D DAY Through German Eyes: Book One and Book Two

D DAY Through German Eyes #1-2

by Holger Eckhertz, Sprech Media (Translator)

This new paperback edition contains Book One and Book Two of this series, revealing the hidden side of D Day which has fascinated readers around the world. Almost all accounts of D Day are told from the Allied perspective. But what was it like to be a German soldier in the bunkers of the Normandy coast, facing the onslaught of the mightiest invasion in history? What motivated the German defenders, what were their thought processes - and how did they fight from one strong point to another, among the dunes and fields, on that first cataclysmic day? This book sheds fascinating light on these questions, bringing together statements made by German survivors after the war, when time had allowed them to reflect on their state of mind, their actions and their choices of June 6th. We see a perspective of D Day which deserves to be added to the historical record, in which ordinary German troops struggled to make sense of what was facing them, and emerged stunned at the weaponry and sheer determination of the Allied troops. Above all, we now have the unheard human voices of the individual German soldiers - the men who are so often portrayed as a faceless mass.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, War, World War II, Military History, Germany, Military Fiction

438 pages, Paperback

First published November 4, 2016

Reviews

[Boudewijn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating read from the German perspective

In 1944, Dieter Eckhertz (a military journalist) visited several locations on the Atlantic Wall and interviewed a number of troops. Later, after the war, when many Germans preferred to draw a veil over the events of the war, he decided to track down some of the men he had interviewed and encouraged them to discuss their personal memories of the Atlantic Wall and the subsequent invasion on the 6th of June. This resulted in a collection of interviews which his grandson, Holger Eckhertz, decided to release for the wider public.

In this first part of a two part series, 5 German soldiers were interviewed. All 5 soldiers participated in the defense of one of the five invasion beaches. We learn from a German machinegunner, who was some miles from the coast defending a set of fortified houses, who was captured by American paratroopers. On Omaha beach, we read the account of a German machine gunner, who mowed down the first wave of American soldiers trying to come onto land. On Gold beach, a German lookout was the first to spot the invasion armada and on Sword beach a battery officer was defending his artillery battery against an English assault.

All stories are chilling, in that they tell the horrific events that all soldiers experienced during the invasion. We read how they were on heavy bombardments, set on by angry and fierce Allied soldiers and saw their comrades being severed or set to fire by napalm rockets or flamethrowers.

What struck me most was that the motivation of the German soldiers, which repeatedly returns to the question of 'defending France' or 'defending a united Europe' against the imperial English and American forces which shows the great influence of the German propaganda. Soldiers were very amazed, or even angry that the Allies, which were of the same race and colour, actually dared to attack them while they were fighting of the Bolsjewik hordes. Secondly, and connected to this, is the surprise some of the interviewees when they were confronted by the Allied troops' aggression and determination. Thirdly, the complete lack of resources available to the first line defences of the Atlantic Wall compared to the newest weaponry and air superiority of the Allies. And finally, the sheer amount of luck that some of these soldiers had in surviving. Those of us who have never been in action can surely not imagine the stress which comes from knowing that the path of a bullet or shell might either kill you or pass you by.

[Sweetwilliam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a simple, quick read but very entertaining and so revealing. After reading the Longest Day, Ambrose and Beever’s D-Day books, why not try and read an account from the German perspective? D-Day Through German Eyes is that book.

The book is a series of five interviews of Germans that were defending the various D-Day beaches. Apparently, author Holger Eckhertz’s grandfather had interviewed these D-Day survivors in the 1950’s and the interviews were never published until now. I am reading on line that there is controversy that these accounts may not be authentic. If they are authentic then I give the book five stars and if they are fake I give it five stars for outstanding fiction.

The accounts are gripping and I cannot see how someone can make this stuff up. I was taken by how violent the deaths were. I grew up on Spaghetti Westerns and the cowboy always died a dramatic death that took several minutes. The cowboy was always able to tell his cohorts to look after his children and his wife etc. Not so for the Germans manning the defenses at Normandy. The accounts include large pieces of shrapnel bouncing around the bunker like a racquetball, passing through comrades after each carom. Another account is of a white phosphorus round burning soldiers alive. There are many gruesome accounts and there was no time for a soliloquy.

One thing that surprised me is that each of the Germans said that they were fighting for a United Europe. They claimed that the Western governments were directed by bankers and Freemasons. Also, one of the Germans had an interesting take on Hitler. He said that they all read about Pearl Harbor and the United States declaring war on Japan. He said the soldiers on the Atlantic Wall said great, we had nothing to do with Pearl Harbor. But then, 48 hours later, Hitler is on the radio to inform the public that he just declared war on the United States. The soldier couldn’t believe it. He said that Canada and England could have never breached the Atlantic Wall but Hitler brought the US into the European theater with his senseless declaration. He said if The US had not intervened that they the German’s could have concentrated their defense against the Bolsheviks and save Germany. They also got along well with the French.

The book was an outstanding read and I devoured it. There was never a dull moment.

[Elyse · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't often read World War II non-fiction books but I am a curious reader. I saw its high Goodreads rating and I enjoy history so I read it and was astounded. The author/interviewer was a German war correspondent during WWII and talked to soldiers in Normandy both before and after D-Day. He said that everyone is told the story of D-Day from the Allied perspective and consider the German fighters a nameless mass. I didn't really know the story from either side. My only knowledge of D-Day was from years ago watching the movie "Saving Private Ryan". (The first 15 minutes of that movie was so intense and upsetting to me I "watched" with my eyes closed and my hands over my ears.)

