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Goodbye, Transylvania: A Romanian Waffen-SS Soldier in WWII
A Romanian soldier details serving for Germany on the Eastern Front during World War II in this memoir, featuring firsthand accounts of combat.
German by ancestry, born and raised in the ethnic welter of post-World War I Romania, Sigmund Heinz Landau left his home to volunteer for the Third Reich during World War II. Serving on the Eastern Front, he saw nearly six years of continuous fighting with a Luftwaffe Flak unit and eventually in the Waffen-SS, from sentry duty to desperate attacks against Soviet T-34s, from the siege of Budapest to the final campaign for Berlin in 1945. Landau’s memoir, written from a unique perspective, offers rare insight into what motivated soldiers to fight—and die—for Nazi Germany.
German by ancestry, born and raised in the ethnic welter of post-World War I Romania, Sigmund Heinz Landau left his home to volunteer for the Third Reich during World War II. Serving on the Eastern Front, he saw nearly six years of continuous fighting with a Luftwaffe Flak unit and eventually in the Waffen-SS, from sentry duty to desperate attacks against Soviet T-34s, from the siege of Budapest to the final campaign for Berlin in 1945. Landau’s memoir, written from a unique perspective, offers rare insight into what motivated soldiers to fight—and die—for Nazi Germany.
227 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
January 3, 2023
The author proved throughout the book that he has a very limited understanding of the world around him. He can never see the relation between actions and result (proudly states he was a member of a secret organisation planning sedition, pages later considers unfair that he is arrested by the state) and is borderline comical as he genuinely believes that the nazis are promoting him due to his wonderful activities. He just does not get it that he is simply a useful idiot that is assigned tasks that nobody wants to do (like spying on his comrades).
That being said, the book is filled cover to cover with... revisionist statements:
" the Romanians are the foreigners; they don't belong here. The Hungarians and Saxons, now minorities, are the rightful owners, or if you like, inhabitants." - page 6, talking about the present day Romania
... Nazi apologism:
"Adolf may be a nutcase, but he is right in many things." - Page 105
"I thought what a pity that the world could not have seen and heard us as we really were." -- page 28, about being a nazi.
... Racism:
"The area was now being built into one of the largest SS Truppenübungsplatz (training camp), labor being supplied by predominantly Jewish KZ (Konzentrazions- Lager— concentration camp) inmates. The only crime these unfortunate people ever committed was their accident of birth." -- page 25
"This discrimination was understandable as of all the Eastern European ethnic Germans, the Transylvanian Saxons were the only ones who were in every respect comparable with the Reichsdeutsche." -- page 99
"God, to think that the Western Powers had helped these apes to win the war." -- page 144, about the Russians
.. And of course, the occasional atrocity, fully justified in the author's opinion:
"Now and then we did, however, surprise large gatherings of partisans, and those of them who did not die fighting were either shot or, more often, hanged. The so- called free world made a lot of noise about these killings, but according to international law, which the Allies were very keen on bringing up when it suited them, these armed civilians were murderers to be hanged, at least as far as we were concerned." --page 32
"Next morning at the first opportunity, we untied their hands and sent them scampering across a large, apparently deserted square toward the Russians. Predictably, the Russians pounced like spiders in their webs and grabbed our two Commie sympathizers. Within a couple of minutes the only too- well- known tortured shrieks of agony told us the Russians lived up to our expectations." -- page 125
"We sent the Hungarians off, took possession of the Ivans, and marched them in small, terrified groups to the nearest site of Russian butchery where we shot each one through the head in blind reprisal." -- page 96
Besides this, the book has very little historical or literary value. The information is inaccurate, obviously embellished (the author has a thing about losing all his teeth, which he does at least 5 times through the book) and the writing style is plain at best.
That being said, the book is filled cover to cover with... revisionist statements:
" the Romanians are the foreigners; they don't belong here. The Hungarians and Saxons, now minorities, are the rightful owners, or if you like, inhabitants." - page 6, talking about the present day Romania
... Nazi apologism:
"Adolf may be a nutcase, but he is right in many things." - Page 105
"I thought what a pity that the world could not have seen and heard us as we really were." -- page 28, about being a nazi.
