First part of Famous People in WW2: “Pope Benedict XVI”

A young Luftwaffe soldier named Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, later known as Pope Benedict XVI. Following his 14th birthday, Ratzinger was conscripted into the Hitler Youth, but was an unenthusiastic member who refused to attend meetings. In 1943, while still in seminary, he was drafted into the German anti-aircraft corps as Luftwaffenhelfer, an auxiliary member. As the Allied front drew closer to his post in 1945, he deserted back to his family's home in Traunstein after his unit had ceased to exist, just as American troops established a headquarters in the Ratzinger household. As a German soldier, he was interned in a prisoner of war camp, but released a few months later at the end of the war in May 1945. Ratzinger family, especially his father, bitterly resented the Nazis.