The regular German soldiers were inundated with propaganda saying they were defending a unified Europe against Russian invaders and English and American imperialistic collaborators. The troops on shore had never seen or heard of tanks that could land on a beach and shoot flames. Most of these German soldiers the Allies first engaged were not in great shape (older soldiers, lightly crippled soldiers, and soldiers of low IQ) but they fought hard to the best of their ability. German brass used them as cannon fodder to delay the Allies. They wanted time to get their crack troops in position. Luckily they took too long and the Allies got a good foothold. I could go on and on with my new knowledge.

I wish I had talked to my Dad more about his war experiences before he died. He was an American GI - a muleskinner in an artillary unit attached to the 10th Mountain division. I know he was in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, Italy, and I remember him saying something about a glider landing. Where he was on June 6th, 1944, I don't know. What a pity. I'd have a hundred questions to ask him now!

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Utterly fascinating. I'm really glad I got the version with both book 1 and book 2. Book 1 is a more sustained, focused account of the invasion as it occurs--the first chapter in book 1 is 35 pages long and frankly got a bit slow for me, plus I felt the material suffered from the lack of synthesis and overview you would get from a good historian contextualizing the various interviews. Book 2 is a more idiosyncratic and surprising volume, with comments from the interviewees about peeing their pants in terror before combat or needing a schnapps before relating any more of the horrible things they witnessed in the war--that level of personality and personal investment is its own sort of context.

Even though I would love to see what a good historian could do with this material, I still really did learn so much, both in terms of big-picture ideology about the entire war and really granular details--like the fact that the shock waves from the Allied bombardment were so intense that they sometimes made the German soldiers' eyes bleed; when there was a break in the assault, the men in the bunkers would have to stop and wipe away all the blood on their faces coming from their eyes.

It makes sense that the Germans would have some noble ideology that would make them more inclined to risk their lives in this war, but I had always just assumed it was about the right of the Aryan race to rule the world. It turns out that the Germans at Normandy were fighting to defend "the unification of Europe under German protection." (Sound familiar? Like, maybe, the unification of North America under American protection, through Trump?) They thought many if not most of the French hated Charles de Gaulle, and they thought the French were grateful to them for protecting them from the Americans and the English. They were shocked to discover that at least some of the French were insincere in their professed gratitude to the Germans.

It is overlooked, perhaps forgotten, by almost everyone today that we were there to defend Europe against the multiple threats represented by the Allies. We saw the British as an outdated Imperial force, organised by freemasons, who sought to turn the clock back one hundred years to the days when their word was the law around the world. Why should they be entitled to install their freemason puppet, De Gaulle, in France, to rule as a proxy? The Vichy government had three consistent points in its propaganda regarding the threats to the French people: these were De Gaulle, freemasonry and communism.

As for the American state, we perceived that as controlled by the forces of international finance and banking, who wished to abolish national governments and have the world run by banks and corporations. And there was the definite sentiment that both these countries, England and the USA, were being manipulated, controlled, by Bolsheviks in Moscow. I stress that these were my views, and they were very common views, at the time....

Regarding the Americans, I think that most of us soldiers made a distinction in our minds between the American government, which we believed was a pawn of international finance, and the Americans as individuals. After all, we had all seen US films and magazines before the war, we had read about cowboys and heard jazz music, and all this was exciting and very attractive to us. But despite all this, we knew that the Americans too were intent on attacking France and destroying the unification of Europe under German protection that our leadership had achieved....

"United Europe" was a universal slogan.... There was a definite sense that Europe was united under the Reich, and an attack on France would be an attack on the whole structure.(66-67)

OK, there's a bit that stings there in 2018, in the stuff about America being a pawn of international finance, though you realize just how much it wasn't true in 1944 when you compare the world then to the world now, when a former CEO of Exxon with no government experience is the US secretary of state during the presidency of an incompetent businessman whose only allegiance is to his own wealth and dynasty. In any event, having a large geographic area controlled by one fascist state doesn't really constitute a united people. And the US would not be controlled by Moscow until 2016, and actually all the Bolsheviks were secretly capitalists, and German banks are as much a part of international finance as American banks (read about all the bad shit Deutsche Bank does!), and the American government actually tried to police them even into the twenty-first century--until, you know, Trump and Tillerson went to Washington etc etc.

Anyway. Back to German ideology in 1944:

The frustration for us was that we were not fighting the war against the Western powers, really. Our real war was with the Soviet Union and the threat that we believed they posed to us in the East. Today, of course, we in West Germany all understand that this belief was mistaken, but ten years ago the feeling against the East was very strong. And this added, you see, to our anger against the Americans and the English Empire, because they were diverting our strength, our forces, away from the battles in the Eastern Front.

What a foolish thing that war was, when you think about it. The Americans had so much space in their prairies and mountains, and the English had India and all those places in Africa. And yet they wanted to take France from us, and stop us fighting the Reds. All of us there on that area of sand dunes, me in my concrete panzer, and the PAK gun, and the little two-man bunkers, we all should really have been in the East, fighting the real enemy of Europe over there. But the Western Allies insisted on threatening us in France. (155-156)

Or this German description of English soldiers: "Their faces were set rigid, in an expression of absolute hatred. Sheer hatred. This worried me. Why would men, who were the same race as us, who were physically similar to us, why would they hate us in this way? Why would they want to burn us alive, when we were protecting Europe? What was the origin of this hatred? I had no answer to such questions" (137).