... Racism:
"The area was now being built into one of the largest SS Truppenübungsplatz (training camp), labor being supplied by predominantly Jewish KZ (Konzentrazions- Lager— concentration camp) inmates. The only crime these unfortunate people ever committed was their accident of birth." -- page 25
"This discrimination was understandable as of all the Eastern European ethnic Germans, the Transylvanian Saxons were the only ones who were in every respect comparable with the Reichsdeutsche." -- page 99
"God, to think that the Western Powers had helped these apes to win the war." -- page 144, about the Russians
.. And of course, the occasional atrocity, fully justified in the author's opinion:
"Now and then we did, however, surprise large gatherings of partisans, and those of them who did not die fighting were either shot or, more often, hanged. The so- called free world made a lot of noise about these killings, but according to international law, which the Allies were very keen on bringing up when it suited them, these armed civilians were murderers to be hanged, at least as far as we were concerned." --page 32
"Next morning at the first opportunity, we untied their hands and sent them scampering across a large, apparently deserted square toward the Russians. Predictably, the Russians pounced like spiders in their webs and grabbed our two Commie sympathizers. Within a couple of minutes the only too- well- known tortured shrieks of agony told us the Russians lived up to our expectations." -- page 125
"We sent the Hungarians off, took possession of the Ivans, and marched them in small, terrified groups to the nearest site of Russian butchery where we shot each one through the head in blind reprisal." -- page 96
Besides this, the book has very little historical or literary value. The information is inaccurate, obviously embellished (the author has a thing about losing all his teeth, which he does at least 5 times through the book) and the writing style is plain at best.
January 5, 2020
While a certain degree of subjectivity is expected the book gets at times biased and even derogatory and Nazism apology, racism and occasional SS atrocities are all present and "convenientely" excused. Literary value is low and what is very odd is how such a SS soldier, loyal to Hitler's cause since early 30s made it so easy in the West.
January 19, 2021
Landau's story was good. I really liked it and reading this book reminded me of Sven Hassel's books. Altough Landau's story telling is missing all the humor which made Sven notorious, I don't really see that as a minus or a handicap.
I'm not really sure if all the details of some episodes of the story are accurate, but if they are not, I think it would be pretty understandable why.
There are moments when you are touched by the scene, such as when the German soldiers are giving their last food supplies to the civilians or when Ferri dies in Heinz"s hands after writing that beautiful song.
Still, the main issues with this book are the historical inaccuracies regarding Romania and I will explain the ones regarding the Germans in Romania:
1- one can not contest Landau's PERSONAL EXPERIENCES with the Romanians, but he extrapolated them to "universally applied characteristics", which is obviously wrong.
2- The Romanians were not a minority in Transylvania (see the Austro-Hungarian census from 1890, according to which there were over 2 591 000 Romanians in Hungary and over 2 100 000 Germans), but yes, in Brașov/Krönstadt the Germans formed the majority of the population at that time
3- Romanians and Gypsies are not the same people and Gypsies are a pretty closed community to this day (like the Saxons and the Schwabs were)- I wrote this as an answer to Landau's explanation given to Mr. Smith's observation about the population of Brașov.
Ignoring the author's racism (which is plain and assumed) and his hatred for some nations, the story is an interesting one and once you get going, it's hard to put down. I recommend the book, but I advise people who are easily offended and moderately offended Romanians, Gypsies and probably Russians who to be cautious when reading it.
I'm not really sure if all the details of some episodes of the story are accurate, but if they are not, I think it would be pretty understandable why.
There are moments when you are touched by the scene, such as when the German soldiers are giving their last food supplies to the civilians or when Ferri dies in Heinz"s hands after writing that beautiful song.
Still, the main issues with this book are the historical inaccuracies regarding Romania and I will explain the ones regarding the Germans in Romania:
1- one can not contest Landau's PERSONAL EXPERIENCES with the Romanians, but he extrapolated them to "universally applied characteristics", which is obviously wrong.
