Alfred Zech, born as Alfred Czech (12 October 1932 – 13 June 2011), was a German

child soldier Children in the military, including state armed forces, non-state armed groups, and other military organizations, may be trained for combat, assigned to support roles, such as cooks, porters/couriers, or messengers, or used for tactical adv ...

who received the Iron Cross, 2nd Class at the age of 12 years.

Early life and military career

Zech was born in Zlattnik,

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( ; ; ; ; Silesian German: ; ) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located today mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic. The area is predominantly known for its heav ...

(present-day Złotniki,

Opole Voivodeship Opole Voivodeship ( , , ), is the smallest and least populated voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) of Poland. The province's name derives from that of the region's capital and largest city, Opole. It is part of Silesia. A relatively lar ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

) and was enrolled in the ''

Deutsches Jungvolk The ''Deutsches Jungvolk in der Hitlerjugend'' (; DJ, also DJV; German for "German Youngsters in the Hitler Youth" or "German Young People") was the separate section for boys aged 10 to 13 of the Hitler Youth organisation in Nazi Germany. Throug ...

'', as was mandatory at the time. In early 1945, Goldenau (as Zlattnik was re-named in a campaign to Germanise the Silesia from 1936-1945) was under attack by advancing elements of the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

. During the attack, Zech saw a number of German soldiers injured by mortar fire, and decided to use his father's farm cart to retrieve them. He made two trips, bringing a dozen wounded to his family home. According to Zech, a German general appeared at the family farm several days later and asked the parents to send the boy to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, for an audience with

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

. His father agreed and Zech joined several other ''Jungvolk'' child soldiers who were decorated by Hitler with Iron Crosses (2nd class) for bravery. The recording of the ceremony was widely circulated in German propaganda material. A photograph of Zech being inspected by Hitler was captured by Büro Laux, a German Foreign Ministry photo agency, and later – via Pressens Bild – distributed to the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

. At the subsequent banquet Zech stated that he volunteered to remain in service, unaware that his hometown was already captured and his father was killed in action, after he was pressed into the ''

Volkssturm The (, ) was a ''levée en masse'' national militia established by Nazi Germany during the last months of World War II. It was set up by the Nazi Party on the orders of Adolf Hitler and established on 25 September 1944. It was staffed by conscri ...

''. Zech was sent to the front in Freudenthal (present-day

Czech Silesia Czech Silesia (; ) is the part of the historical region of Silesia now in the Czech Republic. While it currently has no formal boundaries, in a narrow geographic sense, it encompasses most or all of the territory of the Czech Republic within the ...

). There he was wounded in combat, and captured. After his release in 1947, he returned home, learning about his father's death upon arrival.

Later life

As an adult, Zech joined the

Polish United Workers' Party The Polish United Workers' Party (, ), commonly abbreviated to PZPR, was the communist party which ruled the Polish People's Republic as a one-party state from 1948 to 1989. The PZPR had led two other legally permitted subordinate minor parti ...

in order to receive leave to emigrate. In 1964, he settled in

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

where he worked as a

laborer A laborer ( or labourer) is a person who works in manual labor typed within the construction industry. There is a generic factory laborer which is defined separately as a factory worker. Laborers are in a working class of wage-earners in whic ...

Personal life

Zech was married and had ten children.

Popular Culture

In the German epic historical war drama film Downfall, Peter Kranz is based on Zech, a member of the Hitler Youth during the last stages of the war.

References

External links