Consider also this: "I saw the number of ships that the Allies were bringing against us. I was staggered at the sight, even though I could only see it dimly. I was absolutely stunned, and also very angry.... Because of the senseless waste of all this. All these planes, these ships, were crewed by men who were the same as us, from the same civilization and race as us, and yet here they were launching this attack against our Europe, while all the time the Soviets were massing their armies against Europe in the East. It was such a waste, so unnecessary" (159).

And this: "let us remind ourselves, we the Germans were not attacking England! We were not invading America. It was the Allies attacking France, and we were there to defend the country against their assault" (77). The guy really seems to have forgotten that Hitler had declared war on the US, Germany had bombed England, and it had captured France. Those soldiers were there to defend France against the Allied assault because they had first assaulted and invaded it.

A few of the accounts mention astonishment that the Americans did not use war horses, that everything was mechanized, whereas the Germans still relied on beasts of burden for many tasks because they lack the raw materials, the labor and the facilities to produce as many machines as they wanted. This was cited as proof that the Americans would win, because they had a seemingly endless supply of machines, so much so that they didn't bother repairing machines that broke down, just replaced them with a shiny new one.

The Germans relied not only on war horses but on something called "international workers" or "Eastern helpers," which is to say

conscripted labourers who came from the Eastern countries. I think that a lot of them were Hungarian or Polish. I certainly did not envy them their task, as they dug and worked constantly, literally around the clock. In fact, the first deaths that I saw in the war were several of these men who unfortunately died while they were working, and they were buried in the bottom of an anti-tank ditch. That unsettled me greatly, seeing that human bodies could be disposed of in that way. (250)

In other words, these were slaves who were worked to death. And the enslavement of people Germany had conquered would most likely have been something the average soldier would have seen and been personally aware of--they would know that this was something the Third Reich was capable of.

One German who ended up in a prisoner of war camp in Idaho was extremely enthusiastic about the United States and his treatment there ("we were all astonished at how well we were treated. The food was superb. Every day there was corn, bread rolls, tinned meat and potatoes.... it was almost madness. Every mouthful I ate in the USA was a guilty privilege, if you know what I mean. So many other people were going hungry, or were starving") and even hoped to remain in the US and become a citizen after the war. But he knew that was impossible once "the films came across the Atlantic and were shown everywhere. The films changed many things":

You have seen these films, just as we all have. I remember when the films arrived, we were brought into the mess hall one morning, this was in May 1945, just after the war ended, and we had to watch the film. I think it was called This Was Your Germany or This Was Germany. It was specifically made to be shown to German people. They were showing it all over Germany, in every town and village. It went on for about thirty minutes, all the thins from Dachau and Belsen and those camps.

When the film ended, the American guards refused to speak to us, or even to look at us. Even the guards who had been friendly and helpful, they refused to look at us. They just shouted commands and locked us in the camp with the food. There was some kind of regulation that said we had to be given food, and they could not break this regulation, apparently.

Asked how the prisoners responded to the films about the concentration camp, the man continues:

Some of us said that it was a hoax. Most of us knew, I think, deep down, that it was true, and that this was what the regime of the Third Reich was capable of doing.

One man, who had also been in Normandy, said to me, "Is that why we fought, then?" That was the question. Was that why we fought all those years?

Because we were soldiers being ordered to do our duty, and our duty was for nothing if it was to defend all of that in the films. It left us very confused, and also very betrayed. And all of the time, the Americans, who now refused to speak to us, kept giving us more food than we could eat, because of their regulations. We had no appetite, but the Americans kept giving us food.

That was a strange time, and a time which showed us more than ever the resources which the Allies had. (250)

One soldier expresses astonishment that the Americans actually wanted to kill the Germans they were attacking. As a way to explain that astonishment, he says:

It is hard to explain. I think that in my mind, I always had some idea that the Americans were civilized, but they were misguided, or they were misled. Now that you ask me the question, I try to understand my own feelings and it's difficult for me. I think that I had the belief, the subconscious belief, that the civilized Americans would not wish to disturb the peace of France. We in the German forces thought that we had one to such lengths to protect France, to guard its people against harm. I think that deep down I could not believe that the Americans would shatter this peace we had achieved.

Of course, I was utterly wrong.... I was wrong about everything. I know today, ten years later, that everything I believed during the war was a mistake. I understand today that we Germans were not in France to protect the people, we were there to exploit and persecute them. We should never have been in France, or Russia, Italy, any of those places. The things were did were appalling... everything was wrong. Why would they cut our throats and break our necks like animals, in the road, without a word? Well, because they knew the truth of what we were doing, that is why....

I would like to add that we in the Wehrmacht were only ordinary men, just as those Americans with their knives were ordinary men. We were not great thinkers, none of us were great psychologists or political experts. We were simple, ordinary men. And yet the other people hated us so much. (266-267).

So, yeah. I quoted long passages from this book, because I think many of the passages are worth quoting and grappling with. It's worth understanding the psychology of an invading army that somehow thinks it's doing the people it has invaded a huge favor.

Takeaway: PEOPLE DON'T LIKE BEING INVADED AND RARELY GREET THE INVADERS AS LIBERATORS--UNLESS, YOU KNOW, THEY REALLY ARE LIBERATING PEOPLE FROM A PREVIOUS HOSTILE INVADER. IMPOSING YOUR MARTIAL LAW ON ANOTHER COUNTRY PISSES THEM OFF AND IS NOT PERCEIVED AS "UNITY." CREATING CAMPS AND LOCKING PEOPLE UP INDEFINITELY WITHOUT A TRIAL JUST BECAUSE YOU THINK THEY WANT TO HURT YOU DOESN'T PLAY WELL IN THE INTERNATIONAL MEDIA.

