Rating: 
Summary: A challenging portal for those in ignorance.
Review: Hans Schmidt's excellent book is unique in that it was written recently, and so, the author has taken the opportunity to compare and contrast political aspects from between the two time frames of 1945 and modern day, at the same time, telling his personal story of his time in the Liebstandarte as a 17 year old SS soldier.
His excellent factual based writing also lays to waste much of the hypocritical propaganda lies created by western governments against the Waffen SS, and shows this outstanding military body of men as they really were, honourable, brave and chivalrous to the end. Good guys wear black.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: Having read hundreds of books on WWII and spent my adult life studying this war, I found this book very interesting and unique. It tells what the war was like from the German perspective and also brings into question many of the things we have been taught. War history is written by the victors and always slanted in their favor. This book trys to explain that in this war, crimes and atrocities were committed by both sides. The author ties many of these ideas and themes into current events and tells how WWII continues to hold sway over things, even today. The author questions have caused him trouble in his homeland, Germany, where it is a crime to question many of the events that took place during the war.
Rating:
Summary: Elegant !!
Review: Heer Schmidt has touched the true nature of WWII from the point of view of the foot soldier. At last someone with courage and determination has decribed the atrocities done by the Allies that none would speak about. His pasion and natural story telling is hair raising and his patriotism is without question. The description of the code of honor and the actions taken by SS personnel are a credit to these men documented by one of their own. Well done and a very important book for anyone intrested in the correct version of history. My signed copy holds a special place in my collection and so will yours.
Rating: 
Summary: Controversial! Do you have an open mind to read it?
Review: I believe this book needs to be read with an open mind, and an awareness that is increasingly lacking in the freeworld - of our own insidious propoganda. In my opinion, only that knowledge of self, will help to understand others better. As a patriotic Englishman who lost relatives in the war, having read the book, I have mixed feelings about the author and the book's content. Much he wrote (and I have checked out) surprisingly dispelled many of the negative myths that are common about the SS, and Schmidt exposes much allied hypocrisy and double standards about the war that are as valid today as they were then. Many of his comments really strike home, and provide valuable insights that the Victor's population rarely of ever get's to hear of: such as the lack of allied deaths in German POW camps, the SS relief of the wounded at the Bridge to Far that saved the lives of 2000 allied troops, and other rather good examples that illustrate the honour code that most, of the most disciplned army of the war, abided by. He also makes very good arguments for the lack of knowledge of the Holocaust by the great mass of the German people, such as; if it were such common knowledge, why wasn't it written about or known in the freeworld, or used in the Allied radio propoganda broadcasts, until they were actually found - never mind in a dictatorship with absolute media control. The same principle works the other way around, even in todays ideal western "democracies" with a free press, satelite communications and the Internet. A good and current example being, the "truth" about Saddam's WMD, which took several countries to war! Also, we continue to see just how simple it is to demonise an entire nation and it's army - AKA, check out the Arab "Street" opinion after the Abu Graib prisoner photos! There are many further good examples throughout the book that makes me glad to have read it. On the flip side, I think he manifestly misunderstands why the German's were so hated by the Allied soldiers - and for me that is relatively simple. It wasn't a war they asked for - and when, against your wishes, you are drafted away from home and hearth to see your mates killed - you are not going to be best happy with those you see as the cause of it all. Also, in the use of his language, I can't help but feel he harbours a latent hatred of the Jews that for all the (very) good arguments he makes about much of the war, it's cause and certain infamous incidents - detracts from (in my opinion) a very good case for the normalcy of good relations between men and countries, and the integrity and discipline of the average German soldier. And maybe, just maybe - in both cases, that is why there was a war! Judge for yourself...
Rating:
Summary: Controversial! Do you have an open mind to read it?
Review: I believe this book needs to be read with an open mind, and an awareness that is increasingly lacking in the freeworld - of our own insidious propoganda. In my opinion, only that knowledge of self, will help to understand others better. As a patriotic Englishman who lost relatives in the war, having read the book, I have mixed feelings about the author and the book's content. Much he wrote (and I have checked out) surprisingly dispelled many of the negative myths that are common about the SS, and Schmidt exposes much allied hypocrisy and double standards about the war that are as valid today as they were then. Many of his comments really strike home, and provide valuable insights that the Victor's population rarely of ever get's to hear of: such as the lack of allied deaths in German POW camps, the SS relief of the wounded at the Bridge to Far that saved the lives of 2000 allied troops, and other rather good examples that illustrate the honour code that most, of the most disciplned army of the war, abided by. He also makes very good arguments for the lack of knowledge of the Holocaust by the great mass of the German people, such as; if it were such common knowledge, why wasn't it written about or known in the freeworld, or used in the Allied radio propoganda broadcasts, until they were actually found - never mind in a dictatorship with absolute media control. The same principle works the other way around, even in todays ideal western "democracies" with a free press, satelite communications and the Internet. A good and current example being, the "truth" about Saddam's WMD, which took several countries to war! Also, we continue to see just how simple it is to demonise an entire nation and it's army - AKA, check out the Arab "Street" opinion after the Abu Graib prisoner photos! There are many further good examples throughout the book that makes me glad to have read it. On the flip side, I think he manifestly misunderstands why the German's were so hated by the Allied soldiers - and for me that is relatively simple. It wasn't a war they asked for - and when, against your wishes, you are drafted away from home and hearth to see your mates killed - you are not going to be best happy with those you see as the cause of it all. Also, in the use of his language, I can't help but feel he harbours a latent hatred of the Jews that for all the (very) good arguments he makes about much of the war, it's cause and certain infamous incidents - detracts from (in my opinion) a very good case for the normalcy of good relations between men and countries, and the integrity and discipline of the average German soldier. And maybe, just maybe - in both cases, that is why there was a war! Judge for yourself...
