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ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATED 1943 AUTOBIOGRAPHY BY KNIGHTS CROSS RECIPIENT PARATROOPER GENERAL BERNHARD RAMCKE

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This is a 1943 Nazi book called Vom Schiffsjungen zum Fallschirmjäger (From Ship Cabin Boy to Paratrooper) written by Ritterkreuz recipient and renowned war hero General Bernhard Ramcke. It is the story of his life from his youth to mid-World War II, and the book was finished a year or so before Generalleutnant Ramcke was captured by US forces.

During World War II General Bernhard Ramcke led Fallschirmjäger units in Crete, North Africa, Italy, the Soviet Union and France, until he was captured by American forces at the conclusion of the Battle for Brest on 19 September 1944, the same day he was awarded the Swords (99th recipient) and Diamonds (20th recipient) to his Knight's Cross medal.

The 270+ page book has a foreword by Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring in which he urges all young Germans to read this book as the life and career of Generalleutnant Ramcke was such a superb example of enthusiasm, idealism, drive and character.

The Göring foreword is followed by a full-page studio portrait of Generalleutnant Bernhard Ramcke wearing his Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves.

Chapters cover Ramcke’s youth, his time as a young sailor, his World War I service and his time in the postwar Reichswehr, the transformation of the Reichswehr into the new Nazi Wehrmacht, the invasion of Poland, and leading Nazi paratroopers during Operation Mercury in 1941, during which they captured the island of Crete, followed by heroic service in North Africa.

There are 39 black & white pictures showing Ramcke as a sailor in front of the Chilean cost, in Flanders in 1915-16 (Stosstrupp der 12. Kompanie, 2. Matrosen-Regiment), near the end of World War I as a young Leutnant, meeting Field Marshal von Mackensen in 1938, and in the North African desert with Fallschirmjäger, and even with Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. The Nazi paratrooper Memorial on the island of Crete is also pictured, as is a rare marriage by proxy ceremony in North Africa with Ramcke presiding.

Above, a rare picture of Ramcke at the proxy wedding of a Nazi paratrooper near Bab el Cattare in the North African desert.

The 7-¼ x 9-¾ inch hardcover book has remarkable content on 242 pages plus 32 seldom seen photo pages and was published by Verlag Die Wehrmacht in Berlin in 1943.

The pages of the 80+ year old example of Vom Schiffsjungen zum Fallschirmjäger are in nice used condition. The cover has been repaired by a previous owner by scotch taping the entire spine. No odor.