So it would be really great to see some sort of accounting like this about all our military endeavors since we invaded Iraq in 2003. Until that accounting arrives, at least watch Charlie Wilson's War, which explains how we squandered a lot of good will and created the resentment that led in part to 9/11.

[Ira Livingston · Rating 5 out of 5]

We saw the British as an outdated Imperial force, organised by freemasons, who sought to turn the clock back one hundred years to the days when their word was the law around the world. Why should they be entitled to install their freemason puppet, De Gaulle, in France, to rule as a proxy? The Vichy government had three consistent points in its propaganda regarding the threats to the French people: these were De Gaulle, freemasonry and communism. As for the American state, we perceived that as controlled by the forces of international finance and banking, who wished to abolish national governments and have the world run by banks and corporations.

Regarding the Americans, I think that most of us soldiers made a distinction in our minds between the American government, which we believed was a pawn of international finance, and the Americans as individuals. After all, we had all seen US films and magazines before the war, we had read about cowboys and heard jazz music, and all this was exciting and very attractive to us. But despite all this, we knew that the Americans too were intent on attacking France and destroying the unification of Europe under German protection that our leadership had achieved. - excerpt from Gold Beach chapter

This book is rather fascinating, the German morale was at a high, despite the loss of North Africa, and the crushing losses of the Eastern front.

Amazed that Americans were completely mechanized, some of the interviews point that we approach war like a rich child, bringing the fanciest and most expensive toys.

I would recommend this for any history buff, along with those that want to broaden their history from just the point of view as the victors.

[Ryann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Observation of British Troops: "Their faces were set rigid, in an expression of absolute hatred. ...Why would men, who were the same race as us, who were physically similar to us, why would they hate us in this way? Why would they want to burn us alive, when we were protecting Europe?"
-L.T.J. Wergens
German Battery Officer, Sword Beach

This was just one of many fascinating quotes from five German soldiers interviewed, just eleven years after D-Day. I found this book to be eye opening and insightful, and I appreciate the brutal and detailed honesty in their accounts. It boggled my mind to learn that the Reich propaganda led the German soldiers to believe that they were defending France from foreign invaders.

The Germans view of the Americans I found very interesting and was surprised at how correct their perceptions were to how the military is run even today. I was however, not surprised by the descriptions of the SS troops, but the observations and witnessed accounts of the SS behaviors and actions were bone chilling all the same.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found myself watching YouTube videos/documentaries of the invasion as I progressed through the stories which helped add to the visuals of what these soldiers were experiencing. Highly recommend!

[Graeme Strachan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very entertaining insight into a side of WW2 not often given light.
Most especially the various aspects of drudgery and boredom that the troops faced in the days immediately before and the invasion.
A fascinating book and worth reading to those who enjoy accounts of the war that move outside the normal British and American accounts.

[Peter J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It’s not a book that gives you an overall view of the D-Day battle. It’s a perspective on about a dozen different German soldiers and their personal experience on D-Day and the days following. You do get the impression of what a horrific battle it was for the combatant on both sides.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author's grandfather was a German journalist. He toured the Nazi fortifications in France well before D-Day. Years after the war, he interviewed survivors that could be tracked down. The attitude of the soldiers varies, but they all share the shock at the men and material coming up the beach. Many believed their mission was to protect a Europe united under Germany. Making Europe great again. The true enemy were the Soviets, or the Muslim nations.

[Paul Manoguerra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing primary source material; the interviews would have been greatly enhanced by any historical context--maps, photographs, etc., including of the original interviewer--and any longer attempt at a critical analysis and assessment of the interviews, especially the "Typhoon B" weapon, Herr Bergmann's claims about it, and his admission of war crimes and further planned war crimes.

[David Watts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essentially a collection of interviews of German troops who served in France and faced the onslaught known as D-Day. First person accounts were focused on their actions, their feelings and some retrospective thoughts. Well worth a read for those who haven't heard the German point of view on this important battle.

[Shawna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve always heard and read the Allied perspective of D Day. This is the first time I’ve read from the German perspective. This book is worth the time to read. The book puts faces to the German soldier and their accounts of this event. Worth the read.

[Carolye · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was interesting to understand the mindset of the German troops as it pertained to the Allied invasion of France. I never would have imagined the extent of the propaganda during that time.

[Tisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was fascinating to look at this historic event from the perspective of German soldiers.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such an interesting read and I'm so happy I found it. I've been trying to find works like this for years. I want to understand the thought process behind Nazi Germany and the repercussions from the Nazi regime that wrecked a continent and killed millions. Its easy to learn what happened. There are hundreds of thousands of books, movies, documentaries, photographs, news footage and other types of media that explain the events of the WW2 era, including pre- and post-war years. It is much, much more difficult to find material concerning WHY people did what they did.

I learned a lot from this book, although I'm not sure I believe some of the soldiers' claims that they didn't know about the camps. My extensive searching and reading on the subject has been revealing too. German civilians were not as ignorant as they once claimed. Most of them knew, they just didn't want to acknowledge it. Goebbels even used that 'secret-not-a-secret' to inspire more 'loyalty,' although it became more of a 'loyalty' to saving their own behinds because it was already too late and Germany couldn't lose the war after what they had already done. Many Germans thought their nation would be destroyed if they lost because the world would never forgive or forget what the Nazis did in Germany's name. These soldiers were fighting at the end of the war. Its hard to believe they didn't know what was happening to the Jews and many other people taken to the camps. The army was not innocent and many soldiers described random acts of cruelty and aggression by their own comrades.

