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World War 2: Waffen SS Soldier Stories: Eyewitness Accounts of Hitler's Elite Troops
The Nazi Germany Regime was brutal and inhumane. The atrocities that were committed by the Nazi’s will remain a shameful chapter in history for possibly centuries to come. This book takes a look at the SS Waffen, Hitler’s elite forces.
Beginning with a coup at the start of the war, the elite SS Waffen came to be known as the best and the most brutal. While it had it’s start with pure German forces, the Waffen later accepted those from other sympathetic countries. These are some of their stories.
There is the story of a Belgium soldier that started a revolution in his home country and later joined the Nazi ranks. He continued to recruit for their cause while leading troops. Starting as a low man in the trenches he worked his way to be a trusted leader. Read his story of narrowly escaping the Soviet Union and his attempt to save the lives of others.
Then there is the story of a disgruntle Austrian that was itching to fight for Germany. After his home state changed to Italian soil, he served his time with the Italian army before journeying to Germany. He is known as the King of Close Combat for his time on the battle field. He has a recorded record of 84 close combat encounters. This is not days but separate battles in which hand to hand combat was needed. What would drive a man to risk his life so many times?
This book takes a look at the other side of the lines without judgement or endorsement. If you ever wondered what happened on the other side of the battle, this is the perfect place to start. You won't regret reading the stories of these SS soldiers.
Beginning with a coup at the start of the war, the elite SS Waffen came to be known as the best and the most brutal. While it had it’s start with pure German forces, the Waffen later accepted those from other sympathetic countries. These are some of their stories.
There is the story of a Belgium soldier that started a revolution in his home country and later joined the Nazi ranks. He continued to recruit for their cause while leading troops. Starting as a low man in the trenches he worked his way to be a trusted leader. Read his story of narrowly escaping the Soviet Union and his attempt to save the lives of others.
Then there is the story of a disgruntle Austrian that was itching to fight for Germany. After his home state changed to Italian soil, he served his time with the Italian army before journeying to Germany. He is known as the King of Close Combat for his time on the battle field. He has a recorded record of 84 close combat encounters. This is not days but separate battles in which hand to hand combat was needed. What would drive a man to risk his life so many times?
This book takes a look at the other side of the lines without judgement or endorsement. If you ever wondered what happened on the other side of the battle, this is the perfect place to start. You won't regret reading the stories of these SS soldiers.
- GenresHistory
138 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 17, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
February 10, 2018
The main question I have for this book is how was it ever published? I felt like I was peer reviewing a college classmates essay. Aside from the blatant typos and grammatical errors, which I do not hold against the author because I read it on Kindle and this is common for Kindle books, the writing is very poor. I feel like the author thought he was writing very eloquently but it was actually just confusing.
The true crime the author commits, however, is his engagement with counter factual history. Throughout the entire course of the book he is making claims of “if this person had not been there then the battle would have been lost.” That is a History 101 no-no (in all fairness I think I learned this in History 248- Shoutout to Caroline Shaw)
The author also repeatedly states things that we, as readers, are apparently supposed to just take for granted. I remember one particularly egregious paragraph where he said the “2 reasons for this happening were this.” He then explained the first point over a couple pages and the second point in 1 paragraph. Are you not going to support your points at all? There were numerous examples of this.
Also, if I have never heard of an author, I usually do not look them up because I do not want the author’s credentials to influence my thoughts on the book. I don’t know this author but looked him up afterwards and he seemed to be a nobody. Not surprised, his historical methods get 1 out of 5 stars.
Would have given the book itself 1 star with the exception of the stories being rather interesting and unknown to me in some cases, so 2 stars are warranted. 3 starts would be criminal, much like this book
Note: this book annoyed me so much I am coming back for an unprecedented book review update. Going back to his historical methods- I feel like he did 0 research and just played up every stereotype of Germans, the Wehrmacht, and the SS. It was like reading what a high schooler thought Nazi Germany was.
