The air in the Harz Forest on April 20, 1945, tasted of pine needles and cold, metallic cordite. For Helga Schmidt, a twenty-year-old signals clerk for the Wehrmacht’s 11th Army, the world had shrunk to the frantic crackle of static in her headset and the rhythmic thud of American artillery. For years, Helga had been fed a diet of fear. Dr. Goebbels’ voice, smooth and certain, had promised that capture by the Americans was a fate worse than death—especially for a woman. They were portrayed as cr