It seems like life was somewhat boring on the Channel Islands, did anything exciting ever happen?

Jo: I have to say to you, no. Life there was boring, and in war that was welcome relief. It felt as if we were at peace. The exciting times might be a flyover of an Allied plane, where flak fired, or a stray warship sighting. Of course our commander made sure we were ready to repel an attack, but none came. The only action I can recall was in the last months of the war, there was a raid on Cherbourg [France] in which the last drops of petrol and coal for military use was used. The attack was meant to secure more supplies, and to find out what the real situation was in France. French allies would come over at night avoiding American boats bringing what little they could. The news was not good, but the commanders did not fully trust them and wanted to see for themselves if France was indeed lost.

I was ill at this time and was not able to go, but men in my unit went to help with a mission to destroy the pier. It was a success for us, and they brought back supplies, prisoners, and news of the situation. By now we had a clear picture the war was lost. I remember feeling sad, but also glad that we would soon be home again. That war had gone on far too long and cost so much. We heard about the bombing of the cities all over Europe, but especially our homeland. We received letters through the Red Cross, but it was sporadic. We were ready to be done with it all.

Can I ask you about the claims that are being made today that German soldiers acted in a brutal way against their enemies? Often times I am reading accusations of genocide, rape, and overall bad behavior. Do you believe any of this?

Jo: Yes indeed, this is the prevailing attitude of many. Here in my own homeland the young were taught early on that we followed an evil man. They want the people to believe that we acted out of hate and racial supremacy. I can speak for myself and I believe many of the fine soldiers I was with, we are not guilty. I was in the East; I know how the war was fought. We were kind when could be, and hard when we were made to be by the enemy. We faced a very determined foe, who was led by ideology. Do not get me wrong, we were as well; we believed we were freeing the world of an evil plague. The Soviet soldier believed the same principle. I can tell you we fought to save Europe from them. I like studying history and I know and saw what they had done to their own people during the Bolshevik civil war. There was a slogan they used back then "the world revolution goes first through the Reich" that was their belief. Hitler sent us to stop any threat to our homeland and people.

I saw in the beginning all the supplies they had amassed, it helped keep our attacks going when we captured so many supplies. Because of the way they saw this war; they fought it very brutally, even on their own people. I saw examples of their crimes that we had to deal with. I see the old eyewitnesses these shows and papers use, and there is no shortage of them. I think personally they were coached on their stories, and have told lies so many times that in their eyes it's all true. I saw a TV show where a Russian woman is saying she saw German soldiers shoot all the children in her town. She had tears, and a very good memory. I think she was coached, a liar, or saw something that that was not by Germans. The partisan bandits were a creation of the Soviets, and were very cruel. They encouraged, funded, and sent soldiers in to help. Of course the security units and police had to deal with all these people. The bad stories I see on TV and in the magazines often deal with how these bandits were treated. They make them out to be heroes today, if it was any other nation dealing with them they would be seen as the simple thieves, spies, terrorists, and traitors that they were. They have what seems like powerful allies who work hard to cover up their crimes and to use any of our reprisals as an act of hate and genocide.

As I look back on my life, I know we did nothing that any other army would not have done, or did. We had situations where civilians raised a hand against us, and they were punished for it, some being executed. I am sorry, but I just can not feel sorry for such people who knew what the consequences of their actions could be. Look at the Channel Islands as a prime example. Sure there were small pockets of resistance, and criminals that were taken away, but the vast majority of the people acted very well with us. They were not harassed, assaulted, or unreasonably inconvenienced unless it was some odd war time temporary measure. If the occupied areas acted like this they were left alone, if they had bandits who attacked Germans or our allies, they were then made to live with more intrusive rules. I am sorry I am long winded; I just do not believe these stories that have been promoted by communists, and our former enemies. They for some reason want to keep Germany and our honor constantly under mental attack.

They want us to feel shame for the war, and we are sad it happened. However we did not declare war, the British and French did. They were able to escalate the fighting and draw other nations into it. Hitler, I believe, was forced into bad decisions, like declaring war on America. Although I was not on Crete; it is a good example of civilians deciding to join in the fighting. As I understand it the British trained and armed small groups, who later attacked German forces. Some of the attacks were nothing short of cold-blooded murder, and investigations were launched. When the guilty were found, they were tried, convicted, and executed. Today, Spiegel [German weekly news magazine] and others speak about a war crime, just short of genocide. They use a supposed German eyewitness who vehemently attacks his comrades as criminals. This happens all to often today. The civilians who encouraged, carried out, and hid the attackers were all guilty of unlawful battlefield murders. They were punished for it, and the rest warned that any future acts would be met with swift justice. It was the same in the East, France, Balkans, and Crete. We had people the Allies trained and armed attack us, then we were forced to retaliate. Only the guilty were executed, sure some innocents were arrested and detained for awhile I am sure, but they were let go after investigations. I can tell you with full certainty that we did not conduct the war in a way that was shameful or genocidal. Our enemies did at times, and it caused us to respond with harsh measures, that's how I see it.

What was the surrender like for you?

Jo: It was very ceremonial I remember. We received word that the war was over and the British sent over agents to work out how surrender would happen. We were ordered to turn over all weapons and to assemble. We were greeted by British soldiers, and a high officer gave a speech thanking us for the fair treatment of the islands. That is important, as there were no accusations, even against the SS, that wrong doing had been done. We turned over all weapons, and helped remove mines and other arms from militarized areas. Then we went to holding camps in France, and then to Britain where most all were processed and released in a few months. I can not complain, as we were all glad to have survived, and to have good food again. The British were not perfect, but they did care for any sick, and made sure we had good meals to eat. I was used to help clear damage and worked with their bomb disposal teams for my time there.

Are there any myths about the Wehrmacht you would like to dispel?

Jo: Yes, there are many myths I see today that need to be corrected. For one there was never any police or Gestapo in our ranks hunting down soldiers. Many shows today portray the noble dissenter being hunted down, while his comrades cover for him. These types of acts never happened. If one became involved in espionage or some other misdeed then the commander got involved to investigate. If the soldier was believed to be guilty then a court martial could be brought. The police had no jurisdiction over military matters.

In a sister division in the east, I know of a man who sought to defect to Russia and he was caught by the secret police, they had to turn him over to his military unit. Also, they accuse us of rapes in the occupied areas, this is false. If a German soldier ever forced sex on a woman or attacked her then he was dealt with by a firing squad. It's just that simple. I see the media portray us as thieves who could randomly steal from civilians. This is false as well, and could bring a serious punishment if it was bad enough. There are many accounts of soldiers who received arrest, fines, or were sent to penal units for stealing. One truth I must say, there were indeed incidents where soldiers tried to evade their duty, most all were conscripts seeking to go home. There were cases of self-mutilation or inflicted shootings. These were treated on a case-by-case basis as some were the results of a loss of a loved one etc. If it was a shirker or coward then there was severe punishment, otherwise they were let go.