Stepping Stones

About the Book

"Stepping Stones - A German Biography" by Hansjörg Gareis captures for a wide reading audience what it meant to grow up in Nazi Germany, and the hardships and sacrifices of World War II - no matter which side the reader was on. It is a powerful look at life in wartime Germany. The quotes from his father General Martin Gareis's diaries are very significant. The book then takes you into a story of transformation and new outlook as Gareis and his parents move from the depths of Germany's defeat to their involvement with Moral Re-Armament, the international group devoted to reconciliation and reconstruction in all parts of the world, and to coping with the effects of the Cold War. Gareis's struggle to gain perspective on his experiences and to understand and appreciate what Europe and the world went through in the second half of the 20th century, and his emergence into the world of a reborn Germany make the book great reading for everyone.

About the Author

Hansjörg Gareis was born in 1926 in Germany the second son of a professional army officer who rose to be Commanding General of a Tank Corps in Hitler’s Army. The author joined the German Navy, aged 17, during the Second World War. The Corvette on which he served was sunk by a Russian torpedo in the Baltic Sea. After the war, he studied Electrical Engineering in Stuttgart. In 1948 he volunteered for full-time service in Moral Re-Armament working with the movement for 20 years on five continents. He then started a career in industry, was Director of Personnel in a company producing plastic articles, and finally founded and managed a firm providing jobs for long-term unemployed. He is married to Ruth Treib, a Swiss. They have a son Klaus-Martin, who, with his wife Steffi, lives in Switzerland.