Blood and Honor

By Reinhold Kerstan

Book Overview

From the back cover: "Crucify, crucify him!" the boys shouted as they tied him to the bunk bed and lined up to take turns slapping him. Reinhold thought back to the day he had joined Hitler's... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0891912738
• ISBN13: 9780891912736
• Release Date: May 1980
• Publisher: David C Cook Distribution
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.43 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A Hitler Youth's tale of discovering Christ in WW2

This is one of the very best German memoirs of WW2 I've read so far. It is a story told not by a diehard fanatic but a dedicated Christian who was persecuted by his comrades for his religious beliefs while a Hitler Youth member. Most of the story talks not of bloody battles (as the typical memoirs do) but of hard training & indoctrination in Hitler Youth camps. The only "action" that young Reinhold Kerstan saw was when British fighter planes mowed down his comrades with machine-gun fire as they flew past in a brief surprise attack. This was during the war's final days, yet the Hitler Youth was still living strictly by their "Blut und Ehre" (Blood and Honor) motto & didn't accept defeat easily. Kerstan witnessed a decorated German officer being shot to death by a SS officer after the decorated officer made the mistake of saying that Hitler had decieved the German people. This book is a condemnation of Nazism & an inspiration for those who believe God's path is the best one in life. This book is highly recommended not only for history buffs but all readers because of its important message.

Jesus Christ is the only cure for ANY problem there is...

Wow! Kerstan's book, BLOOD AND HONOR, was one I had read before, but I had forgotten how gripping it is. This book is written from the perspective of a man who looks back over his involvement with the Hitler Youth, and with clearer hindsight, can trace how the process affected him. The book gives an in-depth look at the Hitler Youth movement from an insider. It also illustrates the power of Jesus Christ to protect a child from even the wickedest, most depraved ideologies and instead use him to touch others for good.The book is excellent for anyone with or without an a fascination for World War II (after reading this book you will probably gain an interest). Kerstan's narrative is well-written with a strong historical base; historians, you most likely can read this without feeling that history has been betrayed, and everyone else should be able to settle back to a delightful read that never borders on the boring. In the forward of my edition of BLOOD AND HONOR, evangelist Billy Graham says about the book, "This is a profoundly moving and inspiring story. It vividly portrays the false promises and deceptions of Nazism, and the despair and struggle for survival that characterized the months immediately after the war. But it is also a true story of forgiveness and healing...Most of all, it is a powerful testimony to the faithfulness and grace of God. May God use this book to show each of us the importance of living for Christ each day..." Kerstan tells readers of his life as a young German boy who has been moved to a school in Czechoslovakia because of a wartime evacuation. As a Baptist preacher's son, he was "trained up in the way he should go." His parents faithfully taught him Scripture, that he and all mankind are sinners who deserve not heaven, but hell for our unrighteous deeds, and that God loved mankind enough to send his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to bear the punishment for our sins by dying on the cross. Reinhold was taught that Jesus fulfilled God's will by then rising from the dead, and that this one sacrifice opened the way for all mankind to be saved from God's wrath; all one must do to receive the eternal life provided by Jesus is to ask Jesus for it, "confess with thy mouth," and then believe "in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Reinhold had believed this and had given his life to Jesus Christ. However, the defining moment for German boys was to be inducted into the prestigious Hitler Youth, where the boys were to pledge their lives and blood to Adolf Hitler, the madman whom they were taught to revere as a deity. And revere him they did--except at times, when what Reinhold had been taught by his parents and what the Nazis said were in total oppostition. (...) After reading this book, it is very difficult to walk away without a renewed grasp of the grace of God to help his children obey him even in the most difficult circumstances. (...)

Jesus Christ is the only cure for ANY problem there is...

Wow! Kerstan's book, BLOOD AND HONOR, was one I had read before, but I had forgotten how gripping it is. This book is written from the perspective of a man who looks back over his involvement with the Hitler Youth, and with clearer hindsight, can trace how the process affected him. The book gives an in-depth look at the Hitler Youth movement from an insider. It also illustrates the power of Jesus Christ to protect a child from even the wickedest, most depraved ideologies and instead use him to touch others for good.The book is excellent for anyone with or without an a fascination for World War II (after reading this book you will probably gain an interest). Kerstan's narrative is well-written with a strong historical base; historians, you most likely can read this without feeling that history has been betrayed, and everyone else should be able to settle back to a delightful read that never borders on the boring. In the forward of my edition of BLOOD AND HONOR, evangelist Billy Graham says about the book, "This is a profoundly moving and inspiring story. It vividly portrays the false promises and deceptions of Nazism, and the despair and struggle for survival that characterized the months immediately after the war. But it is also a true story of forgiveness and healing...Most of all, it is a powerful testimony to the faithfulness and grace of God. May God use this book to show each of us the importance of living for Christ each day..." Kerstan tells readers of his life as a young German boy who has been moved to a school in Czechoslovakia because of a wartime evacuation. As a Baptist preacher's son, he was "trained up in the way he should go." His parents faithfully taught him Scripture, that he and all mankind are sinners who deserve not heaven, but hell for our unrighteous deeds, and that God loved mankind enough to send his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to bear the punishment for our sins by dying on the cross. Reinhold was taught that Jesus fulfilled God's will by then rising from the dead, and that this one sacrifice opened the way for all mankind to be saved from God's wrath; all one must do to receive the eternal life provided by Jesus is to ask Jesus for it, "confess with thy mouth," and then believe "in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Reinhold had believed this and had given his life to Jesus Christ. However, the defining moment for German boys was to be inducted into the prestigious Hitler Youth, where the boys were to pledge their lives and blood to Adolf Hitler, the madman whom they were taught to revere as a deity. And revere him they did--except at times, when what Reinhold had been taught by his parents and what the Nazis said were in total oppostition. And so, as a proud young German, he tried to separate his two lives to please his leaders and the other boys who were also being trained in the athiestic regime. After persecution of his own, however, Kerstan realized that

Blood and Honor

I enjoyed this book. I think people of all ages would enjoy BLOOD AND HONOR. It is about the hardships that young boy went through. He was a Christian and a Nazi, which created a conflict. All of his friends were Nazis and they were taught to hate Christianity. Some parts at the end were disturbing but other than those few parts it was a good book. Of course if you want to find out the ending you will have to read it for yourself.

A moving account of a Hitler youth seeking to do right

Kerstan would be considered, by some, to be a patriot. He was a Christian and served his country as expected in the Hitler Youth. He was proud as he first joined the ranks but slowly began to find fault with the whole process. Eventually his heart was changed toward Hitler. The story is a very vivid, moving, true account of an adolescent boys struggle with virtue, morals, loyalty and Christianity. It will open many eyes to the coercian involved in the atrocities during WWII and will show people that God DOES have the upperhand in all situations.