SS Panzergrenadier: A True Story Of World War II

Rating:
Summary: Very Well Researched and Interesting Perspective
Review: I was extremely disappointed with this book. I was hoping for a good first person account of combat by a German soldier. If you want to read something like that you must read "Black Edelweiss" by Johann Voss, or "The Forgotten Soldier" by Guy Sajer. What you get with this book is very little combat, mostly the philosophical ramblings of an unrepentant Nazi.

One of the problems I have with this book is the lack of an editor, the book is written like a stream of consciousness. He starts each chapter by writing about his experiences, but before you can get into them he goes off on tangents and never gets back on track. Among them, German soldiers were noble and pure and the American soldiers were undisciplined brutish looters and the Russian front collapsed during Operation Bagration in '44 because of treason within the German army. It couldn't be that the Russians by '44 had a large numerical superiority and had better trained soldiers than at the beginning of the war, and ironically used forms of German tactics such as the Schwerpunkt. And of course the Western front collapsed because a few German generals decided that the western ideals of Democracy were better than National Socialism. But I think the most irritating was that he would indiscriminately put down a paragraph of a memory he had about a friend he knew at school or a neighbor that would have nothing to do with what he just written previously or would subsequently write.

The second problem is that he offhandedly dismisses German atrocities and the Holocaust as Allied propaganda. Since the war the evidence and books concerning this have continued to accumulate. Recently published books such as "Lying About Hitler" by Richard Evans, "Death Dealer," written by the concentration camp commander Rudolph Hoss, and "The Good Old Days" edited by Klee, Dressen, and Riess, add to the voluminous evidence of concentration camps and the SS death squads (einsatzgruppen and einsatzkommandos). I specifically mention the last two because they are letters, diaries, documents, or the memories of members of the German military. He also continues to propagate the discredited myths so familiar in the writings of revisionist historians such as the charge that over 2 million Germans (he says 2 and a half million at the minimum) were killed in the Dresden bombing raids in 1945. This was first put forth by David Irving in "Hitler's War," but have been so discredited that even Irving admitted that he was wrong ("Lying about Hitler"). He also repeats the charges put forth by James Bacque in "Other Losses" that Eisenhower conspired to deliberately kill the German prisoners by starvation and neglect. Bacque's assertions were answered and thoroughly discredited in "Eisenhower and the German POWs" by Bischof and Ambrose. No one, not even Bischof and Ambrose deny that there were deaths and much individual suffering by the German prisoners in the camps But the U.S. Army was completely overwhelmed by the over five million Germans surrendering en masse. It must be remembered that the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air force came from America mostly by ship. Much of the U.K.'s armed forces and civilians were being supplied by the U.S. and the U.S was still fighting in the Pacific. That along with the destruction of the rail net and many other obstacles are what contributed to the problems of taking care of the German POWs. Ironically some of what Schmidt says backs up Bischof and Ambrose. He says that the record keeping in the camps was very sloppy and several times his name was not taken nor was it even recorded that he entered or left the camp. This is precisely the problems that Bischof and Ambrose talked about in relation to determining the amounts of prisoners in the camps. This is what precipitated the category of other losses and why it was so high in some of the camps.

Another problem is that he states there was nothing ever said about the Jews while he was in the SS. In fact he says he never saw or heard of any discrimination against the Jews in civilian life. I know the political indoctrination became less and less in the Waffen SS units as the war went on, but one must have lived in a cocoon not ever heard anything derogatory toward the Jews. In fact this is in direct contradiction to German soldier's letters and dairies in "Frontsoldaten: The German Soldier in World War II" by Stephen Fritz. Time after time we hear of the enemy as Communism and the Jews and world Jewry. One must surmise that it was pounded into the German soldiers who the enemy was, and Communism was linked with the Jews so as to make them indistinguishable.

Laughably he tells the reader that he is sure one of the Atomic bombs dropped by the Americans was taken (stolen?) from the Germans. His reasoning? They looked so different.

Finally the author's credibility wanes as one does a few searches on the web. He is a frequent speaker at neo-Nazi and Militia meetings. Also he is linked with the Institute for Historical Review, which led by David Irving is an organization of apologists for the Hitler and the Nazis.

I am all for reading all sides of an issue, that is why I am looking for books by German soldiers, but this is nothing of the sort. I would recommend against spending any money or time on this book. I was lucky I got this as a gift through my wish list on Amazon, the book is even signed. There are too many great books out there to waste your time on this one.

There is no doubt the average German soldier was far above all others during WW II because of excellent training, tactics, discipline, and belief in their cause. But you will find none of it in this book.

Rating:
Summary: Extremely dissappointed
Review: I was extremely disappointed with this book. I was hoping for a good first person account of combat by a German soldier. If you want to read something like that you must read "Black Edelweiss" by Johann Voss, or "The Forgotten Soldier" by Guy Sajer. What you get with this book is very little combat, mostly the philosophical ramblings of an unrepentant Nazi.