I was astounded at some of the soldiers' statements of shock and feeling angry or offended that the English and Americans were fighting them in France. They believed they had a righ to be in France. The fact that it was not their nation and the French certainly didn't ask for German 'help' didn't seem to cross some soldiers' minds. THey viewed violence and interference from French civilians as a betrayal. The population of an occupied nation can not 'betray' the occupiers. The very definition of 'betray' does not apply. Some soldiers evidently mistook actions to make life bearable and avoid German reprisals for actual friendship. Its amazing that they could be so oblivious to thier own actions and so ridiculously stupid as well. Maybe, just maybe, the French civilians were nice and polite because the Germans had a habit of shooting large numbers of people for any infraction or imagined infraction.

Some soldiers were surprised and thankful for their treatment as prisoners of the allies while others had some negative experiences and complained bitterly. It was very interesting that some of the complainers admitted to doing much worse to their own prisoners. One of them even talked about testing a chemical weapon on Soviet POWs. Several soldiers described the conscripted non-German workers and openly admitted that many were worked to death, and they didn't have a problem with that. It was 'necessary.' They thought invading and occupying other nations and enslaving foreign nations for the benefit of Germany was perfectly acceptable. Hundreds of British, Canadian, and American soldiers in various branches of the armed services were killed as POWs throughout the last 1-2 years of the war and Soviet POWs were intentionally starved and slaughtered, so the Germans had absolutely nothing in terms of a moral high ground. They were sinking in moral quicksand, but that wasn't a view many of them held. Some of the soldiers interviewed had much more self-awareness and evidently spend some time thinking about their actions and the war in general, but I only noticed that in a few of the interviews. This was a very eye-opening book, to say the least.

[Mr. Pitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an astonishing book to read. You learn about D-Day from a perspective not included in any history book. I never considered how much death and destruction the French experienced due to the Allied bombing. The movies and shows in the popular culture of the USA focus on the losses our army experienced (which were great) but at the end of the day, Germany lost this battle hard. You see this from the accounts of the Germans who died in the attack. This is especially true when you read about the phosphorous rocket attacks, which had gruesome effects on the German soldiers. War is a dirty thing... and there are examples of atrocities committed by both allies and German soldiers. On more than one occasion, I put the book down in shock over what had happened.

Highly recommend this book.
I guarantee there will be multiple storylines in this book that will surprise you with something you never knew.

[Bobby Daugherty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ground view of the invasion. No political angle just men protecting their homeland from an invasion.

[Callum Hyslop · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last chapter on this book was interesting, author interviews an individual who was on the brink of changing Operation Cobra.
Excellent book!

[AlexB_E2 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first autobiography that I've willingly read and it's really good. The book is made of different d-day experiences through the Germans eyes when they were getting attacked. The reason why I like this book so much is that war is always written by the victors and this is a fresh new perspective on the war, not just the same history that I've read before.

[Frank Hermens · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read quite an amount of books on this matter, so I was surprised to read several things I did not know before. This book is a very easy read with some surprising elements!

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found it fascinating to learn how individual German soldiers viewed D Day, and what happened to them in the aftermath. Anyone interested in World War 2 should read these books.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

First hand accounts from the German troops who were at D Day that are horrifyingly real.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating look at D-Day from the perspective of some of the German soldiers defending the beaches of Normandy, what they referred to as 'The Atlantic Coast'.
Firstly, the Germans called D-Day 'The Invasion' for decades until movies out of Hollywood influenced a change in the way German popular culture referred to this part of the war.

For the incredible content and voices, I'm happily giving this book five stars. Read the paperback in a couple of days and can absolutely highly recommend. It was fascinating to be in the heads of the 'enemy' on that day, and to put into perspective who the men were that are always killed off in certain scenes we see in the movies and television. In this book, you learn what they thinking about that day.

The subjects were first interviewed in the spring of 1944 by Holger Eckhertz' Grandfather, who at the time was a journalist looking for a good story. He'd decided to do a feel good piece about the troops who were in position to defend the Atlantic Coast/Normandy should it ever become necessary.

In 1954, he followed up and tried to find the original men he'd spoken with with the goal of finding out how they felt about 'the invasion' ten years later, and to get them to describe what they could remember about their part in the events of that day. Many of his original subjects had not survived the day but he was able to interview others.

Each interview is completely gripping, as first hand war stories are. Like a good short story.

Holger Eckhertz Grandfather's plan was to eventually compile the stories together in a book but he died before he would get around to it. Holger Eckhertz inherited a box of Grandfather's writings because "he [Holger] was supposed to like this sort of thing." In the box, were stories about D-Day that would actually change history books.

I could editorialize about what I learned as a result of reading this but instead, encourage you to get a copy and read it instead.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

What was it like to be a German soldier on D Day? Terrifying. Amphibious tanks landing on the beach, the Churchill Crocodile spitting out liquid fire 80 yards. But what terrified most of those interviewed was being trapped inside bunkers as phosphorus weapons made their way inside. Here's excerpts from three of the interviews (Warning: very graphic):

------

1) I saw many fragments of burning material pour in through the aperture and fall onto the floor around the PAK; these fragments themselves expanded and burned, until in a few moments the gun seemed to be covered in these bright, blazing pieces of material. This fire simply would not go out; it covered the PAK crew, and sank into their ammunition pile. There was complete panic and disorder at that point. The men near the PAK were consumed in these white flames, including the weeping man on the ground and several injured men nearby. The uniforms of these men peeled off in scorched pieces, and their bare skin was set alight by the fire.
. . .
Somebody threw open the steel door of the bunker, and I hurled myself at it. Other men were competing with me to get out of that inferno in the bunker, and we fought each other with our bare hands at the doorway. I stumbled through, over the body of a man who collapsed outside with his hair on fire, and I ran a few paces away from the structure. I made the mistake of looking back into the bunker through the door. I can tell you that the interior was a vision of hell, an obscene sight that remains with me.

