Rating: 
Summary: The best narrative of a German soldier that I have read.
Review: If you like reading what the other side was dealing with during WWII, this book fits the bill. It's one of the better ones of the genre. Bidermann's story is interesting and full of insights into the German soldiers experience. I recommend this book whole-heartedly. Bidermann does not make excuses for being a German soldier, or for his actions during the war, but just tells his story honestly, I believe.Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: The best narrative of a German soldier that I have read.
Review: If you like reading what the other side was dealing with during WWII, this book fits the bill. It's one of the better ones of the genre. Bidermann's story is interesting and full of insights into the German soldiers experience. I recommend this book whole-heartedly. Bidermann does not make excuses for being a German soldier, or for his actions during the war, but just tells his story honestly, I believe. Enjoy.
Rating: 
Summary: Superb descrition of the hell that was the Eastern Front
Review: In Deadly Combat has quickly become my favorite first person narrative from the German perspective in WW2. The author served in a regular infantry division for the entire war. He worked his way up from private to oberleutnant by the end of the war, with numerous awards for bravery and being wounded five (5!) times. I found his first person accounts absolutely riveting. He first serves as a anti-tank (37mm gun)crewman, through the first year and into Von Manstein's brilliant Crimean campaign. His details on the actions in the Crimea are outstanding, heat, thirst, lack of food, and of course a determined enemy are all felt by the reader. After the Crimea, his unit is shipped north to the Lenningrad front & a whole new list of horrors, hot mosquito infested swamps that turn to icy cold nightmares in the winter. Of course well seasoned with a helping of determined Soviet soldiers. In the end his unit surrenders to the Soviets in May of 45 and his ordeal is just beginning. His descriptions of life as a Soviet prisoner are as chilling as anything he endured in combat. Much of the book (which was originally intended to be distributed to 132nd Division survivors after the war) is a description of his division's history in the war. While these are a little more "dry" than his first person accounts, I still found them fascinating. This is not one of the over-glorified panzer or Waffen SS formations, but an ordinary infantry unit, the type that comprised the bulk of Hitler's Whermacht. I highly recomend this book to anyone interested in the story of infantry combat on the eastern front in WW2.
Rating:
Summary: A must read
Review: In Deadly Combat is the "Must" read of World War 2. The memoirs of 3 1/2 years of combat on the eastern front, followed by over 1,000 days as a Soviet POW can not be described in any other words except by a man that survived the ordeal. Bidermann's account not only details the destruction and misery brought by the "Gods of War," but offers a very intriguing insight on how he both excelled as a soldier, and leader of men....And, his memoirs offers insight about survival. The most fascinating aspect about Bidermann's memoirs is "what went through his mind" during a terrible & horrific experience. After my readings of the US combat veteran in WW2, the Korean War, and Vietnam; the perils of 3 1/2 years of continous combat seem momentus compared to the shorter combat tours. Of course, any combat tour must be incredibly sickening, but the realization soldiers of the Red Army and German Army lasted so long boggles the mind. Finally, Bidermann depicts 3 1/2 years of combat on the Eastern Front in a concise, entertaining and easily read book. His work both as a soldier and author is INCREDIBLE!
