April Speaker: David G. Stroebel

The next meeting of the NJ World War II Book Club will be on Tuesday, April 16, at  7 PM, as usual  at the Millburn Library.

Our speaker will be David G. Stroebel a local author who has just published his first book, The Cannon King's Daughter.

Mr.  Strobel, curious about his family history, began interviewing older family members and relatives about his Germanic roots. What started out as a personal quest for information about the family took a startlingly sharp turn when he stumbled on the very disturbing fact that his ancestors were the infamous Krupp family, the steel dynasty that supplied the German army in World War I and the Nazis in World War II with the U-Boat, machine guns, and massive cannon. 

This is a story told in exquisite detail by historian William Manchester in his prize winning The Arms of Krupp which provides the historical backdrop to Stroebel's family history. At the end of World War I the Allies sought unsuccessfully to punish the head of the Krupp dynasty. At the Nuremburg trials following World War II, Alfred Krupp was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for utilizing slave labor.  Mr. Stroebel, skillful using Ancestory.com and other research tools, brings to light many details of the family history never previously disclosed.  In the process of researching his own history, Stroebel also gives his reader what amounts to a mini-tutorial in genealogical research, of particular use to those of us also interested in looking into family history. 

Members are reminded to check our web site and view the many photos that our talented photographer Sharon Austin has posted on the site. These photos are available for sale. Contact Sharon Austin at: sharonannaustin@hotmail.com, for more information.

Thanks also to Dr. Richard Schoenberg, who videotaped our last lecture.  Click here for the link >>