The white burning material was still expanding, and burning alive the men who had not escaped through the door. Men were rolling and struggling on the floor in the flames, some were clawing blindly at the walls, trying to feel the route out, with their faces all covered in smoke because their clothing was on fire. PAK rounds and MG rounds were detonating in there, in the confined space, and the tracer was screaming from one wall to another, tearing up the bodies of men where they stood or lay. I backed away from the door, as a couple of other men staggered out after me, with their backs and legs on fire.
. . .
I learned afterwards that this material was a phosphorous weapon. It is a very powerful explosive chemical that the Allies were starting to experiment with. The devastating thing about this phosphorous was that the fire kept growing and expanding, and it flowed almost like a liquid, eating into anything it touched. My God, I saw some of the bodies of our troops in the trench lines that had been hit by these rockets. The bodies were reduced to skeletons, very black and charred, as all the body material was burned off and consumed.

2) The one under the sandbag did not detonate properly, and caused only a lot of dust and smoke; however, the loose one on the floor exploded fully, and caused a very white flash which spread an incendiary material out, in a ball several meters wide. This incendiary ball was horribly blinding, and it hung in the air for what seemed like a long time. I was transfixed at the sight, as I had not seen an explosion like this before, and I did not know what it meant. Then the fireball collapsed onto the floor, and spread out in a manner I would describe as volcanic. This white burning matter enveloped several men nearby, who were flat on the floor, and it took hold of their bodies completely.

Their uniforms were burned off in moments, and their bare skin was blackened and charred. Whole pieces of their flesh became black in moments, and began to disintegrate.

These men screamed and convulsed in a dreadful way, and the other men backed away from them in a rush.

3) Yes, I found out from some of our medics later that this was a phosphorous weapon. Our medics found it very difficult to treat people who were burned with this chemical, because the stuff ate its way through their flesh and entered their bones and internal organs. It was like an acid in that way, like a corrosive acid.
. . .
I jumped back, but several of the men at the loopholes were caught by it. As soon as it touched them, it set their uniforms on fire. Some men were hit in the face as well, and they went around in a terrible way, clutching their faces, and screaming. It was a terrible scene, and we did not know how to stop this stuff burning. Even when the men rolled on the floor, or if we tipped sand over them from the sandbags, even then the stuff kept burning inside their skin.
. . .
The fact is that this phosphorous chemical went inside some of the men’s bodies, I think because they inhaled it as they struggled around. This stuff was burning them from inside, in their throat and lungs. It was actually setting fire to them from inside.

The shrieks and cries that these men gave out were unbelievable, and there was nothing to be done for them. One man was absolutely convulsing in pain, and his mouth and nose were exhaling a white smoke as the chemical burned him up. The Lieutenant took a rifle and smashed him on the back of the head with the stock, to knock him unconscious. That was a merciful thing to do, because the poor man then died in a state of unconsciousness.

------

The book closes with an interview with a Mr. K. L. Bergmann, a weapons specialist with ties to German intelligence. It was fascinating to see how close they were to deploying their "Typhoon B" weapon (mass amount of kerosene, charcoal dust, and aluminum dust released as vapor, then the air is ignited).
excerpt: "The shock wave of the Typhoon B weapon would crush any tanks in a radius of about one kilometer, but tanks present to a radius of three or four kilometers would be prevented from moving. The shock travels through a tank, you see, and causes damage to the engine, such as breaking the fuel lines and starting fires. It also unbalances the gun mountings, and blows off the tracks — and of course, there is the damage to the crew inside, and the potential for detonating the ammunition."

[Larry Strack · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gives a different prescriptive of D Day through the Germans eyes just as the title says. I can't imagine being in their shoes and looking out and seeing the things they saw and not knowing even existed due to the propaganda they were fed by the Nazi's.

[Gil Burket · Rating 5 out of 5]

We have a lot of worthy accounts of the utter hell that British, Canadian and American soldiers went through to establish a beachead on June 6th, 1944.

But what was it like to be on the receiving end for the German defenders when Allies literally blasted their way ashore?

Holger Echertz sought to answer that question with the accounts that he brought together in the book D-Day Through German Eyes.

It was actually Holger's father, Dieter Echertz, who gathered these interviews in 1955.
The elder Echertz had been a war correspondent for German military publications, and had visited the beach defenses as part of a writing assignment. Ten years after the battke, he wondered what had happened to the survivors and set about finding them to record their stories.

The timing is significant in itself. The formal Occupation of Germany by the Allied powers was coming to an end. The country was rebuilding. And the actual terrors and horrors of the Nazi regime had been fully exposed to the men and women who fought on its behalf.

The men who were interviewed for this book had mostly reconciled themselves with the truths of the war years. As a group they were all grateful to have survived, some having been captured within a day or two of the battle, others later in the war. And yet they could recall how the propaganda had swayed their thinking they had manned their stations in France to defend a "United Europe". Some still expressed dismay that the English / Canadians / Americans were fighting them when the struggle should have been with Marxism and the Soviet Union in the East.

One of the front line soldiers recalled thinking "Why are the British and the Americans attacking us? We were not attacking them?" This somewhat narrow view somehow avoided the reality of years of bombings of British cities and the raids of U-boats ravaging the ships of both countries.

