Looking for published memoirs of Waffen SS vets.

[Jax]

I'm looking for memoirs of Waffen SS vets. I've heard of Black Edelweiss but have not purchased it yet. Has anyone read this? Is it any good? Are there any other good Waffen SS memoirs out there?

Thanks,
Jax

[Jussi]

These I think these quite good:

"Grenadiers" by Kurt Meyer. No memoir probably better embrace the fighting spirit of the Waffen-SS.

"Campaign in Russia - The Waffen-SS on the eastern Front" by Leon Degrelle. The Vallonian legion and their struggle in the east.

"Seven Days in January - With the 6th SS-Mountain Division in Operation Nordwind" by Wolf T. Zoepf. Second in command in 3rd battalion describes the last german offensive that followed the ill-fated Ardennes offensive.

[Tom Houlihan]

I have read Black Edelweiss, and Seven Days in January. I enjoyed both of them, but each on its own merits. Try 'em, you'll like 'em!!!

[ericv]

Die Freiwiliigen, by SS-Obergruppenfuehrer Felix Steiner.

I also read the one written by Paul Hausser. at the moment I can't recall the title though


Both are good

[baerchen]

hi,

i have a book called "saat in den sturm" ( seeds into the storm ), it is in german, you can order it on amazon.de. author is herbert brunnegger.
it is by an austrian volunteer , did concentration camp duty first, then fought mainly in the east. very good read, has some nice pictures too.

[Mike]

First and foremost I will forever recommend Hans Landau's "Goodbye Transylvania." It was published in London in 1985 by Breedon Books. It is almost impossible to find, and by sheer luck I bought two copies through the British Book Shop in Frankfurt, Germany. It is an awesome book, and he doesn't shy away from ugly sights or ugly feelings. He openly writes about his hatred of the Russians and Rumanians, and admits to basically murdering Soviet POWs in Budapest. Good for the mental state of a Volksdeutsch Waffen Grenadier.
I've read both "Black Edelweiss" and "7 Days In January." Both were excellent, but as someone else in this thread mentioned, in their own ways.
"Edelweiss" gives good portrayals of an idealistic, patriotic young Waffen SS volunteer who, if he was going to have to fight, may as well be with the elite. Also good pre-war family scenes of peace and interesting conversations within his family. Voss did a great job.
"7 Days" was good, but from a higher level. Voss was a fighting man, but Zoepf was a fighter and a staff leader, so you get two views of the Nordwind battle. Also an excellent book.
I also own "the Last Knight of Flanders," about the Flemish SS Soldier Remy Schrijnen. I've yet to read it, but it looks good.
Hope this helps, Mike

[Fish]

Mike, Do you have any more info on that bookshop in Frankfurt you mentioned?
Thanks for the help

[Edwin Meinsma]

Here's another one:

Hahl, Fritz, 'Mit Westland im Osten'.

Regards,
Edwin Meinsma

[book lover]

Here is some from my collection.

SS Panzergrenadier by "Hans Schmidt"

The Captive Dreamer by "Christian de la Maziere"

A Dogs Life by "Hans Bayer"

Gods of war by "Hans Werner Woltersdorf"

Dance of Death by "Erich kern"

Other mens graves by "Peter Neumann" Looks like fiction to me

[Mike]

Hey Fish, Give me a little bit and I can probably find the phone number to that place.
Are you Army? I was there, in Buedingen with 1-1CAV, from 98-02.
Take Care, Mike

[Mike]

I've got a number for you: 069-280-492. That's the British Book Shop. They'll answer in Deutsch but just start "Spreckin'." They've probably got lines on other good books as well. Keep in touch, Mike

[Lexxx]

Gentlemen:

In the editor's introduction to Johann Voss' BLACK EDELWEISS, the editor discusses "the growing body of German military memoirs . . . by other Waffen-SS enlisted men." The editor then references two works, the first published in the 1990s "tells the story of the author's horrid, brutalized childhood and subsequent completely slavish submission to authority [in the Waffen SS]." The second is a "privately published affair that could easily have been written by one of the more vicious members of Goebbels' staff . . . the author validates the most unfavorable possible stereotype of Waffen SS soldiers."

It is obvious that the editor does not have a very high opinion of these books, but I think it unfair for him to criticize these memoirs without disclosing the titles of the accounts. Do any of you know the books to which the editor is referring?

Any help is appreciated.

[Tom Houlihan]

Lexxx, I've talked to him about them, but I can't remember the titles. I know the more vitriolic one was written by someone who is an unrepentant Nazi, and still regrets that Hitler lost the war. That's all I can remember at the moment.

Jax, if you can read German, there is another book, written by a different MG-Schütze from Nord. Leben und Unterleben, by Werner Adam. I have it, but I have to waited until I get educated before I can read it!

[sniper1shot]

Jaxx;
I have been reading for quite sometime now and can say that most of the title already mentioned are really good from an SS soldiers perspective.
7 Days, and Black Edelweiss are great and can be purchased from the same editor.
Another title is The Black March.
Any reason you picked just the SS as there are other excellant titles from other units and other soldiers memoirs.??

[Lexxx]

I would be interested in hearing about other Axis Eastern Front soldier memoirs that you know about. Here is my list:

Baklanov, Grigory, Forever Young, J.P. Lippincott (1979).

Bidermann, Gottlob, In Deadly Combat, Univ. of Kansas (2000).

Degrelle, Leon, Campaign in Russia, Institute of Historical Review (1985).

Dibold, Hans, Doctor at Stalingrad, Aberdeen (2001).

Fritz, Stephen, Frontsoldaten, Univ. Kentucky Press (1995).

Fuchs, Karl, Your Loyal & Loving Son, Brassey’s (1987).

Grossjohann, Georg, Five Years, Four Fronts, Aberjona (1999).

Heydte, Baron von der, Daedalus Returned: Crete 1941, Hutchinson (2001).

Holz, Rick, Too Young to be a Hero, Flamingo (2000).

Kern, Erich, Dance of Death, Collins (1951).

Knappe, Siegfried, Soldat, Airlife (1993).

Koschorrek, Gunter, Blood Red Snow, Greenhill (1998).

Mark, Jason (trans.), An Infantryman in Stalingrad, Southwood Press (2005).

Metelmann, Henry, Through Hell for Hitler, Casemate (1990).

Neumann, Peter, The Black March, Bantam (1958).

Pabst, Helmut, The Outermost Frontier, William Kimber (1986). OUTR

Pickert, Wolfgang, The Stalingrad Airlift, AEROSPACE HISTORIAN (Dec. 1971).

Pruller, Wilhelm, Diary of a German Soldier, Coward-McHann (1963). PRUL

Sajer, Guy, The Forgotten Soldier, Harper & Row (1971).

Schmidt, Hans, SS Panzergrenadier, Hans Schmidt Publishing (2002). SSP

Schmidt, Heinz, With Rommel in the Desert, Ballantine (1951).

Skorzeny, Otto, My Commando Operations, Schiffer (1995).

Stempel, Joachim, The Road to Stalingrad: Nemesis, Wijers (2002).

Stern, Mario Rigoni, The Sergeant in the Snow, Northwestern (1953).

Wijers, Hans, The Battle for the Factories, Brummen (2003).

Wijers, Hans, Operation Winter Storm, Brummen (2003).

Voss, Johann, Black Edelweiss, Aberjona Press (2002).

Zoepf, Wolf, Seven Days in January, Aberjona Press (2001).