The true crime the author commits, however, is his engagement with counter factual history. Throughout the entire course of the book he is making claims of “if this person had not been there then the battle would have been lost.” That is a History 101 no-no (in all fairness I think I learned this in History 248- Shoutout to Caroline Shaw)
The author also repeatedly states things that we, as readers, are apparently supposed to just take for granted. I remember one particularly egregious paragraph where he said the “2 reasons for this happening were this.” He then explained the first point over a couple pages and the second point in 1 paragraph. Are you not going to support your points at all? There were numerous examples of this.
Also, if I have never heard of an author, I usually do not look them up because I do not want the author’s credentials to influence my thoughts on the book. I don’t know this author but looked him up afterwards and he seemed to be a nobody. Not surprised, his historical methods get 1 out of 5 stars.
Would have given the book itself 1 star with the exception of the stories being rather interesting and unknown to me in some cases, so 2 stars are warranted. 3 starts would be criminal, much like this book
Note: this book annoyed me so much I am coming back for an unprecedented book review update. Going back to his historical methods- I feel like he did 0 research and just played up every stereotype of Germans, the Wehrmacht, and the SS. It was like reading what a high schooler thought Nazi Germany was.
June 27, 2017
Could have been better
The book talked about the Waffen SS, but the second half ended up like reading a series of biographies without always explaining relationships and positions within the SS and Nazi party. Too much on their early life and little on what influenced these key people to develop these values and beliefs. I felt like I was reading highlights of these individuals, but not much meat to add to the bones.
Editing of the book was poor. Many typos that should have been caught before publishing. In one case an individual was credited with commanding an SS unit between 1956 and 1958. This was probably somewhat difficult. Another was commanding a unit beginning in 1914. The grammar was not always correct which required re-reading the sentence to understand its meaning.
In summary, you will get an overview of certain key people in the SS, but you hardly scratch the surface.
The book talked about the Waffen SS, but the second half ended up like reading a series of biographies without always explaining relationships and positions within the SS and Nazi party. Too much on their early life and little on what influenced these key people to develop these values and beliefs. I felt like I was reading highlights of these individuals, but not much meat to add to the bones.
Editing of the book was poor. Many typos that should have been caught before publishing. In one case an individual was credited with commanding an SS unit between 1956 and 1958. This was probably somewhat difficult. Another was commanding a unit beginning in 1914. The grammar was not always correct which required re-reading the sentence to understand its meaning.
In summary, you will get an overview of certain key people in the SS, but you hardly scratch the surface.
August 4, 2019
The editing has much to be desired: incomplete sentences, missing words, etc. But most disturbing was the in the "Conclusion" section, where the author (or editor) wrote that the Holocaust has been "exaggerated". The author made a point on several occasions that he not only distained the Nazi racist belief system, but condemned the crimes perpetrated thereby. However, the above statement certainly indicates he tends toward the side of Holocaust-deniers. I found the overall praise for the military achievements of the Waffen-SS, the minimizing of Allied, particularly the Soviet and American capability against those German forces, coupled with this statement/attitude to be appalling and worthy of condemnation in its own right. I would not recommend this publication for general readership, especially to one minimally acquainted with the crimes of the Hitler regime (such as those of generations beyond Baby-boomers). Shame on you!
June 9, 2018
Disappointing at best
Was expecting insight into the history and inner workings of the SS. Instead, got a poorly written mini biography of several SS members. Full of grammatical errors, typos, misspellings and incoherent structure. Reads like a middle schooler who just copied random parts from a Wikipedia search. Even though I read this from Kindle Unlimited, I felt like it was a waste.
Was expecting insight into the history and inner workings of the SS. Instead, got a poorly written mini biography of several SS members. Full of grammatical errors, typos, misspellings and incoherent structure. Reads like a middle schooler who just copied random parts from a Wikipedia search. Even though I read this from Kindle Unlimited, I felt like it was a waste.
September 30, 2018
Better writing from high school papers
The book purports to be the story of the SS in their own words, but other than a few sparsely scattered citations from other works, it is entirely the author's own words. Further, those words are poorly chosen, poorly arranged, and suffering from lack of editorial attention. How this book managed to make it to a 4th edition in this condition leaves one stunned. Don't bother and save your money.