Herr Echertz selected the stories of 13 participants in the battle.



They ranged from the common infantry who manned the open trenches of the "resistance points" along the crest of the cliffs, to soldiers who manned the fixed bunkers and fortified houses, an officer from the long range Merville battery, a Luftwaffe pilot, an officer in charge of a Goliath remote controlled vehicle section, a Stug armored crewman, and a Military Police sergeant. Between them, they all seemed to cover many of the key points of the battlefield.



Initially they'd been grateful to be stationed in France, sometimes due to disability or because of a unique skill set. Many talked of trading rations, cigarettes and coffee with the local farmers for fresh food. Some were eating so well they tried to send food parcels back to their families in Germany, which somehow were never received.

That all changed on the night of June 5th. They all mentioned knowing something was up due to the heavily increased air traffic in the middle of the night.

In the morning the ships appeared, filling the horizon.

Several talked of making that initial stand in their assigned positions only be literally blown and blasted into retreat.

The accounts are not for the squeamish. Especially disturbing were the effects of phosphorus weapons on human beings for which they had no knowledge or means of providing aid.

These men did what they had to do to survive. They fought, they ran, they played dead. Some surrendered (while there were several accounts that this was not necessarily the safest thing to do in the middle of a battle). Others retreated, only to be pulled into subsequent fighting.

The horror was on both sides. One told of seeing a row of dead American paratroopers, apparently shot execution style by an SS unit. Another told of seeing a visibly marked German field ambulance shot to pieces by a strafing Mustang.

There accounts of fighting Shermans and British tanks are there as well. The Germans were shocked to see Shermans inland that were still wet from coming ashore on the beaches.

American and British aircraft seemed to be everywhere, with their odd black and white invasion stripes only adding to the surreal nature of the day. Rocket and strafing attacks could reduce a ground formation to wounded soldiers and wrecked vehicles within seconds.

Many recounted thinking that this was all just a raid, and would be pushed back into the sea as was done in Dieppe. It was by the end of the second day that the realization came that this was not the case.

Overall, it is an easy and compelling read. Having read the accounts, it is a miracle that any of these men survived to tell their stories.

[William Fuller · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most astounding description of the impact of warfare upon its human victims that I had come across was Juliet Gardiner's The Blitz: The British Under Attack, but then I encountered Holger Eckhertz's D Day Through German Eyes. The latter in no way diminishes Gardiner's book but adds an entirely new dimension to the history of the determinate Allied invasion of Normandy in World War II, a dimension not typically found in other historical accounts.

Eckhertz's book is not really about the war per se; rather, it portrays the impact of battle on the German defenders through a series of interviews with several of the survivors, resulting in truly first-person accounts. I find that the significance of these accounts goes far beyond depictions of the terror and horror to be expected among people facing the imminence of violent death. This is the first history that I have ever encountered that reveals the beliefs and motivations of the German soldiers stationed in France, several of the interviewees clearly believing that they were defenders, not occupiers, of France and that British and American forces were operating under the direction of Stalin, who sought to wrest France from Unified Europe.

Numerous bits of other historical lore surface in these interviews, and many are fascinating because of their novelty though they may have had no significant strategic impact on the conduct or outcome of the conflict. For instance, I had never before heard of the Browning assassination pistol described by the former Feldgendarme. (See the Wikipedia article on the FP-45 Liberator pistol.) Then there was the super weapon whose explosion would have wiped out the entire port city of Calais, incinerating both French and German occupants, and which was ready to be deployed had not a chance Allied bombardment destroyed the half-tracks mounting the launchers. Would the weapon have worked? The interviewee spoke briefly of a successful test against Soviet personnel in the East but would not elaborate.

Speaking of incineration, judging by the memories and testimonies of several interviewees in Eckhertz's book, it seems as though flame throwers were ubiquitous weapons in Allied hands at Normandy. The descriptions of fire flowing like water into bunkers and partially buried concrete defense points (“Tobruks”), of its non-extinguishable nature, and of soldiers burning literally from inside out are impossible for the reader to “unsee” and explain much about the nature and lethality of that weapon.

There were, as might be expected, lingering questions, too. Several interviewees mentioned the strange disappearance of the Russian soldiers who had defected and fought with the Germans and who became prisoners of war at Normandy. They never appeared in the POW camps to which the German prisoners were sent. Were they surrendered to Stalin's Russia to be executed there as traitors?

Translated from the notes of Eckhertz's own grandfather (the interviewer), the accounts in this book reveal a great deal about the nature of 20th century warfare and include details that are omitted from other history books that I have encountered. Their revelations as to the worldview of the “common” German soldier are, I think, extremely important to one's understanding of one of the greatest conflicts the world has ever seen and are very likely to alter one's comprehension of that apocalyptic event. Even for those of us who do not believe “The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est / Pro patria mori,” the information to be gleaned from D Day Through German Eyes is significant and possibly unparalleled in other sources, and I highly recommend it to any reader who can stomach the carnage to uncover the insights it contains.

POSTSCRIPT: After reading and reviewing this book, I became aware of challenges to its authenticity. There does appear to be some mystery surrounding the identities of the author, the publisher, and the translation service. Some reviewers state that they have researched the names of the soldiers named in the book and have also come up empty. I still feel that it is a book worth the read, but, lacking proof of its authenticity, I have to acknowledge the possibility that the purported interviews may be fictional creations.