Rating:
Summary: A must read
Review: In Deadly Combat is the "Must" read of World War 2. The memoirs of 3 1/2 years of combat on the eastern front, followed by over 1,000 days as a Soviet POW can not be described in any other words except by a man that survived the ordeal. Bidermann's account not only details the destruction and misery brought by the "Gods of War," but offers a very intriguing insight on how he both excelled as a soldier, and leader of men....And, his memoirs offers insight about survival. The most fascinating aspect about Bidermann's memoirs is "what went through his mind" during a terrible & horrific experience. After my readings of the US combat veteran in WW2, the Korean War, and Vietnam; the perils of 3 1/2 years of continous combat seem momentus compared to the shorter combat tours. Of course, any combat tour must be incredibly sickening, but the realization soldiers of the Red Army and German Army lasted so long boggles the mind. Finally, Bidermann depicts 3 1/2 years of combat on the Eastern Front in a concise, entertaining and easily read book. His work both as a soldier and author is INCREDIBLE!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent...truly some of the best WWII writing available
Review: It is a certainty that most amateur WWII historians read Cornelius Ryan's tomes at some point. I'm afraid that many probably leave their research at that. They are surely left at a loss; if they read THIS book, they might begin to understand the war, at least as it was seen by the "everyman" author, Herr Bidermann. We follow the author through his role as gunner/team leader with a Pak 37 AT gun in the Crimea, then onto the Northern Theatre, his subsequent promotion and decoration, and his travails in the Courland Pocket. We end, in the Epilogue, as the author is freed from his 1,000 days as a prisoner in Soviet Russia, having been exposed to tank fire, snipers, and the horrible randomness of artillery, and having felt, if for a fleeting moment, the mortal terror of combat, the exhilaration of survival, and the weariness of the time between. The book is concise, to the point, and full of details that provide the reader great insight into the life of the soldier. As an American, I truly appreciate the understanding I have gained from this book, and feel that my own children should read IN DEADLY COMBAT, both to entertain and to learn. For far too long, Americans have seen the war from the perspective of a John Wayne flick; this book will show you that ALL of us are human, no matter the color of our uniform, and might, if its contents are carefully considered, help you truly feel the horror and evil that is war.
Rating:
Summary: review
Review: Mr. Bidermann's story is one of the finest, most direct and most understated accounts of the war of annihilation known as the Eastern front. This book should be required reading for college courses dealing with the study of warfare as a foundation for ethics. There are schools of thought not to glorify warfare, but to understand its study as a necessary step to developing an ethical approach to life. Mr. Bidermann shows the development of such an ethical approach to life, arising out of the ashes of his experiences. On a micro-level, the book is excellent for describing the experiences of an above-average, intelligent person who was sucked into the madness of war and how to handle this extreme situation. In the war, my late father fought in the US Army Air Force as a waist gunner. He flew in Europe and bombed our German ancestoral homeland. I can better understand his feelings now (even after he is gone) after reading In Deadly Combat. This is a unique book and not your average "I was there" story. You are with there with Mr. Bindermann, feeling what he feels and seeing what he sees. There is a sense of immediacy, of life and death hanging by a thread, which makes this a compelling book. Over-arching this is Mr. Bidermann's loyalty to his unit,to the landsers, which makes this a universal story.
Rating:
Summary: An Infantryman's Story
Review: Much has been written about the Wehrmacht, discussing strategies, campaigns, results and commanders; less has been written about the common German soldier in W.W.II. In this
extraordinary book, Gottlob H. Bidermann narrates his experience in the 132 Infantry Division on
the Eastern Front from June 1941 to May 1945 followed by surrender and internment in Russia
until the summer of 1948. He was commissioned and received officer training in 1943 but
continued to be assigned to the 132 Infantry Division. Bidermann's memoirs were written for and
distributed to the survivors of his regiment and division, and originally were not for general
audiences. Derek S. Zumbro, a US Naval officer and friend of the Bidermann family, was given a
copy of his memoir in 1985 by Bidermann which Zumbro translated; the memoirs were published
as the book IN DEADLY COMBAT. The text is basically an accurate chronology of the events Bidermann personally experienced on
the Eastern Front. Daily death, suffering and destruction was encountered and the author states
"We tended our wounded, buried our dead and moved forward to the next encounter, knowing
that eventually, we would meet the end of our journey". He later notes "Most of us owed our
lives to the skill and self-sacrifice of other in our company, many of whom were no longer with
