My Miraculous Life A Contemporary Witness’s Story by Herbert P. Ludwig After experiencing the terrors of war in the RAD (Compulsory Labor Service) in Poland in 1939 and 40, the 18-year-old Herbert Ludwig joined the Kriegsmarine in 1940, where he was sent through basic training then advanced training as a crewman on a light Anti Aircraft gun. He was then stationed on the Tirpitz, the largest and most powerful ship in the Kriegsmarine, and served on her from the commissioning in February, 1941, until the summer of 1943. Herbert defended against several savage air attacks by the RAF, experienced the numbing and boring daily routine and hazing from superiors and witnessed the execution of a buddy for desertion. During his two years on board, he crossed the Artic Circle five times. Herbert served in the Torpedo Command in Toulon, France from mid 1943 until his capture in August, 1944. During the brief but violent allied attack on their positions, Herbert was saved by what can only be termed as a miracle. As a POW in the south of France, he and two buddies escaped from captivity and made it to the Italian border before being stopped. Later Herbert got a job as a metal caster and remained in France as a civilian worker until 1948, when he moved back to his hometown of Dresden, then in the GDR. After a hair-raising escape with his family on New Years Eve 1956, he moved to the Ruhr area, then finally to Eisenberg in the Palatinate, where he still resides today. Note: German-language only. The English version is set for late summer 2007.