The Boy Who Went to War (29 page)

 

The young Wolfram, here in 1934 aged 10, spent all his spare time drawing and painting. During the Third Reich, he tried to avoid the Hitler Youth in order that he could pursue his passion for art.

 

Wolfram's father, Erwin, in the garden of the family's magnificent villa. He was a celebrated wildlife artist and he kept a large menagerie of animals.

 

The Aïchele family circa 1925. Marie Charlotte, Wolfram, Reiner and Erwin. Wolfram's sister, Gunhild, was not yet born. The years before the Third Reich were happy, despite economic hardship.

 

Wolfram, aged 11. He was a curious young lad with a passion for Gothic art and medieval sculptures.

 

Wolfram and his brother, Reiner, built a miniature medieval hamlet in the lower garden. Each cottage was about three feet high; the accuracy of the construction astonished adult visitors.

 

The young Wolfram had a lively sense of humour. He would later amuse his comrades – and unknowingly risk severe punishment – with his impersonations of a ranting Hitler.

 

Wolfram loved to sketch the medieval villages of his native Baden. This drawing was published when he was just 11 years old.

 

Wolfram loved to play with his father's animals. Here he is, aged 15, with Peter the cat.

 

Marie Charlotte with Hansi and Thora.

 

Erwin produced animal sketches for a hunting magazine. It was banned by the Nazis because the owner was Jewish.

 

When local farmers found injured animals in their fields, such as this deer, they brought them to Erwin because they knew he would look after them.

 

The family's Italianate villa in Eutingen was very different from most houses in rural Swabia. The Aïcheles' private world, it was an island of culture that remained isolated from the worst realities of the Third Reich.