The Shadow of His Wings
by Gereon Goldmann, O.F.M.
Completed June 2001
This is the amazing true narrative of the life of Father Gereon Goldmann -- member of the S.S., Franciscan priest, prisoner of war and missionary to Japan. Fr. Goldmann is not your typical priest. His drive and determination are at times frightening and at times inspiring. I cringed at some of his misguided passion -- mixing threats and a barely restrained violence with a burning faith in God. But these moments make the portrait so palpably real and unvarnished. Fr. Goldmann doesn't "clean up" his youthful exuberance as he retells his story in the light of maturity.
His story is truly one-of-a-kind. As a young man he interrupts his studies for the priesthood to join the German Army in World War II -- and finds himself in the SS. In his retelling of this experience, he does a remarkable job capturing the dichotomy of his zeal for Germany (which wanes as he becomes more familiar with the Nazis) and his burning passion for God. His actions ultimately lead to his being kicked out of the SS, but even in that -- that he isn't summarily shot -- he is clearly under God's protection.
This book is far more than a war narrative, though. Fr. Goldmann's description of his prisoner-of-war days in a variety of French North African prisons is a part of World War II that is rarely told, and Fr. Goldmann paints a very detailed and uncomfortable picture of it. Best of all, though, the last part of the book -- unfairly an appendix, as it is easily as compelling as the autobiographical narration -- it relates Fr. Goldmann's missionary work in Japan, where his faith and zeal coincide to effect impressive positive results.