2- The Romanians were not a minority in Transylvania (see the Austro-Hungarian census from 1890, according to which there were over 2 591 000 Romanians in Hungary and over 2 100 000 Germans), but yes, in Brașov/Krönstadt the Germans formed the majority of the population at that time
3- Romanians and Gypsies are not the same people and Gypsies are a pretty closed community to this day (like the Saxons and the Schwabs were)- I wrote this as an answer to Landau's explanation given to Mr. Smith's observation about the population of Brașov.
Ignoring the author's racism (which is plain and assumed) and his hatred for some nations, the story is an interesting one and once you get going, it's hard to put down. I recommend the book, but I advise people who are easily offended and moderately offended Romanians, Gypsies and probably Russians who to be cautious when reading it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 3, 2023
An implausible book written by an unknown author. I tried to find some details about his real life but Google does not know him. I suspect Sigmund Heinz Landau is a nom de plume for a would-be Sven Hassel of Transylvanian origin, proud of his racist convictions, who fought everywhere during WW2.
He really hates the Romanians and sees them and the Russians as inferior races, non-civilised and acting with animalic behaviour, while the German and Hungarian people, betrayed by the western powers, act and fight with heroism and dignity against all odds.
To summarise, the Germans fought bravely, their army and armament were better, but they were let down by their allies and the west did not understand their legitimate fight for survival against the barbaric communist Russians who preferred to die in droves in the fights but somehow won the war by losing every battle against the well organised, chivalric Germans.
Most of the book consists of short dialogues, and descriptions of hand-to-hand fights stuffed with various German military terms while he jumps from one war location to another. He seems to have travelled more than anyone else during the war. Why and who decided to send him from one unit to another, while everybody was dying around him, is not clarified.
This is pure fantasy, poorly written, but, as the number of 5 stars given by so many readers on Amazon site shows, it enables some Nazis and Hungary revisionist sympathizers to daydream, un hindered by the historical realities.
He really hates the Romanians and sees them and the Russians as inferior races, non-civilised and acting with animalic behaviour, while the German and Hungarian people, betrayed by the western powers, act and fight with heroism and dignity against all odds.
To summarise, the Germans fought bravely, their army and armament were better, but they were let down by their allies and the west did not understand their legitimate fight for survival against the barbaric communist Russians who preferred to die in droves in the fights but somehow won the war by losing every battle against the well organised, chivalric Germans.
Most of the book consists of short dialogues, and descriptions of hand-to-hand fights stuffed with various German military terms while he jumps from one war location to another. He seems to have travelled more than anyone else during the war. Why and who decided to send him from one unit to another, while everybody was dying around him, is not clarified.
This is pure fantasy, poorly written, but, as the number of 5 stars given by so many readers on Amazon site shows, it enables some Nazis and Hungary revisionist sympathizers to daydream, un hindered by the historical realities.
March 7, 2022
Not terribly well written and I'm not sure how much of the author's story to believe (or how much he may have left out). But valuable for the first-person testimony it provides about the ethnic animosities that existed in the region. The author was a Transylvanian Saxon who served in the Waffen-SS, though he doesn't seem to have had much interest in (or understanding of) Nazi aims. He mostly just felt German and hated Romanians (Transylvania, once part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was transferred to Romania in the great border reshuffle following World War I, much to the author's disgust; he was probably horrified to be called Romanian in the book's subtitle). The author seems to have assumed that Hitler would restore Transylvania to the great Germanic empire of his imagination.
All this is sort of ironic since, although the author's ethnic group is called "Saxon," they didn't originate in Saxony, or even any part of modern Germany. They immigrated to Transylvania during the Middle Ages from areas located in modern-day Luxembourg and Belgium. They initially were invited in to defend the Kingdom of Hungary from invasion by Central Asians, then proceeded to establish themselves as a privileged class, separate from the other ethnic groups in the region. They spoke their own Germanic language, accumulated a considerable amount of wealth, and clearly considered themselves superior. It was the loss of this privileged status after World War I that led the author (and many of his compatriots) to side with Germany during the Second World War.
