Thanks for agreeing to let me ask you some questions Herr Herrmann. I understand you were in the U-boat service during the war. Can I ask what attracted you to join the U-boat branch?

Herrmann: Yes, Ernst tells me you are a good salty dog, but a young one I see. As I look back, young man, that is not so easy to answer now. When I was young like you and full of zest I wanted to be daring. Like many young Germans I was filled with the notion of daring Nordic warriors fighting a war under the sea. We would read about the exploits of men like [Lothar von Arnauld] de la Perière, [Walther] Schwieger, and [Reinhold] Saltzwedel. It filled me with excitement to think about being on board a boat and sinking enemy shipping. That stuck with me and never left as I was growing up. However Germany had no real navy after the first war, so it was only a dream.

When Hitler and his regime came to power that changed. You see he reached out to England and made a treaty with them that allowed Germany to start building a navy again. Going through the last years of school I knew my calling was there. In 1938 I completed all my obligations and applied to become an officer aspirant, meaning I would like to train to become a naval officer some day. I passed the testing and was accepted. This set me on my course. Before I could serve on board a U-boat I had to go through basic training courses and then was posted to a line ship, the Schleswig-Holstein, which helped to put all the sea training of the last year together into practical applications. This was how the early crews were trained.

Were you on board the ship when Poland was attacked? Can you describe what you knew about it and what happened?

Herrmann: Yes I was on board when we opened fire on Westerplatte. Little has been written about all this. The ship was slated to visit Danzig in August of 1939. We had no idea what our future held then. We were briefed that Poland had illegally built defenses on Westerplatte and had reinforced the area with artillery and forts. I remember it was very early in the morning when we received orders to open fire on their defenses. It came as a faint surprise to me. The media reports of tensions with Poland had been rising in the past few months. To understand this you must understand the history of the time. If you don't know I will tell you. Poland was protected by both Germany and Russia and during the first war was solely under German protection. After the war Poland was given much German land, including the citizens. They were just expected to bow to the new rulers. Some accepted it and others did not. Because there were tensions the Poles attacked parts of Germany from 1919-1922 and so on. This caused uneasiness for years after and resulted in border clashes and fights. The situation remained this way until 1939. We always thought there would be some resolution either peaceful or military.

Something happened in 1939 where thousands of Germans started fleeing Poland and told terrible stories of attacks and confiscation of their property. I know Hitler had sought to reunite Prussia with the Reich and was talking to Poland about how this could be done. The English interfered however and made peace not possible. Due to the attacks on the German population and provocations the situation was decided by military force. Our weapons opened fire and helped ground forces seize Westerplatte. They had a hard time of it because the Poles had built heavy forts on the land which made taking them hard. The strength of their defenses was underestimated and this became a longer battle than what was first thought. We succeeded in breaking them and they surrendered. I was able to go ashore after it was over to see the effects of our fire. We were amazed at the works the Poles had built up under the noses of the supposed neutral observers.

After the start of the war I was able to start attending training courses which you might like to know took a long time. I was in training most all of 1940 which put me on board torpedo boats to learn operations and maneuvers. There was always a course of some skill that needed to be done.

How did you feel when Germany went to war?

Herrmann: It was not a good feeling my friend. It is hard to explain to you. The post-war generation was raised feeling there was unfinished business; the war had ended unfairly for us. I think many Germans had that nagging feeling that somehow another conflict was inevitable. All of the post-war fighting, occupation, and reparations made Germans angry and wanted a way to set things right. Hitler told us he was going to do that and that the lost land would be returned and the crushing reparations would be stopped. In Hitler we placed our trust and he fulfilled every promise he made, all with peace. One by one the lands were being returned to us. Poland was the sole sticking point, all because the English decided to stop this path. Maybe someday there will be more truthful information told about this.

While I was sad that we had war again, I think for many Germans this was expected and a chance for redemption. It got out of control you see, I don't think Hitler ever wanted it to get as big as it did. Things happened I can not explain but it was as if the world was rallied against Germany when it did not have to be. What we thought would be a small local war to achieve a small final goal ended up becoming the largest war in history.