Word: lehndorff
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TOKEN OF A COVENANT by Hans Graf von Lehndorff. 328 pages. Regnery...
Early in 1945, the conquering Russian army surged into East Prussia and besieged the fortress city of Konigsberg. Some of the panicky citizens committed suicide. Others began learning welcoming phrases in Russian. Count von Lehndorff, a civilian surgeon, awaited the end with Christian resignation and continued operating on wounded soldiers and civilians until a shell dismantled his surgery. A woman told him, "Our Führer will never permit the Russians to get us; he'd rather gas us first...
When the Russians finally broke through the city's defenses, Von Lehndorff needed all his piety and faith during six days of rape, arson and looting. He was stunned by "these maddened youngsters, fifteen, sixteen-years-old, flinging themselves like wolves on the women without really knowing what it's all about. All this has nothing to do with Russia, nothing to do with any particular nation or race-it is man kind without God, the caricature of man." Very soon "none of the women had any strength left to resist. In a few hours a change came...
Count von Lehndorff is currently the house surgeon at a West German hospital in Bad Godesberg, and this new book is based on his diary of the two years he spent under Communism. First published in 1961, it has sold over 200,000 copies in West Germany-a success attributed to the author's obvious integrity and credibility. A devout Protestant, Von Lehndorff loved his God, his family and his native land. He hated Hitler, Communism and self-seeking men. His mother and brother were imprisoned by the Nazis and later murdered by the Russians, and he himself...
Perhaps the most moving of all the letters are those of men in responsible command positions in the German army, who did what they did with full knowledge of the consequences-not only in terms of traditional patriotism but to the safety of their families. Wrote Heinrich, Count von Lehndorff-Steinort, to his wife, on the eve of his "condemnation and execution" (he was involved in the July 20 plot...