[Mark Lisac · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoroughly remarkable read, notwithstanding the fact that it may be largely a work of fiction posing as a series of interviews done in 1954 with German veterans of the D-Day landing on June 6, 1944.
It had me engrossed and believing every word until I thought there was just a little too much nuanced repetition, and until I came across a reference to two "giant" Canadian soldiers on Juno Beach, an unlikely observation given that most Canadians I've seen in numerous photographs seemed to be of average size or even surprisingly short by modern standards. And individual memories 10 years after the fact seemed surprisingly detailed in many cases.
Just enough doubt was raised that I checked the Internet and found considerable skepticism based on: the dubious history of the publisher; the lack of any information anywhere about the purported author/editor or about his grandfather who allegedly conducted the interviews; the unlikelihood that interview transcripts prepared in 1954 languished for decades before a grandson saw fit to compile an edited collection.
Why does it remain an interesting read? Because it makes you think about what an average soldier manning the "Atlantic Wall" must have experienced (although Cornelius Ryan did have some material on this aspect in The Longest Day). Also, a fair bit of research seems to underlie the effort. The book may well have been inspired by enough reality to stand as a decent historical novel. It also introduced an idea that I hadn't encountered before: the notion that a number of soldiers on the German side, affected by constant propaganda, saw themselves as defending a "United Europe" rather than a "conquered" Europe and wondered why the western Allies were attacking them rather than leaving Germany alone to fight the Soviet Army. That's plausible enough to be worth further investigation (not to mention serve as a cautionary tale for those inclined to believe wild claims by politicians and would-be politicians). Certainly the Second World War was to some extent a European civil war fought between fascists and communists.
Some of the descriptions of attacks by aircraft, and particularly by flamethrowers and incendiary bombs, are among the episodes that seem too numerous for complete credibility; yet there must have been some attacks of that sort and it's worth thinking about their destructive effect. A final chapter on a purported wonder weapon involving a highly explosive mixture of kerosene, coal dust and aluminum powder is the one chapter that seems far-fetched; for me it raised even more doubts about the veracity of the other chapters. It does not seem to be supported by any other research material, at least as far as a quick scan of the Internet goes.

[Cliff Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the book’s weak documentation and the likelihood of fabrication limit its value as history, it nevertheless raises subjects often overlooked in Allied-centred accounts of D-Day.

Human experience of battle. The book reminds readers that most front-line German soldiers were ordinary men. It describes the devastation caused by massed artillery, close-range air strikes, phosphorus shells, and the .50-cal Browning and MG-34 machine-guns, as well as the Allied use of napalm. The horror comes across more vividly than in many conventional histories.

Scale of the invasion. Operation Neptune on 6 June 1944 remains the largest seaborne assault ever mounted: nearly 7,000 vessels including 4,000 landing craft and 1,200 warships, landing 156,000 troops on the first day and over 875,000 within a week. Some German defenders were surprised by the Allies’ mechanised logistics compared with their own reliance on horse transport.

Wider wartime context. The destruction of Le Havre by the RAF in 1944 and the Royal Navy’s attack on the French fleet at Mers-el-Kébir in 1940 left deep Franco-British resentment. The commando raid on St Nazaire (Operation Chariot, 1942) was viewed by the British as a daring success but by the Germans as an act of sabotage.

Front-line German attitudes. The book reflects common German beliefs at the time: that the USSR was the main enemy, that the Reich needed more “living space,” and that National Socialism was a bulwark against communism. These views are recorded here as historical testimony, not as validated arguments.

Collaboration and foreign fighters. Many French collaborated during the occupation; orphanages cared for children of Franco-German parentage. The Allies air-dropped the single-shot FP-45 “Liberator” pistol for resistance use. By 1945 nearly half the Waffen-SS were foreign recruits, including large contingents from Ukraine and the Baltic states, with about 20,000 Frenchmen in units such as the 33rd SS “Charlemagne” Division.

Technology and weapons. The book highlights both Allied innovations such as the Typhoon fighter-bomber and the 22,000 lb “Grand Slam” bomb, and the Germans’ advanced designs, underlining how close the contest could have been had the war’s course shifted.

Aftermath. Some German soldiers were surprised at fair Allied treatment after surrender and shocked on learning of Nazi atrocities in the camps.

Despite its dubious sourcing, the book can be worthwhile as a prompt to consider neglected viewpoints and to confront the scale and savagery of modern industrial war.

[S.P. Muir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely incredible!
We think we know about D Day, right? Even if you haven't read any books on the subject, I imagine you've seen the films 'The Longest Day' and 'Saving Private Ryan'. And there are others too. But we only ever get it from the viewpoint of the Allies; from the victors. We never get a glimpse of what it was like for the Germans. This book is a real eye-opener.
Did you know that a great many of the 'Germans' defending the beaches weren't German at all? There were hundreds, if not thousands of Russians and Poles. There were also some French and Belgians, as well as many other nationalities. There were even some Muslim Waffen SS! I kid you not. But what of the quality of the soldiers? It turns out they were far from the crack troops we imagine. They were second rate at best, all deemed unfit for front line duty.
What surprised me most though, was the attitude of the Germans. What exactly did they think they were fighting for? Were they evil tyrants fighting to defend the wicked and monstrous Third Reich? Well, these interviews, carried out just a few years after the war are a revelation.
Almost all the Germans interviewed couldn't believe what the Allies were doing. Why were the British and Americans trying to destroy the happy, united Europe Hitler had brought about? Europe was now at peace. All separate countries but under a unifying central government. And this European Union is what they thought they were defending. Only later, they claim, did they learn the truth about the Third Reich.
If you like your history with a twist, this book is an absolute must. I can't recommend it highly enough.