And Then Forever

Spring 1945: it can't be long now before the war finally ends and Johann can return home to his bride Emmy and their newborn child. A matter of just a few weeks – but this brief stretch of time will decide between life and death. When Johann and his mates are stationed near their hometown, they decide to seize the opportunity and desert. Johann hides in his aunt’s barn. She looks after him, but both are seized by fear of being found out. After a few days, though, Frieda, the sixteen-year-old neighbour, appears. The two of them have long conversations about their hopes, about Johann’s love for Emmy, for whom Johann is risking everything. Soon enough, though, Frieda decides that she wants more than just friendship, despite the fact that she knows that Johann has a wife and child back home. The situation grows tense. Will Frieda give Johann up before the war is over?

A true story about humanity in inhuman times.

»Author Volker Jarck is a gifted writer. He writes so beautifully and poetically, that you get pleasant cold chills when reading some of his sentences.« WDR 2 BÜCHER