One of the problems I have with this book is the lack of an editor, the book is written like a stream of consciousness. He starts each chapter by writing about his experiences, but before you can get into them he goes off on tangents and never gets back on track. Among them, German soldiers were noble and pure and the American soldiers were undisciplined brutish looters and the Russian front collapsed during Operation Bagration in '44 because of treason within the German army. It couldn't be that the Russians by '44 had a large numerical superiority and had better trained soldiers than at the beginning of the war, and ironically used forms of German tactics such as the Schwerpunkt. And of course the Western front collapsed because a few German generals decided that the western ideals of Democracy were better than National Socialism. But I think the most irritating was that he would indiscriminately put down a paragraph of a memory he had about a friend he knew at school or a neighbor that would have nothing to do with what he just written previously or would subsequently write.

The second problem is that he offhandedly dismisses German atrocities and the Holocaust as Allied propaganda. Since the war the evidence and books concerning this have continued to accumulate. Recently published books such as "Lying About Hitler" by Richard Evans, "Death Dealer," written by the concentration camp commander Rudolph Hoss, and "The Good Old Days" edited by Klee, Dressen, and Riess, add to the voluminous evidence of concentration camps and the SS death squads (einsatzgruppen and einsatzkommandos). I specifically mention the last two because they are letters, diaries, documents, or the memories of members of the German military. He also continues to propagate the discredited myths so familiar in the writings of revisionist historians such as the charge that over 2 million Germans (he says 2 and a half million at the minimum) were killed in the Dresden bombing raids in 1945. This was first put forth by David Irving in "Hitler's War," but have been so discredited that even Irving admitted that he was wrong ("Lying about Hitler"). He also repeats the charges put forth by James Bacque in "Other Losses" that Eisenhower conspired to deliberately kill the German prisoners by starvation and neglect. Bacque's assertions were answered and thoroughly discredited in "Eisenhower and the German POWs" by Bischof and Ambrose. No one, not even Bischof and Ambrose deny that there were deaths and much individual suffering by the German prisoners in the camps But the U.S. Army was completely overwhelmed by the over five million Germans surrendering en masse. It must be remembered that the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air force came from America mostly by ship. Much of the U.K.'s armed forces and civilians were being supplied by the U.S. and the U.S was still fighting in the Pacific. That along with the destruction of the rail net and many other obstacles are what contributed to the problems of taking care of the German POWs. Ironically some of what Schmidt says backs up Bischof and Ambrose. He says that the record keeping in the camps was very sloppy and several times his name was not taken nor was it even recorded that he entered or left the camp. This is precisely the problems that Bischof and Ambrose talked about in relation to determining the amounts of prisoners in the camps. This is what precipitated the category of other losses and why it was so high in some of the camps.

Another problem is that he states there was nothing ever said about the Jews while he was in the SS. In fact he says he never saw or heard of any discrimination against the Jews in civilian life. I know the political indoctrination became less and less in the Waffen SS units as the war went on, but one must have lived in a cocoon not ever heard anything derogatory toward the Jews. In fact this is in direct contradiction to German soldier's letters and dairies in "Frontsoldaten: The German Soldier in World War II" by Stephen Fritz. Time after time we hear of the enemy as Communism and the Jews and world Jewry. One must surmise that it was pounded into the German soldiers who the enemy was, and Communism was linked with the Jews so as to make them indistinguishable.

Laughably he tells the reader that he is sure one of the Atomic bombs dropped by the Americans was taken (stolen?) from the Germans. His reasoning? They looked so different.

Finally the author's credibility wanes as one does a few searches on the web. He is a frequent speaker at neo-Nazi and Militia meetings. Also he is linked with the Institute for Historical Review, which led by David Irving is an organization of apologists for the Hitler and the Nazis.

I am all for reading all sides of an issue, that is why I am looking for books by German soldiers, but this is nothing of the sort. I would recommend against spending any money or time on this book. I was lucky I got this as a gift through my wish list on Amazon, the book is even signed. There are too many great books out there to waste your time on this one.

There is no doubt the average German soldier was far above all others during WW II because of excellent training, tactics, discipline, and belief in their cause. But you will find none of it in this book.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating view into the mind of an unrepentant Nazi
Review: In a world where the SS, including the Waffen-SS, is portrayed as nothing but bloodthirsty murderers, most of the uninitiated jump on the bandwagon of the media and join them in their claim that the aforementioned statement is true. Hans Schmidt, Panzergrenadier of the 1. SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler, is not one of them.

