My Three Years in a German Prison

A quiet summer stroll in the Pyrenees turns into a frantic scramble for news as Europe teeters on the brink of war. The narrator and his wife watch the continent’s nerves tighten, traveling from Bordeaux through Paris to Antwerp while cafés and railway cars buzz with anxious speculation about Germany’s ambitions. Their journey takes them to the Belgian coast, where the calm of seaside towns masks the growing dread of a conflict that will soon engulf the region.

When the inevitable clash arrives, the author is seized and transported to a German prison, where the stark reality of captivity replaces the earlier, almost genteel concerns of diplomacy. Inside the walls, he records the daily routines, the mix of nationalities, and the small acts of kindness that flicker amid hardship. The memoir offers a vivid, first‑hand portrait of life behind bars at the outset of a world war, inviting listeners to hear the human stories that emerge when ordinary people are thrust into extraordinary circumstances.