[AndyJWest]

No, problem, Novotny. I'm not sure LukeFF was trying to be facetious, but I can see how it might be read this way. Personally, I'm more interested in the original posting. I've a vague recollection of seeing another version of this, many years back - and I don't think it was a German soldier in that version. I suspect the whole thing is apocryphal.

Edit---
"Many thought they were fighting Bolshevism for Europe" - well yes, this was the way they were expected to see it - the Bolsheviks/Jews (Nazi propaganda often conflated the two) as an alien invasion, an attack on 'European civilisation'. Utter nonsense. The 'Bolsheviks' (and their Stalinist successors) were as much a part of European history as the Nazis. It is tragic that good people can be suckered into fighting for bad causes, but it doesn't make the cause good.