
Flights from Fassberg
How a German Town Built for War Became a Beacon of Peace
Wolfgang W. E. Samuel(Author)
University Press of Mississippi
Published on 29. March 2021
Book
Hardback
248 pages
978-1-4968-3364-8 (ISBN)
Description
Wolfgang W. E. Samuel, Colonel, US Air Force (Ret.), interweaves his story and that of his family with the larger history of World War II and the postwar world through a moving recollection and exploration of Fassberg, a small town in Germany few have heard of and fewer remember. Created in 1933 by the Hitler regime to train German aircrews, Fassberg hosted Samuel's father in 1944-45 as an officer in the German air force. As fate and Germany's collapse chased young Wolfgang, Fassberg later became his home as a postwar refugee, frightened, traumatized, hungry, and cold.
Built for war, Fassberg made its next mark as a harbinger of the new Cold War, serving as one of the operating bases for Allied aircraft during the Berlin Airlift in 1948. With the end of the Berlin Crisis, the airbase and town faced a dire future. When the Royal Air Force declared the airbase surplus to its needs, it also signed the place's death warrant, yet increasing Cold War tensions salvaged both base and town. Fassberg transformed again, this time into a forward operating base for NATO aircraft, including a fighter flown by Samuel's son.
Both personal revelation and world history, replete with tales from pilots, mechanics, and all those whose lives intersected there, Flights from Fassberg provides context to the Berlin Airlift and its strategic impact, the development of NATO, and the establishment of the West German nation. The little town built for war survived to serve as a refuge for a lasting peace.
Built for war, Fassberg made its next mark as a harbinger of the new Cold War, serving as one of the operating bases for Allied aircraft during the Berlin Airlift in 1948. With the end of the Berlin Crisis, the airbase and town faced a dire future. When the Royal Air Force declared the airbase surplus to its needs, it also signed the place's death warrant, yet increasing Cold War tensions salvaged both base and town. Fassberg transformed again, this time into a forward operating base for NATO aircraft, including a fighter flown by Samuel's son.
Both personal revelation and world history, replete with tales from pilots, mechanics, and all those whose lives intersected there, Flights from Fassberg provides context to the Berlin Airlift and its strategic impact, the development of NATO, and the establishment of the West German nation. The little town built for war survived to serve as a refuge for a lasting peace.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Jackson
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
With dust jacket
Illustrations
125 black & white illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 247 mm
Width: 169 mm
Thickness: 30 mm
Weight
536 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4968-3364-8 (9781496833648)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
03/2021
Princeton University Press
€24.49
Available for download
Person
Wolfgang W. E. Samuel, Colonel, US Air Force (Ret.), was born in Germany in 1935 and immigrated to the United States in 1951 at age sixteen with an eighth-grade education and no English-language skills. Upon graduation from the University of Colorado, he was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in the US Air Force, then flew over one hundred strategic reconnaissance missions against the Soviet Union during the Cold War. His first book German Boy: A Refugee's Story garnered favorable reviews from the New York Times and numerous other outlets. He is author of eight books published by University Press of Mississippi.