Death Was Our Companion: The Final Days of the Third Reich

by Tony Le Tissier

As Hitler's dreams of a Thousand Year Reich crumbled in the face of overwhelming assaults from both East and West in the first months of 1945, the heavily out numbered German armed forces were still capable of fighting with a tenacity and professionalism at odds with the desperate circumstances. While Hitler fantasized about deploying divisions and armies that had long since ceased to exist, boys of fifteen, officer cadets, sailors and veterans of the Great War joined the survivors of shattered formations on the front line. Leading historian Tony Le Tissier gives a German perspective to the mayhem and bloodshed of the last months of the Second World War in Europe. Teenaged Flak auxiliaries recount their experiences alongside veteran Panzergrenadiers attempting to break out of Soviet encirclement. Struggles between the military, industry and the Nazi Party for influence over the defenders of Berlin contrast with a key participant's account of Goebbel's abortive attempt to conclude a cease-fire with the Soviets. This is fascinating reading for anybody interested in the ordinary soldier's experience of the culminating battles in central Europe in 1945.

Genres: World War II, Nonfiction, History

272 pages, Paperback

First published December 22, 2003

Reviews

[Steve Shallenberger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tony Le Tissier is one of my favorite authors. He does a nice mix of history and personal accounts to make for interesting reading. This book is about the final days of battle in Berlin during WW 2.

[Elinesterado · Rating 2 out of 5]

An anthology of German combat stories from the final days of World War 2. The German military is doing its best to stem the Allied flood - they were, after all, striving to survive - but are being driven back on all sides into a rapidly shrinking area around Berlin.

There are many interesting parts in each individual's story, but many of the accounts are dryly written and could have done with some effective and judicious editing. The accompanying maps are of a poor standard, which does not help understanding of the events, but there are some engaging photographs.

It is almost, dare I say, too Teutonic in style. What amounted to a narrative describing a desperate personal tragedy for each surviving German soldier or unfortunate civilian caught up in this appalling maelstrom frequently failed to excite any kind of emotion in most of the section's factual and detailed style.

In the end I found the book had promised more than it delivered.

[Merritt Webb · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a series of first person accounts, by child soldiers, regular army and SS troops at the close of the WW2. Some heroic stories, some tragic ones about a country being consumed by war. Provides some interesting points of view.

[Themistocles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tragic, dramatic and intimate. Very well written, it just won't let you put it down.