us." It is interesting to read the author's personal reactions to brutal combat. He relates how his
training and discipline gave him life saving split second reactions when face to face with the
enemy. While generally not critical of German combat general officers, many of whom he
admired, like the common soldier in all armies he "called it like was". For example, commenting
on one general "And the highest commander, to whom credit for the catastrophe should be
awarded, was not present to witness what his decisions had wrought. As always, the soldiers in
the field bore the brunt of these mistakes and paid with their lives." In another case he wrote
"When captured" General Shoerner "was wearing a traditional Bavarian alpine costume, for
which he had exchanged his uniform and golden party badge. Only weeks earlier he had subjected
untold numbers of soldiers to summary execution for similar displays of cowardice." Equally interesting is his attitude serving on the Eastern Front, as his division went from a
conquering army in 1941 to the desperate fight for survival in the Courland pocket. Bidermann
writes "....those who continued to cling to the belief in a "final Victory", now realized the
hopelessness of our situation. That said the will to resist the Soviets, the fighting spirit within the
ranks of the Courland fighters, remained unbroken" resulting in the fact "....the troops in
Courland were .... the only combat units in the German army that were never defeated in open
battle." The author makes the interesting statement "We saw the true sense of our operations in
Courland as having one clearly defined objective: the defense of European culture..." then he
laments that the West ignored what he termed "the tragedy unfolding in eastern and central
Europe. Communism descended on an entire culture...." The text is dictated by the framework of the German army in which Bidermann fought, by the
nature of the Reich and largely by a set of cultural and intellectual conventions in the army which
differed widely from those of the British and Americans. These factors contributed a cohesiveness
that allowed Germany to maintain front-line effectiveness when units like the 132 Infantry
Division fought the enemy for 3 1/2 years, almost without relief. Amazingly, Bidermann relates
that within the framework of the army there were no plans, policies or training for retreat and a
strategic withdrawal which could have reduced losses and preserved unit strength. When orders
were received to surrender on May 8, 1945 the author writes "The philosophy of fighting to death
had become so ingrained within us during the past years that to surrender, as we were now being
ordered to do, was inconceivable." Although they knew that the Russians liquidated thousands of
Polish officers in Poland and expected possibly the same fate, the culture and strict discipline of
the army did not allow for disobeying orders; Bidermann's division surrendered as ordered. Throughout the text, references to events at home are noted such as "....our relatives lived in a
daily terror of the bombs...." and "The attempted assassination revealed that the war was lost.
Hitler was nothing more that a dictator in brown." Then finally, "In general, news of the death of
Hitler was received by the troops with indifference; however, it must also be said that some
breathed a sigh of relief." The Epilogue describes of the brutal life in the Soviet prisoner of war camps. The text states "In
the twentieth century prisoners were often afforded little or no protection in any form and
remained free game for the victors. One could beat them, work them to death, shoot them or
simply let them starve." Bidermann observed all of this in Soviet prisoner of war camps. It should
be noted that the same philosophy was followed in Japanese prisoner of war camps. In contrast,
the author states "In the United States prisoners had confinement vastly different from our ordeal
in the gulags. They were well-fed and in the best of health...." While the writer did not report witnessing atrocities, neither does he ignore their existence. This
work is refreshing as it narrates the hard, brutal life of a front-line an infantryman in combat with
none of the usual apologies of "we were just following orders." often found in other memoirs.
This is a "must read" for those interested in W.W.II history.
Rating:
Summary: A "Keeper" for your library
Review: Outstanding upclose view of a German infantryman's experiences on the Eastern Front. He didn't win the Knights Cross, he wasn't a pilot or a panzer leader and he wasn't a member of the SS or an elite division. He was a "common" combat soldier doing his duty in a lethal environment. I now have a better understanding of what made the German soldier "tick" during WWII. Outstanding says it all, it's very readable and it's a keeper.
Rating:
Summary: A "Keeper" for your library
Review: Outstanding upclose view of a German infantryman's experiences on the Eastern Front. He didn't win the Knights Cross, he wasn't a pilot or a panzer leader and he wasn't a member of the SS or an elite division. He was a "common" combat soldier doing his duty in a lethal environment. I now have a better understanding of what made the German soldier "tick" during WWII. Outstanding says it all, it's very readable and it's a keeper.
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