As a member of the Waffen-SS, he would know far more about how these soldiers really behaved in battle and in peace. Not only does he describe this in his memoirs, but he also relates (rather chillingly) some of the socio-economic and social conditions that abounded in the Third Reich to some that are occuring in America today. He provides the (true) story of the so-called "Malmedy Massacre", backed up by comments by GI's who were there, and exposes the injustices of the Nuremberg Trials. As it was written very recently, he provides his comments on such things as September 11, the Mazar-i-Sharif prison riot in Afghanistan, Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers, current American politics, and other current matters. It begs the question that perhaps we really aren't that different after all... He also goes to great lengths to expose ALLIED war crimes and how Americans were not the best soldiers the world has ever seen, something that few have the courage to do.

The one flaw in this book is the lack of actual combat (not his fault, as he spent a lot of time in the rear as a messenger) and the fact that he says that the Holocaust never happened. Granted, we as American students receive way too much Holocaust history when similar things are going on in Africa as we speak, and we committed similar atrocities against the American Indians, but to say that it didn't happen just because some concentration camp inmates he saw "looked fatter than he did" doesn't mean that it didn't happen. The book is also full of racism towards the Jews, and interestingly enough he came to the decision to distrust them not because of indoctrination that he received during WWII but because of his own conclusions that he came to after the war.

All in all, I would say that one should read this book not so much as to hear about the combat experiences of a former SS soldier but to delve into his postwar thoughts and opinions. For anybody, that should be fascinating enough.

Rating:
Summary: Hans Schmidt... "Good guys don't always wear white"
Review: In an age where the American nation has bestowed upon itself the title of World Savior a book like this one had to come along. Hans Schmidt's book is as unapologetic as he can be. He exposes the hipocrisy of the allies (remember Nuremberg?) and explains for the first time in english what Salvador Borrego, the noted Mexican historian made clear in his works, "Derrota Mundial" (World defeat) and "Infiltración Mundial" (World Infiltration) several decades ago; and for which he remains a hunted man in this world of "democracies" and "liberalism" to this day.
The true criminals remain perched on glorified pedestals for all the fools to worship and adore.
The book's last part about "Eisenhower's" stocades should be an eye opener to many. James Bacque's excellent volume "Other Losses" is also must reading if you want additional information.
Hans makes no apologies and gives the reader a fresh perspective that had seldom been available before in the jewish controlled western world. He speaks not of glorious battles and numbers but simply of men, men who were fathers, brothers, sons, husbands... of fears... of desires and the simple needs of life; only when you are at the front do you realize the true value of life in its most basic form.
He offers an insight into postwar Germany that is a reflection of all people everywhere who must live under military rule.
That to this day he is harried by the "democratic" governments of the world for simply speaking his mind goes to show that something is rotten and the world must still remain blindfolded and submerged in ignorance as to it's existence.
Most veterans of WWII are now old men of 80-90 years of age; sadly when the last one passes away a chapter of history will close for ever. All we will have to keep will be the memories and books like Hans Schmidt's excellent tome.

Rating:
Summary: Yes, it's a German perspective - so why is it that bad?
Review: In this book we finally get to see WWII from someone who was there! Yes,it's a German perspective, as "a reader from Rancho Murieta" puts it(without however actually having anything negative to say about the book). So why does the "German perspective" make it worth only 2 stars? Is a German perspective automatically invalid? And the "reader from Laurel, MD USA" also has little to say beyond sweeping generalizations.

It's exactly this kind of attitude that makes Schmidt's book so
necessary. There aren't nearly enough accounts like it, that can go beyond the common kind of narrowminded black and white judgement we see here from two guys who think they are qualified to review an autobiography on such a subject, probably without having any first hand experience of the events. (Yeah, I was there too, on the Russian front in 1944, so I AM in a position to comment on the veracity of Schmidt's "German perspective"!)

Bellyachers such as the readers from Laurel and Rancho Murieta might also do well to consider that their proudly displayed prejudice may only make this book all the more interesting to intelligent people.

K. Hoffman

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Read!
Review: It is true that history usually is written by the victors, but fortunately we have here a well written first hand account of a young man's experience in World War II told from the other point of view, that being the often unheard German point of view. Schmidt tells us of growing up while being a member of the Waffen ss, participating in the Battle of the Bulge, then being taken into captivity after the war and finally just trying to get home through war torn Europe. He finally makes it home as does all of his family. Along the way, the reader learns about the horible conditions of POW camps, Eisenhower's severe hatred of the Germans and other things the United States government probably doesn't want the general public to be aware of. It is an excellent first hand account that we all need to know about and remember or else we are doomed to repeat history.

Rating:
Summary: No apologies...
Review: Mainly because none are due. Hans schmidt exposes the hipocrisy of the western powers during WWII in this book. Americans calling us racists, when they were the only participants with a segregated army. This book merely scratches the surface of a sinister plot that has had the world blindfolded for decades. The last chapter is simply something I never expected to see published in the western world. In Europe we have known the truth about such matters as early as the early fifties.

