IN THE FIRE OF THE EASTERN FRONT:Experiences of a Dutch WSS

[ghp95134]

In The Fire Of The Eastern Front: The Experiences Of A Dutch Waffen-SS Volunteer On The Eastern Front 1941-45

Was doing some surfing on Amazon.com and found this yet-to-be-released book:


I found some reviews (??? not yet released....???) of it HERE

"In The Fire Of The Eastern Front: The Experiences Of A Dutch Waffen-SS Volunteer On The Easter Front 1941-45" is the personal memoir of Hendrick C. Verton and reveals a perspective on the battlefields of World War II that is not often encountered by an American readership. Verton includes his recruitment, training, and frontline service experiences as he saw service with the 5th SS Panzer Division 'Wiking" and then later with the SS Regiment Besslein. Verton touches upon the general politics of the day and explains how Dutch views of the Third Reich changed radically over the years of the war. Verton also covers that founding of the Waffen-SS, the recruiting of Dutch volunteers like himself, and why many non-German European volunteered to fight and imperil their lives for Germany and Adolph Hitler. Verton's stories of fighting in pitch battles, surviving 50 degree blow zero weather, transporting men and equipment over terrain that would range from quagmires to frozen ground is as compelling as it is informative. Exceptionally well written and impressively candid, "In The Fire Of The Eastern Front" is a welcome and recommended addition to the growing library of World War II military memoirs and autobiographies.

Looks like it might be a good read.

Cheers,
--Guy

[Marc Rikmenspoel]

The book has been out for quite a while, a couple of years, but when the publisher ran out of copies, they made revisions for this new 2nd edition, instead of just reprinting the book. So this 2nd edition is what is soon to be released (I don't know what the changes are, sorry).

[Paul E]

Hendrik died last year

Paul

[ghp95134]

Hendrik died last year

Paul

Thanks for letting us know about his dying. I suppose it's now up to "our" HaEn to get his memoirs published! There are so few Dutch accounts of their Waffen-SS experiences.

--Guy

[Paul E]

The only good on i know of in the English langauge is From Leningrad to Berlin by Perry Pierik

[ghp95134]

The only good on i know of in the English langauge is From Leningrad to Berlin by Perry Pierik

Thanks for the tip ..... There is a rather poor critique of it on Amazon.com -- I'm not inclined to obtain the book based on the one customer comment.

Thanks,
--Guy

[Marc Rikmenspoel]

I have to offer an anti-recommendation towards Pierik's Dutch Waffen-SS book! It purports to be a history of the Dutch Waffen-SS, but is actually Pierik's academic rants against fascism, with occasional mentions of how this relates to the Dutch Waffen-SS. His details are often placed in strange contexts, since there is little real military history presented. Reading the book is almost surreal, since the contents don't match the title. And from my personal dealings with the man, I can't speak very well of Pierik either (in particular for his use of photos of mine in the English edition of his book, for which I receive no credit).

With that said, his book on the fighting in Hungary in the last 6 months of the war is much better. It sticks to its topic and includes details he got from participants that aren't found elsewhere (it was written later, but published in English sooner, with a poor translation by someone who doesn't understand military terminology).

[Richard Hargreaves]

Verton's book is very good, although he does have a habit of straying into polemic and digressing about other theatres of war. There aren't too many books in English on the Dutch involvement Waffen SS. They're aren't too many books full stop giving a first-hand account of the fighting in Breslau.

For those interested, Verton also submitted a lot of material for Horst Gleiss' Breslauer Apokalypse, the ten-volume documentary chronicle of the siege. I've not yet got around to translating them, but it will be interesting to see how they compare with what he included in his memoirs.

[Paul E]

Got to agree with Marc and with the poster on amazon using the word "best" was an error by myself , what i should have said is one of the very "few" books in the english langauge on the Dutch volunteers.

I am a researcher of the Narwa battles and am very interested in the Nederland Brigade, i know of a few Dutch researchers who are compiling info for a book re the Dutch volunteers but have no idea how close it is to fruition,

regards

Paul

[KG voss]

Paul,

Apart from Tieke's book (IIISS Pz-Korps tragedy of the faifhful) what other book would you recommend for the Nederland Brigade and the 11SS Nordland division ? I heard of Michaelis's Book history of the Nordland. Is it good ?

Also.. I don't read german... so english languages please

Thank you.

[Marc Rikmenspoel]

In English, for Nordland, try to find a copy of Nordic Warriors by Richard Landwehr and Holger Thor Nielsen. It is a text and photo study of SS-PGR 24 Danmark, and tells the history of the Nordland Division in the context of the regiment.

Spanish probably doesn't help you, but Erik Norling's Raza de Vikingos is a nice history of the Nordland Division from the perspective of the Norwegian volunteers, with anecdotes and accounts not found elsewhere.

The Vincx/Schotanius volume 3 of Nederlandse vrijwilligers in Europese krijgsdienst covers the Brigade/Division Nederland and is "not in German." It's in Dutch! But no joking, that shouldn't scare you off, the book is full of charts and tables and similar material from the unit war diary. You don't have to know Dutch or German much to figure out lists of commanders, strength of units on particular days, and how many weapons such units had available. It is a tremendous resource for studying Brigade Nederland.

Back to English, my own Waffen-SS Encyclopedia book has an extensive section, around 98 pages, on the Germanic volunteers, with a focus on Wiking and Nordland. It is full of details never before brought together in one work in English. The material comes from a variety of sources in a variety of languages (anyone who has seen the book's bibliography can attest to that!). My Soldiers of the Waffen-SS book has many photos of Germanic volunteers, with a focus on Norwegians and Flemings (since that was the material I most readily found).

Edited to note that I forgot to add for the English language, Mark Yerger's German Cross in Gold Holders volume 3, which focuses on the Nordland Regiment/Division, and is highly recommended by me and others here.

[Absalon]

Not one of the mentioned books here, including Marcs own, takes up one extremely important aspect of the W-SS units; their involvement in war crimes.
So yes, if you don´t wanna get the information or the stains on the units reputation, then you should definatly buy the books. Marc Yergers book on the SS-Cavalry is a fine example, the unit in question did nothing on the Eastern front between 1941 and 1943 except hunting partisans and committing war crimes, but this fact is in a rather peculiar way, forgotten by Yerger....

[Absalon]

A big no no to Landwehrs books, they are pure rubbish! They guy in question is a apologetic spokesman for the belief that the nazis were purely misunderstood!! Avoid him at all costs!! That Marc Rikmenspool thinks he is good, is suprising...

[Uncle Joe]

Great Absalon, finally you revealed your true PC colours. You surely are one of Smelser et al´s Communist disciples. Funny thing is that when e.g. reading histories on American or British bomber units that took part in bombing missions that were pure war crimes (you should see the book by your fellow Swede, Sven Lindqvist) they are not mentioned. Yet I have not read Absalon´s outcries on such omissions. I have a very comprehensive book on the B-29, yet no mention is made of the fact that the B-29´s targets were 99% unarmed civilians.

And how Soviet unit histories do mention of their war crimes?

[Absalon]

The only one revealing anything is you revealing your political views. I have never said that the bombing campaigns is NOT war crimes, that is what you have been saying. Apparently you are very sensitive about critisism on your beloved Waffen SS, wonder why?? Read Murderous Elite, by JAmes Pontolillo if you dare, you will probably change your view on Waffen SS after that.