All this is sort of ironic since, although the author's ethnic group is called "Saxon," they didn't originate in Saxony, or even any part of modern Germany. They immigrated to Transylvania during the Middle Ages from areas located in modern-day Luxembourg and Belgium. They initially were invited in to defend the Kingdom of Hungary from invasion by Central Asians, then proceeded to establish themselves as a privileged class, separate from the other ethnic groups in the region. They spoke their own Germanic language, accumulated a considerable amount of wealth, and clearly considered themselves superior. It was the loss of this privileged status after World War I that led the author (and many of his compatriots) to side with Germany during the Second World War.
June 26, 2021
Landau certainly tells a 'ripping good yarn' ... in a different context, this might be the stuff of a Hollywood movie. That said, it all becomes quite unbelievable near the end, with a series of lucky escapes and close calls as he is supposedly able to move back and forth in the middle of a war zone. Keep in mind that if you are Russian or especially Romanian, you will need to have a thick skin to read this book -- he doesn't have much good to say about these nationalities, and makes some politically charged claims about who are the rightful inhabitants of Transylvania (spoiler: he doesn't think it's the Romanians). So the one-star reviews from Romanian readers here are not a surprise. Also, because he was a member of the Waffen SS and this is a memoir, we can never know what may have been dropped from the actual story ... he portrays himself as a basically a 'good guy', but we know how evil that organisation actually was. Anyway, if you want an engaging, well-told story about one man's experiences in WWII, you may like this one, but keep those grains of salt at hand...
June 18, 2022
The heart and soul of this book is a petty ethnic struggle nobody outside of Transylvania understands, or cares about. The best example is the title. Landau would be insulted, but it's totally neccesary for an international audience that doesn't know what a "Kronstadt/Brasov" is. His isolated motivation for fighting and writing, is disconnected from the world at large.
That is paired with a distinct wartime service: Panzerjager & police informant, he's shuffled where needed, serving with casts like the Wikings, to leader of a crew of TK Speer-men pressed to the front. Enlisted to officer, From Demyansk, to Berlin, to the gulag.
The draw is that Landau had no right to write such a short book. He skips time, focusing on his inner narrative about finding his place in this world. Suddenly he's at the front, then he's killing, then he's on leave. It reads like a conversation. You hear his story, and you come to notice hidden anxities that drive it. Though for such a valuable perspective, he was too brief.
That is paired with a distinct wartime service: Panzerjager & police informant, he's shuffled where needed, serving with casts like the Wikings, to leader of a crew of TK Speer-men pressed to the front. Enlisted to officer, From Demyansk, to Berlin, to the gulag.
The draw is that Landau had no right to write such a short book. He skips time, focusing on his inner narrative about finding his place in this world. Suddenly he's at the front, then he's killing, then he's on leave. It reads like a conversation. You hear his story, and you come to notice hidden anxities that drive it. Though for such a valuable perspective, he was too brief.
August 21, 2016
A harrowing and engrossing tell-tale recapitulation of a young man's war and post-war experience. The author, Heinz Landau, takes us through the good, bad and mostly ugly aspect of his first hand experience fighting as a private and lieutenant in the German army in WW2. Right from the get-go Landau states his biases and asserts his position with respect to his identity as a minority (Transylvanian Saxon) in a land (Romania) that has witnessed too many disputes of land over the centuries. Landau uses the premise that as a suppressed minority in a newly found country of Romania he has developed a personalized rancor and even hatred for the majority Romanians that has fueled his enthusiasm to join the German army at the beginning of the war as a means to avoid conscription into the Romanian army. somehow t a world war will
Transylvanian Saxon in and the tone of his adventure by asserting where Landau recounts the history of his place of birth, Transylvania, one of those
Transylvanian Saxon in and the tone of his adventure by asserting where Landau recounts the history of his place of birth, Transylvania, one of those
March 27, 2023
3.5 stars. A pretty good memoir from a Volksdeutsche (ethnic German) in Transylvania who volunteered for the Wehrmacht, first in a flak unit, then for the SS. I walked into this remembering stories of medieval German merchants settling in Transylvania and other places in the Balkans - but what happened to them? Would it also provide a window into why so many foreigners flocked to Hitler's banner in WW2? "Goodbye, Transylvania" delivers on both counts. While Mr. Landau wears his sentiments on his cuff titled sleeve, he does speak to both. The memoir is more synopsis and anecdote than a day by day diary. Even so, the book gives you a solid feel as to what it must have been like to be a Volksdeutsche, serving in the Waffen SS. To survive the hell of the Russian front wounds and all, only to come back on leave and find the state is investigating your ethnic heritage or ties to banned groups based purely on a referral from an enemy. Seeing these memoirs I also often wonder, "how in the hell did they survive?" Like many, Landau survived by a combination of hard won skills, a few 'home wounds' that were serious enough to get him out of the fighting for a time, the kindness of a doctor in a POW camp, and - of course - dumb luck. His time investigating black marketeers and such for the SS certainly also helped -- those seemed the most incredulous portion of the story and doubtless such servuce would have been the hardest to verify - but it would make sense there would be 'embedded/undercover' assetts reporting on such activity. Who better than a Volksdeutsche who never totally fit in with either world?
