Illustrated Diary of a Romantic Prussian Soldier: Heinrich Gimkiewicz - Tapa blanda

Imagine receiving an email from your Great Grandfather whilst he was fighting, a nearly forgotten war, in a distant land! This is what the author (KWK) experienced, when his Great Grandfather's Franco-Prussian War Diary was being translated from the old German text. A unique document, in that for the first time in history, Jewish soldiers in the Prussian Army, were permitted to attend religious services. Unter Officier Heinrich Gimkiewicz describes the event that is corroborated in literature and art. This richly illustrated work translates the diary, describes its discovery and correlates it to broader aspects of the war, and especially to the position of Jewish soldiers in the Prussian Army. It gives an account of how the romantic Heinrich was lodged with a retired French Army Officer and his "beautiful daughter Louise" which was to have repercussions many years later, and then follows Heinrich to South Africa where he raised his family. The author (KWK) presents his own diary when, some 134 years later, he went to France and traveled in Heinrich's footsteps where he was amazed to find how little had changed.

Keith W Kaye MD, FRCS(Edin), FRACS, FCS(SA). Diplomate American Board of Urology, a retired Professor of Urological Surgery, originally from South Africa, has a longstanding interest in history, travel and adventure. Recently these all coalesced with the discovery of his Great Grandfather's Franco-Prussian War Diary. This has expanded his enthusiasm for family history, genealogy and genetic genealogy. Thomas R Heysek PhD is currently a Resource Officer with the Department of Veteran Affairs based in Atlanta, Georgia. His Ph.D. Thesis entitled "The Battle of Metz, France 1944" covers aspects of the Second World War and in addition many details of the Franco-Prussian War and Siege of Metz. He has an abiding and passionate interest in Military History, and has taught courses on Western Civilization at Georgia Military College.