The Margraten Boys - by P Schrijvers (Paperback)

About the Book

"In the peaceful Dutch village of Margraten, a stone's throw from what once was Nazi Germany, ten thousand young American men are forever resting side by side amid rich pastures and lush orchards. They fought and died in the most epic battles of World War II in Europe: Operation Market Garden, the Siegfried Line campaign, the Heurtgen Forest, the Battle of the Bulge, the Rhine and Roer River crossings, and the air offensive over Germany. In 1945 the liberated villagers vowed never to forget the sacrifices of the Margraten boys. This is the moving story of how, in a unique way, these grateful villagers have kept their word to the GIs and their families in America by caring for the graves of the soldiers up until the present day"--

Book Synopsis

Harrowing and redeeming, this is the history of a unique 'adoption' system. For generations, local families, grateful for the sacrifice of their liberators from Nazi occupation, have cared for not only the graves, but the memories, of over 10,000 US soldiers in the cemetery of Margraten in the Netherlands.

Review Quotes

'...well-researched and draws on an extensive range of archival collections on both sides of the Atlantic. 'The Margarten Boys' is insightful in tracing the complex ways individuals, societies, and governments seek to commemorate and shape the memory of the past.' - G. Kurt Piehler, Director of the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience, Florida State University, USA

About the Author

PETER SCHRIJVERS Author of four other books on World War II, among them The Crash of Ruin: American Combat Soldiers in Europe during World War II and Bloody Pacific: American Soldiers at War with Japan. He teaches American and International History at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.