Reading the early portion of Landau's memoir is as captivating as the war and POW portions. Even if he's handing you some rose colored glasses, you can't help but be a little enamored of the view of interwar Transylvania: the natural beauty, the close knit community, and the multi-cultural milieu. I'm envious of Landau's mastery of several languages - another skill that saved his life on multiple occasions.
All in all an enjoyable relatively short read that answered all my questions and provides an interesting and unique window on the war and a time and place now long gone.
Reading the early portion of Landau's memoir is as captivating as the war and POW portions. Even if he's handing you some rose colored glasses, you can't help but be a little enamored of the view of interwar Transylvania: the natural beauty, the close knit community, and the multi-cultural milieu. I'm envious of Landau's mastery of several languages - another skill that saved his life on multiple occasions.
All in all an enjoyable relatively short read that answered all my questions and provides an interesting and unique window on the war and a time and place now long gone.
October 9, 2018
I enjoyed this book. The author comes across as something of a character in telling his amazing personal story of his time in World War Two. I imagine him to be an old guy with a bit of a mischievous glint in his eye.
Born in Kronstadt (Brasov) Transylvania as a German speaking Saxon he joined the German army and ended up fighting in Russia. I got the impression that he was comfortable in being both German and Hungarian in different respects; and definitely NOT Romanian. It is curious to read about how he felt kinship with other Germans across Europe and fascinating learn about his travels back and forth across Europe, returning home on leave via Bucharest a few times and finding himself in Hungary, in Croatia, in Poland, in Berlin and in Austria at various times. The war was a far more nuanced story than I perhaps had imagined and in fact for many soldiers was made up of many personal chapters (battle,leave, convalescence, prisoner of war, refugee etc.). The fact he was a Transylvanian fighting for the Germans was an added uniqueness to his account.
This book was interesting in a number of ways. It provides a human insight into the trials of war and describes not one but in fact a whole catalogue of harrowing war stories which it is amazing he survived. The fact that he is not ashamed to admit to hating his enemies at times and also to committing attrociities of his own (albeit with justifications) add to the authenticity of his account.
Born in Kronstadt (Brasov) Transylvania as a German speaking Saxon he joined the German army and ended up fighting in Russia. I got the impression that he was comfortable in being both German and Hungarian in different respects; and definitely NOT Romanian. It is curious to read about how he felt kinship with other Germans across Europe and fascinating learn about his travels back and forth across Europe, returning home on leave via Bucharest a few times and finding himself in Hungary, in Croatia, in Poland, in Berlin and in Austria at various times. The war was a far more nuanced story than I perhaps had imagined and in fact for many soldiers was made up of many personal chapters (battle,leave, convalescence, prisoner of war, refugee etc.). The fact he was a Transylvanian fighting for the Germans was an added uniqueness to his account.
This book was interesting in a number of ways. It provides a human insight into the trials of war and describes not one but in fact a whole catalogue of harrowing war stories which it is amazing he survived. The fact that he is not ashamed to admit to hating his enemies at times and also to committing attrociities of his own (albeit with justifications) add to the authenticity of his account.