That this man was not allowed to go home to Germany and see his dying mother because his views differ with that which is considered "politically correct" in the democratic republic of Germany, speaks wonders of the brand of "democracy" praticed in Germany. I feel ashamed and repulsed by such acts. I feel ashamed and repulsed of what Germany has become. Hans speaks volumes for the defense of the members of the Waffens SS, who have been reviled and calumniated in every way. His book should open the eyes of many and perhaps with the passing of time will pave the way for other writers to come forth and tell their side of the story.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in learning what the Waffen SS was all about. Don't expect tales of great combat heroics here. Schmidt exposes his soul to show the fears, the anguish and the common soldier. For once you won't read about divisions, armies nor army groups. You will read about men like you and me... men who served their country like us... men who were hated and admired by their foes. And betrayed by the very country they swore to defend.

Rating:
Summary: Hardcore NAZI's Side of the Story
Review: The author of this book is a hardcore Nazi. There's no way to sugar coat it. That's fine. He's free to believe what he wants. Potential readers, however, should keep this in mind before shelling out [$$] for "SS Panzergrenadier." I believe that it's healthy to air all opinions. We need the perspective of all citizens in a society where freedom of speech and freedom of the press are paramount.

Mr. Schmidt (if that's his real name...isn't "Hans Schmidt" German for "John Smith"?) served in one of the most brutal divisions in the Third Reich. The 1st SS Panzer Division was guilty of innumberable war crimes. American and Russian archives hold volumes on the veracity of this. In this autobiography, Mr. "Schmidt" denies that the Holocaust took place, calls Eisenhower a war criminal and dismisses Stephen Ambrose as a propagandist. In addition, he tries to mud-sling his way into victimhood, blaming the Americans for what Nazi Germany had brought on itself. He sees the GIs as oafish boors, at best, and cruel, sadistic killers when given free rein. In his mind, the Germans were the only people with any "culture."

Reading with an objective mind, however, one may come away with a few valid points. I personally feel that more research needs to be done on the treatment of German POWs under Eisenhower's command, a subject that Schmidt seems particularly bitter about. Could more have been done to alleviate their suffering given the circumstances? With a skewed view like his, however, how can a reader trust anything else he says? The evidence to dispute his claim that the Holocaust is "Jewish propaganda" is absolutely overwhelming. There is way too much physical evidence, too many witnesses (many still living), and too many contemporary reports to the contrary, for anyone to seriously believe what he and his neo-Nazi supporters (he publishes a newsletter and evidently has a whole network of Nazi sympathizers out there in the hinterland) vehemently claim.

Schmidt's whining about how he was treated at the end of the war is particularly ironic. He fought for a criminal regime...and served in one of the most ferociously criminal units in that regime. The 1st SS was made up of fearless, and much feared, professional soldiers. That doesn't make up for the fact that they were guilty of numerous atrocities. There's no denying it. Schmidt was aware of this, dumping the uniform and papers he'd worn so proudly, adopting the guise of a lowly Wehrmacht soldier when things turned sour. Of course he dismisses that act as a necessary measure to protect himself from the bloodthirsty hordes, i.e., "GI Joe," bent on taking revenge on him and his "innocent" SS comrades.

I don't want to review a book by getting into a political or historical argument. Many of my fellow reviewers, however, seem to be caught up in the politics of the subject. Apparently many are Nazi sympathizers themselves. There are raves about "the German side of the story" as if "SS Panzergrenadier" is unique. Bookshelves today are overflowing with autobiographies from German soldiers, sailors and airmen. The only thing unusual about Schmidt's book is his steadfast defense of a criminal regime. It's as if a KGB officer tried to defend Stalin's crimes, tarring the West as the real perpetrators of some of history's worst atrocities.

I'd give the book one star if not for the curiosity value...a book written by a real live Nazi, still defending Hitler and the Third Reich almost sixty years after they were vanquished in the ashes of Berlin. Or, as he calls it, a "True Story of World War II."

Rating:
Summary: Interesting story from a true believer
Review: The author's story is an interesting one, however he remains a national socialist true believer, so you have to wade through a lot of revisionist history to get to his personal account. Allied war crimes do call for further examination, but someone who denies there were any German war crimes doesn't really have the standing to make this call.

Rating:
Summary: A PERSPECTIVE
Review: The book is very well written , easy to read . Its strength lie in its vivid descriptions of the authors feelings, training and action at the end of WWII in Belguim , Hunagary and Austria. Whilst he raises legitimate concerns around the treatment of German POWs and other issues it is marred by some comments such as "the so called holocaust". If one is able to ignore such statements it is a good read , but it was a unfortunate imclusion and distraction for me. But then they are not my memiors