winkler's personal accounts. His narratives are seamlessly woven into the historical record, complemented by personal interviews from his comrades and enemies, offering firsthand accounts of the horrors and humanity experienced by ordinary foot soldiers in World War II Yugoslavia. An extensive array of photographs, some captured by Winkler himself, vividly bring to life the people, landscapes, and war that the Axis and Allied fighters encountered. Furthermore, Winkler's wartime travels are re-traced in the 21st century, connecting the past with the present, revealing that the scars and memories of World War II continue to resonate with the peoples and land that Winston Churchill famously referred to as the "soft underbelly of Europe."

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781636244051