April 23, 2020
+ An extremely useful biography about a part of the world and a time that has very little documentation besides some reports made by academic paper pushers written from a remote capital.
+ It is fascinating to see how all ethnic groups in the area share the same fears and myths. Each group is talking about truckloads of violent peasants brought from the villages around by some conspiracy to kill a few individuals in the streets. Like demonic presence, the said peasants are of "evil" ethnic group, come out of nowhere, could decimate the ethnic group of the speaker and than disappear into thin air leaving no trace of money transfer, bus tickets, anything.
+ The whole text has valuable information like
* although the US prides itself in hunting the Nazi, quite a few of his buddies moved there. Or in Canada, an equally pure at heart administration.
* the mighty and well trained German army is just another governmental enterprise, Landau's temporary friend is one from the Krupp clan, and happens to be an officer, who will employ at will his younger buddy.
+ It is fascinating to see how all ethnic groups in the area share the same fears and myths. Each group is talking about truckloads of violent peasants brought from the villages around by some conspiracy to kill a few individuals in the streets. Like demonic presence, the said peasants are of "evil" ethnic group, come out of nowhere, could decimate the ethnic group of the speaker and than disappear into thin air leaving no trace of money transfer, bus tickets, anything.
+ The whole text has valuable information like
* although the US prides itself in hunting the Nazi, quite a few of his buddies moved there. Or in Canada, an equally pure at heart administration.
* the mighty and well trained German army is just another governmental enterprise, Landau's temporary friend is one from the Krupp clan, and happens to be an officer, who will employ at will his younger buddy.
March 14, 2021
Memories written by German saxons about the interwar period and their acts during WW2 are quite rare. This is one of the reasons this book is particularly interesting. Obviously, the author hides some details and fast forwards others. But what is more intriguing - especially for a Romanian reader - is his Romanian-phobia. He sometime breaks the historical facts in order to justify his opinions, but in other occasions he offers a perspective which is... let s say quite unfamiliar. Still, the book is worth reading and the narration of his last months of the war is absolutely a must for understanding that perspective.
November 16, 2021
An extremely useful biography about a part of the world and a time that has very little documentation besides some reports made by academic paper pushers written from a remote capital.
It is fascinating to see how all ethnic groups in the area share the same fears and myths. Each group is talking about truckloads of violent peasants brought from the villages around by some conspiracy to kill a few individuals in the streets. Like demonic presence, the said peasants are of "evil" ethnic group, come out of nowhere, could decimate the ethnic group of the speaker and than disappear into thin air leaving no trace of money transfer, bus tickets, anything.
The whole text has valuable information like
* although the US prides itself in hunting the Nazi, quite a few of his buddies moved there. Or in Canada, an equally pure at heart administration.
* the mighty and well trained German army is just another governmental enterprise, Landau's temporary friend is one from the Krupp clan, and happens to be an officer, who will employ at will his younger buddy.
It is fascinating to see how all ethnic groups in the area share the same fears and myths. Each group is talking about truckloads of violent peasants brought from the villages around by some conspiracy to kill a few individuals in the streets. Like demonic presence, the said peasants are of "evil" ethnic group, come out of nowhere, could decimate the ethnic group of the speaker and than disappear into thin air leaving no trace of money transfer, bus tickets, anything.
The whole text has valuable information like
* although the US prides itself in hunting the Nazi, quite a few of his buddies moved there. Or in Canada, an equally pure at heart administration.
* the mighty and well trained German army is just another governmental enterprise, Landau's temporary friend is one from the Krupp clan, and happens to be an officer, who will employ at will his younger buddy.
April 11, 2016
It was an excellent account of experience on the front (lines) during World War 2. It was very clear, and Mr. Landau wrote what he thought. After reading it, I felt like we had a connection, and that I HAD to meet him. Unfortunately, I couldn't. I'd recommend it to anyone who like World War 2, or history all in general. It brings you all throughout Eastern Europe.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews