Author Presentations
While Choosing Sides hits upon many important aspects of German and U.S. history, the author has developed four specific elements for public presentation – as outlined below. Please use the Contact link to inquire about an author visit/presentation on one of these topics:
The Dilemma of Ordinary Germans
Ordinary Germans – a thirty minute lecture to raise awareness of the difficult choices faced by the citizens of Germany as Adolf Hitler and the National Socialists took control of their country – and address some key questions. What did ordinary Germans know about the Nazi attrocities? What did they do about it? How could this have happened? What would we do in a similar situation?
The Winterberg Tunnel
The Winterberg Tunnel – a one-hour presentation/Q&A session on an underground passage that ran from a behind-the-lines supply depot to the trenches in World War I. When both ends of the tunnel were simultaneously hit by Belgian bombs, 250 men (including Albert Wessel of Choosing Sides) were left inside to suffocate.
The SS Sisto
The SS Sisto – a one hour/Q&A session detailing the events of December 18, 1934. In the icy waters of the North Atlantic, a German passenger liner dramatically rescued seventeen Norwegian mariners from their sinking cargo ship. Diech Wessel of Choosing Sides was among the passengers who aided in their rescue – leading to an audience with Adolf Hitler, who was anxious to turn this event into positive Nazi propaganda.
Neuengamme Concentration Camp
Neuengamme Concentration Camp – a one hour presentation/Q&A presentation on a little-known camp outside of Hamburg, Germany in which 47,000 prisoners were used for medical experimentation and slave labor – and many were shot or worked to death. This presentation includes the story of Ernst Wessel, one the primary (fictional) characters of Choosing Sides, and his service as a supervisor at the camp.