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by Dan Chiariello (Author), Oskar Scheja (Author)
Before the first light of dawn on the morning of June twenty-second, 1941, Oskar Scheja stood on the western shore of the Bug River, looking to the east. The Russian army was camped on the other side. When the signal arrived to commence Operation Barbarossa he and his comrades from the German Wehrmacht stormed over the River and began an assault that took millions of Germans deep into Russian territory. For some the journey was brief. For others, like Oskar, it lasted for years, and the struggle did not end when the fighting was over. This is one German soldier's experience in combat and captivity. It is a story of bravery, despair, deception, and survival.
Author Biography
Oskar Scheja was born in 1908 in Lower Silesia. He was married and had one son. Oskar joined the German army in World War Two and led a platoon through many battles until his capture near Dnipropetrovs'k in what is now Ukraine. After the war Oskar left his family and immigrated to the United States in the mid 1950's. There he met another German immigrant, Hedwig Rittinghaus. The unmarried couple lived together in Newark, New Jersey, and later in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Oskar worked for many years in a machine shop in Bridgeport before returning to Germany with Hedwig in the early 1970's. He died in Vechta, Germany in 1980. He left behind a journal of his experiences during and after the war that would become this story. Dan Chiariello was born in 1964 in Hopatcong, New Jersey. He has lived nearly all his life in Northwestern New Jersey and resides today in Sparta with his wife and two sons. The exception was a two-year period from 1977 to 1979 when his family moved to Vechta, Germany, next door to Oskar and great aunt Hedwig. Dan is a graduate of Drew University and works today as an independent technology consultant.
