The Deserter

Germany, April 1945. The Red Army has reached Berlin, hellbent on burying the Third Reich once and for all. 13-year-old Werner Otto Hoelscher, a young, blindly patriotic member of HJ-Bann 37, is perhaps a bit too eager to taste front-line combat for the first time, and to uphold his reputation in his troop, and to honour the memory of his late stepbrother--but this patriotism and zeal is put to the ultimate test after he is sent by his commanding officer on a suicide mission. As the battle takes an increasingly bloody turn, divisions among his closest friends deepen, and Werner must soon make a choice between the lives of his most cherished friends and loyalty to the ideological figureheads that had once nurtured and indoctrinated him, who now demands all to shed their last drops of blood in the final chapter of the world's deadliest and most destructive conflict.

This is my first major project, and my biggest so far; I spent the last five years working on this. I'm anxious to bring this to Wattpad on its trial run. I hope you appreciate it!

DISCLAIMER: The Deserter is a work of fiction set in the 1940s at the end of World War II. Names, characters, organisations, events and locations that existed in that era are therefore portrayed in a fictionalised manner. This book is not intended to and should not be interpreted to condone, justify or endorse the ideology and actions of the Nazi regime; nor to glorify or justify violence based on race, gender, religion or skin color; nor to condone or encourage indecent or improper activities between youths; nor to trivialise or provide apology for the war crimes and crimes against humanity wrought by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. All instances and occurrences of the same, if any, that are held or done by any character in the story are symptomatic of the circumstances and culture fostered within this time period.