SARASOTA, Fla., Sept. 19, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- "Between the Lines" is not your usual World War II memoir. In describing the Allied bombardment of civilians, the building of defensive walls to keep out foreigners, and why Adolf Hitler was a popular leader in Germany, Walter Beller's gripping account of growing up in the war zone between France and Germany during World War II speaks volumes about important issues of our day.
Reading about how Hitler wooed the German population brings to mind what Hezbollah is doing in Lebanon. Through massive building projects, Hitler put money in the pockets of people who had scraped by during the depression. He restored German pride after disastrous defeat in the First World War and the humiliating Treaty of Versailles. Although an oppressive tyrant, Hitler addressed many of the population's dire needs.
Beller's description of the difference between American and French forces occupying Zweibruecken after the war demonstrates the difference between winning hearts and minds, and fanning flames of hatred. Despite the massive destruction of his scenic hometown, Beller bears Americans no grudge, because GIs shared their rations with him and his family, and they rewarded him for his English speaking skills. The French soldiers, on the other hand, confiscated his boat and stole his bicycle at gunpoint.
Think that building a big fence will solve immigration issues? Beller's discussion of both the Maginot and Siegfried Line makes it clear that these massive defensive walls, designed to keep enemies at bay, were spectacular failures.
With detailed research from British and German archives, Beller also sets the historical record straight. He points out that Churchill gave the orders to bomb civilians in Germany long before the Nazis trained their V2 rockets on London. He re-examines the so-called "Massacre of Malmedy" during the Battle of the Bulge and concludes that it is a misnomer, certainly not a war crime. (If Bill O'Reilly had read "Between the Lines," he wouldn't have gotten it wrong on his television show!)
After the war, Walter Beller became a businessman in Germany and the United States. Now retired in Florida, he has been an American citizen for the past 20 years and contributes regularly to American veteran organizations, in appreciation of how GIs treated him and his family after the war.
A powerful story of survival, "Between the Lines" provides firsthand evidence of the horrors of war and offers provocative lessons for our times.
For more information or to arrange an interview with the author, contact Chris Angermann at 941.232.0113 or via e-mail at info.bardolf@comcast.net. Author's bio and excerpts are available at www.walterbeller.com.