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book !
Review: I consider myself pretty well read in WW2 History and was always taught in school about the Allies great crusade against the evil Third Reich. SS Panzergrenadier ranks high on my "Must Read" first hand account of that horrible but very interesting war. People must not forget that we were "Allied" with the most brutal dictatorship the world has ever known, Communist Russia. The same Communist Russsia that we kept propt up for nearly 50 years after the war and spent billions of dollars defending against. Mr. Schmidt writes candidly with conviction and I believe honesty. His views may not be popular but they can be historically documented. Would Mr. Eisenhower have been hung at Nuremburg as a War Criminal for his treatment (Well Documented, but rarely published) of POW's? Mr. Schmidts comments on the sorry state of affairs in today's "Democratic" Germany should be alarming to every American who cherishes the First Amendment. A person can't question anything regarding the "Holocaust" and must assume that everything the Allies have written or stated about the Third Reich is absolutely true. If not..Go to Jail. He has first hand knowledge of this fact. This in itself should make people want to read the "Other" side of the story. Many books have recently been written that confirm Allied attrocities against German Soldiers, armed and un-armed, especially elite Waffen-SS Soldiers. And yes, sadly, some of these Allied soldiers were Americans. So Mr. Schmidts story should not be discounted. Also numerous stories have been told by Ex-German Soldiers of how they surrendered willing, sometimes at great peril, to American or British forces just like Mr. Schmidt. They knew first hand of the attrocities committed by the Red Savages unleashed on Europe.
Mr. Schmidts book should be read by anyone with an open mind.
Rating:
Summary: I consider
Review: I consider SS Panzergrenadier the most remarkable book on World War II I have ever read.
I congratulate heartily Hans Schmidt on his 75th birthday.
Rating:
Summary: Very Well Researched and Interesting Perspective
Review: I have just completed reading this book and I would like to start by saying its a very captivating and interesting perspective from the other (german) point of view. It makes one take a second and perhaps balanced look at what we are told on this side of the pond about the war, whether that be through the media and or some of the more popular historical television shows such as the history channel. I think that in the final analysis though there are no winners in any war, everybody ends up losing.
Rating:
Summary: Now you know - the true story.
Review: I own and have read this book and find it tells a story more truthful then what we are lead to believe by our government and the media. I served in the US Air Force from 1951 to 1971 as a pilot and in electronics. At that time I believed what our government and our media told us, I don't anymore. I have learned that they are both controlled by the power elite who have an agenda and have kept the truth from us. I am a history buff in search of the true facts of history. The facts are entirely different from what the power elite want us to believe. To get a true understanding of what brought WWII on and why the United States got involved in it I highly recommend reading some works by Benjamin H. Freedman 1) Warning to America, 2) Hidden Tyranny, 3) Facts are Facts. These can be found by doing search of the Web.
Rating: 
Summary: A futile hope to condemn others by justifying past wrongs.
Review: I started the book hoping it would be an historical account of a soldiers experience in the second world war.Instead it was broken apart with analogies and compairings of crimes commited by different Armies during the war.I,being a Native American am fully aware that my country the USA, or any country with a Military is not without sin.My Uncle was a veteran of the 30th Infantry division and fought against the LAH during the Ardennes offensive.His unit was refered to as "Roosevelts SS" by the Germans.He related many stories of cruelty inflicted upon the enemy during the war by U.S.soldiers,this has never been a hidden fact to Americans who wanted to know the truth.It does not justify anyone trying to change the truth about thier own past and thier countries history.The Waffen SS soldiers fought bravely and as soldiers,but they were not angels and saviors of a desperate world.Grenada cannot be compared to Poland in 1939 nor can Panama.We will see what Iraq brings and where we go from here.But if it looks like I will have to wear a flag armband and attend huge political rallies for George Bush then I will say there is some truth to the book.With all due respect Mr.Schmidt,I believe your HJ indoctrinating has carried over through the years and is still with you.I prefer to read experiences by soldiers and less about why we should rewrite history.Himmler will never be seen as a Loyola or an Aquinas nor even a Rommel or a Guderian.He will always be the "heini" he was.
|