The book purports to be the story of the SS in their own words, but other than a few sparsely scattered citations from other works, it is entirely the author's own words. Further, those words are poorly chosen, poorly arranged, and suffering from lack of editorial attention. How this book managed to make it to a 4th edition in this condition leaves one stunned. Don't bother and save your money.
November 2, 2018
A brief resume of some German military men
Not unlike the prowess of military men that serve their country, these German stories embed their skills and experience to survive in battles.
Not unlike the prowess of military men that serve their country, these German stories embed their skills and experience to survive in battles.
October 22, 2019
Terrible
Poorly written. Terrible grammar and probably wasn’t proof read before publishing. The contents are just a collection of individual biographies and nothing more. Glad I read it for free
Poorly written. Terrible grammar and probably wasn’t proof read before publishing. The contents are just a collection of individual biographies and nothing more. Glad I read it for free
October 28, 2020
Very informative!
Tells a comprehensive and sometimes shocking story of
some of the offic ers of the SS. I still however would like to read a book delving into
the physcological aspect of why some of these men did what they did!
Tells a comprehensive and sometimes shocking story of
some of the offic ers of the SS. I still however would like to read a book delving into
the physcological aspect of why some of these men did what they did!
March 21, 2019
Some Good Stories
Much better than book one, but still only a average read. There is not enough detail in most stories listed
Much better than book one, but still only a average read. There is not enough detail in most stories listed
June 8, 2019
Mixed bag
This book contains some good info but is poorly written and edited, it's hard to believe it was proof read.
This book contains some good info but is poorly written and edited, it's hard to believe it was proof read.
February 14, 2020
Interesting moral positions and prospectives
presented.
presented.
December 26, 2016
Book #28.
I was distracted by grammatical errors in this book, however, anything that has to do with the war attracts me so I continued reading and I wasn’t disappointed.
This book offers a lot of very interesting information about World War 2 and the SS soldiers. I have always been interested of the SS soldiers so reading their side of the story during the war is a delight to me. Discovering a lot of things about them and what happened during these times made me even want for more.
The title may be a bit inaccurate but I don’t mind at all since the content was okay for me.
I was distracted by grammatical errors in this book, however, anything that has to do with the war attracts me so I continued reading and I wasn’t disappointed.
This book offers a lot of very interesting information about World War 2 and the SS soldiers. I have always been interested of the SS soldiers so reading their side of the story during the war is a delight to me. Discovering a lot of things about them and what happened during these times made me even want for more.
The title may be a bit inaccurate but I don’t mind at all since the content was okay for me.
November 29, 2015
Must read.
I have always been interested in the German side. This book is not only a great recounting of those brave men's actions, but he does so without either side's propaganda affecting their story. I recommend it to anyone trying to gain a deeper insight into the most elite fighting force Europe has ever seen.
I have always been interested in the German side. This book is not only a great recounting of those brave men's actions, but he does so without either side's propaganda affecting their story. I recommend it to anyone trying to gain a deeper insight into the most elite fighting force Europe has ever seen.
February 6, 2016
Poorly Edited
While it was interesting to read about the war from the German point of view, the book seemed to merely list facts, not tell a cohesive story. I don't know if the book was translated to English, or just very poorly edited, but the grammatical errors were extremely distracting.
While it was interesting to read about the war from the German point of view, the book seemed to merely list facts, not tell a cohesive story. I don't know if the book was translated to English, or just very poorly edited, but the grammatical errors were extremely distracting.
September 10, 2015
An interesting and objective read about two soldiers in the Waffen-SS. Definitely worth the hour or so it takes to get through it.
December 10, 2016
Wonderfully Written
This is a very educational book about the Eastern Front. This book was a quick read. Definitely recommend for anyone interested in WW2
This is a very educational book about the Eastern Front. This book was a quick read. Definitely recommend for anyone interested in WW2
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews