24 Hours: The Trade

Based on true events - a companion novella to 47 Days: The True Story of Two Teen Boys Defying Hitler's Reich

Solingen, Germany, December 19, 1944: Günter has had it—he is starving. After the bombing of his hometown, even the few food rations, they were getting, are no longer available. On the eve of his sixteenth birthday, he and his friend, Helmut, come across a battalion of returning German soldiers. One offers them his downtrodden military horse, if they can trade civilian clothes. Günter immediately agrees, even if he doesn't quite know where to find something suitable. All he wants is the horse, which means survival for him, his mother and little brother. He and Helmut set out on a treacherous night excursion—getting caught, means certain execution.

Based on my father's memories as a youth in World War II, 24 HOURS explores what a person is willing to do to survive. In December of 1944, the war had been raging for more than five years and most civilians were famished. My father saw a chance to fill his stomach and took it. The task of doing so would bring him to the edge of his abilities. But true hunger overcomes just about any obstacle, no matter how dangerous or cruel it may seem to our modern-day sensitivities.