NORWICH – Ludwig Wilhelm Knapp, Greene resident and author of “Growing Up Under Hitler: I Was There,” was all of ten years old when recruited into the Hitler Youth program, one of many World War II-era experiences he will share at 7 p.m. Thursday, at the First Baptist Church, West Park Place.

As part of the Chenango County Historical Society’s series of monthly historical programs, Knapp’s presentation will focus on his childhood in Nazi Germany and subsequent immigration to America and enlistment in the United States Army.

“At the age of ten, it was compulsory at that time that you join the Hitler Youth, so that’s what I did,” said Knapp, who arrived in America in 1954, nearly a decade after the Japanese surrender signaled an end to World War II. “I was ten years old and fortunately, for the kids at that time, it was mostly like an adventure.”

At the age of 14, the young Hitler Youth was digging trenches for a retreating German army.

Following the war, Knapp, who had rejected the Nazi teachings, said he “didn’t think too much” of his time with the paramilitary organization until he reached the United States and “thought it through and what it could have led to” if history had taken another path.