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Author and Arts student
Rudi Stiebritz PHOTO;
CHRIS STACEY
in
PRINT
CURRENT BEST
SELLER LIST
1 Mayne Inheritance,
Rosamond Siemon
(UQP, $19.95)
BIOGRAPHY/TRUE
CRIME
2 Dirt Music, Tim Winton
(Picador, $30)
FICTION
3 Volcano, Venero
Armanno (Vintage,
$19.95)
FICTION
4 Gould's Book of Fish,
Richard Flanagan
(Picador, $22)
FICTION
5 Little Friend, Donna
Tartt (Bloomsbury,
$32.95)
FICTION
6 Follow the Rabbit-Proof
Fence, Doris Pilkington
(UQP, $19.95)
BIOGRAPHY
7 White Teeth, Zadie
Smith (Penguin, $22.95)
FICTION
8 Beggars Banquet, Ian
Rankin (Orion, $29.95)
CRIME FICTION
9 Under the Wintamarra
Tree, Doris Pilkington
(UQP, $24.00)
BIOGRAPHY
10 Y: The Descent of Man,
Steve Jones (Little,
Brown, $39.95)
SCIENCE
BOOKSHOP
Other side to war stories
by Chris Saxby
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
It is not often the Australian
public hears an account of World
War II from the former enemy
viewpoint.
Former German soldier and
current UQ student Rudi Stiebritz has
given a detailed account of his
experiences in his autobiographical
book Pawn of War.
Mr Stiebritz described how at 19
he was drafted into the German Army
and sent to battle on the Eastern Front.
When Germany surrendered in 1945
Mr Stiebritz was captured by the
Russian Army and sent to Siberia as
a prisoner of war.
“Just 19-years-old and already I
had smelt the smoke, seen death and
watched blood flow,” he recalls.
He told how, for the first time,
these experiences had made him
aware of his own mortality. He has
now found religion and despite being
involved in a car accident, which left
him virtually blind, he is busy
working for the community.
With the help of his writing tutor
at Access Arts Jay McKee, Mr
Stiebritz was able to compile a
comprehensive account of his time
fighting in WWII.
“As I wrote, more incidents and
details came flooding back until the
catalogue became an unwieldy
compendium in rough typescript.
Despite my 40 years as an Aussie and
an ability to always make myself
understood I became aware that my
reportage was in a cumbersome sort
of Engleutsch,” he said.
As a Buddhist convert he began
to write Pawn of War during a retreat
at Sera Monastery in Mysore, India.
Mr Stiebritz recalled how in
September 1942, while fighting as a
German soldier, he underwent an
incredibly spiritual experience. He
remembered seeing a white shining
figure detach itself hesitantly from the
body of a dead comrade.
“When the apparition had
completely emerged I recognised it as
Demand for retirement village
living will boom over the next
20 years, according to a book
resulting from a UQ study.
the machine-gunner whose earthly
body still lay draped over the
machine-gun,” he said.
Mr Stiebritz, who has a degree in
structural engineering, said he wrote
the book because people were telling
him that his memories were very
interesting.
He is also learning Sanskrit as part
of his Bachelor of Arts degree at the
University and is currently working
on a dictionary of Buddhist terms.
Pawn of War was featured at the
Brisbane Writers Festival in October
and the Book Expo Authors Market in
Brisbane in November.
Retirement village boom
The Retirement Village Industry
in Australia: Evolution, Prospects,
Challenges paints a bright but
challenging future for the industry
in Australia. Launched recently, it
was compiled by a group of
researchers led by Professor Bob
Stimson and Dr George Earl from
UQ’s School of Geography, Planning
and Architecture.
The study provides a comprehensive
analysis of directions,
prospects and challenges facing
financiers, developers and operators
of retirement villages in
Australia.
The book includes contributions
by a number of key leaders in
the industry and is the culmination
of a three year study funded by the
Australian Research Council’s
industry collaboration scheme.
“The ageing of Australia’s
population alone will generate
demand for the construction of
more than 30,000 new
independent living units in
retirement villages in the next 20
years,” Professor Stimson said.
20
UQ NEWS, DecEMBER 2002