I Must be a Part of this War: A German American's Fight against Hitler and Nazism

Preface

Preface During the summer of 1999 I was called to the office the History Department chair, Professor John O’Sullivan. He had a box of documents on his desk from the World War II period. He explained that they were to be donated to the Special Collections division of our library. The donor, K. Frank Korf, wished us to look them over and assess their value. As John and I examined the documents, we were impressed by their diversity: they included records of an inmate at the concentration camp at Flossenbürg, along with Korf’s military records. We wished to know how Korf had collected them. We asked to talk to him about them, and he agreed. We met K. Frank Korf and his wife, Rita, in their Boca Raton apartment. Korf was in his ninetieth year. He was diminutive and stooped, and he walked slowly and with difficulty. But his memory was remarkably clear, and his wit made the visit very enjoyable. The more John and I talked to Korf, the more fascinated by him we became. With Korf’s permission, John and I began to work on a book on Korf’s life and accomplishments. Thus began a series of weekly interviews that extended over one year. At the end of nearly every interview, Korf said, ‘‘I now have something for you.’’ He would get up, shuffle into his office, and pull out several folders full of documents. The more we interviewed Korf, and the more we examined his documents, the more John and I realized that we had stumbled upon a veritable treasure trove. But three months into the project, events took an unexpected turn. John was diagnosed with cancer. As he recovered from sur- xii | Preface gery, I continued interviewing Korf. Shortly after John recovered sufficiently to return to work, Korf was diagnosed with cancer. Neither John nor Frank let his illness disrupt work on the book project. The interview schedule was jiggled to accommodate the various doctors ’ appointments. John somehow found the time to organize Korf’s wartime correspondence. He photocopied dozens of letters and highlighted passages of importance. Korf went through his papers to find more material of interest for the book. During the summer of 2000, however, the health of both Korf and O’Sullivan began to take a turn for the worse. After John was admitted to the hospital in August, I interviewed Korf for the last time. I found him propped up in a chair in his bedroom, pale and weakened, but his memory was as sharp as ever. On 1 September 2000, John O’Sullivan passed away. Five days later, on the morning of John’s funeral, Rita Korf called to inform me that Frank had died. Both men rest at the Boca Raton cemetery. The death of both these valuable human beings left me to pursue the book on Frank’s life alone. I am deeply indebted to them both: to Frank for his memories and to John for his insight and guidance. I am also indebted to Rita Korf, who graciously allowed me to interview her informally about her husband after his death. Frank and Rita intended their papers to raise awareness about the experiences of German Americans during the World War II era; this book, based on the papers, makes clear the importance of this area of study. ...