Synopses & Reviews
In this remarkable first novel, we meet Technical Sergeant "Sandy" Delman, a young Jewish-American soldier assigned to guard captured Nazi soldiers in a POW camp in rural France. When Delman, a celebrated high school football star, enlists in the Army to fight Germans, he never expects that his poor vision will sentence him to an assignment at a POW camp. When Delman reacts violently to racial slurs aimed at him by several POWs, he loses his stripes and is consigned to work under a hostile supply sergeant. And thus begins Delman's punishment and his quest to escape the confines of the POW camp. As more and more captured Germans pour into the camp, provisions begin to run out. The POWs fear a plot to starve them to death. When his commanding officer, Colonel Nelson, fails to obtain supplies, Delman approaches him with a risky plan to lead a convoy of trucks, driven by POWs, to bring supplies back from nearby depots. Suddenly, Delman finds himself the unlikely leader of an expedition on which hangs the survival of hundreds of German POWs, and the fate of Colonel Nelson's career. When the perilous journey across the French countryside becomes even more dangerous, Delman finds his own survival is at risk.
Review
"No frills WWII action tale. A nicely done debut..." — Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
This remarkable first novel follows Technical Sergeant "Sandy" Delman, a young Jewish-American soldier forced to guard captured Nazi soldiers.
Synopsis
Burt Zollo draws on his own experiences to write a riveting story of a young Jewish-American soldier who is assigned to a Nazi POW camp in rural France at the end of the war. When the officer, Sandy Delman, reacts violently to a racial slur from one of the inmates he loses his stripes and is forced to work under a hostile supply sergeant. The POWs are facing starvation as more and more Germans are pouring into the camps at the climax of the war. Delman comes up with a daring and risky plan to obtain supplies in an expedition across the French countryside. The survival of the prisoners, Delman's own life, and the reputation of the POW camp itself hangs in the balance.
About the Author
Burt Zollo served during WWII as part of the US Army overhead cadre at a POW camp near Le Mans, France. A graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, he practices public relations in Chicago, where he lives with his wife. This is his first book.