Rating: 
Summary: Provocative
Review: The book is well written, I assume it is an autobiography. I am suprised that one of the well known Generals in Waffen SS was not mentioned; that is General Leon Degrelle, who faught on the Eastern Front. Also not mentioned was the bombing of Dresden that took over 170,000 lives. In addition there were many other nationalities that joined Waffen SS, some of my older countrymen in Slovakia have joined. At that time due to my age of 7, I was a member of Hlinka Youth. Would like to hear from the author by E-Mail.
Rating: 
Summary: Drinking from the source...
Review: The fact the author avoided falling into the trap of political correctness in expressing his views adds great value to this book. The book is far more than a military memoir, it expresses thoughts, political views, and a philosophical look on his experiences. We need to see what the former German boy who joined the Waffen SS was thinking then and is thinking today -- the book displays the complexity of character that we tend to ignore when generalizing Germans who participated in the war. The author makes assertions and expresses views with which I cannot agree or at least call for a little clarification or even a debate, adds to the value of the book. I recommend it strongly for those who have interest in the history of that period. An added bonus is that the author is still alive, a few men of that period are still remaining with us. One can ask questions if they are willing to answer them.
Rating:
Summary: An important work from a perspective not heard from enough.
Review: The PC media is totally intolerant of any alternative viewpoint of the events of WWII. That makes Mr. Schmidt's work even more important. Historically fascinating firsthand look at WWII (and WWII Germany) and politically fascinating in offering an intellectually valid dissenting viewpoint to that which is forced upon us by the history books.
Rating:
Summary: For a more complete picture of WWII
Review: This is a very readable book. It is not a dry historical narrative nor an endless recounting of bloody combat experiences. Rather, it is a very personal account of one individual's story that fits into a larger history. Sitting next to a pretty girl on a troop train, taunts from a soon-to-be freed Russian POW, walking through a recently bombed German village are all relayed with remarkable candor. The book is definitely written from a German perspective and contains some revisionist elements that made me somewhat uncomfortable. Although, some of these issues, like Eisenhower's horrendous treatment of German POW's and intentional Allied air attacks against civilians, have become pretty widely accepted during the past decade. I was surprised that there was so little anti-semitism in the SS training experience although I was not particularly surprised at the emphasis on the German way of life and German Military History---in that way it had some parallels with my USMC training experience. There are a few grammatical errors but he writes better than most of the people I was with in graduate school. Further, I assume that English was not his first language. It was entertaining, informative and gave me a very different perspective on an otherwise familiar topic (WWII). I recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Historical Revisionism: A Personal Best
Review: This is an amazing book--all the more so since it is written by one who went through officer candidate training for the Waffen-SS and now lives in Florida. And he is not the only former NSDAP member nor SS-Man to live in the United States. From the number of reviews written about this book (a good read also)--33 at last count, if you are interested in the World War II, the Holocaust, the Great Patriotic War, the European Union of the 21st Century, this is a must read. I say this not because I agree with Herr Schmidt's attitudes, nor his version of "history", but because he is one who put to paper thoughts of many of his compatriots. It is in English, and he writes in English well--no obfuscation from translation. He presents a rather rosy view of a childhood in the Saarland, reunification with Germany by plebescite, the state of Germany following the Treaty of Versailles, and the pride in a country rebuilt from the ashes of the War to End all Wars (that was the first one). Herr Schmidt does not provide, frankly, much context for his writing, and that is the major flaw of the book. It simply cannot be read alone--one must have knowledge of, or pursue knowledge of, the context in which a young man born in 1927 could find himself running errands during the Battle of the Bulge, the last great German offensive of the war, to have been at (so he says) so many important places during this time in the winter of 1944-1945 in the Ardennes, and lived to tell about it. I ask anyone who is interested in this type of personal memoir to compare it to, say, memoirs of Union and Confederate soldiers of their experiences during the American Civil War, of Jews who survived (or as in the case of Anne Frank, did not survive) the Holocaust. Everyone knew the program of the "Final Solution" or had access to it, for example. "Mein Kampf" was given to every newly married couple in Germany. The "Endlösung der Judenfrage"--the Final Solution of the Jewish Question--is disclosed on page 772. My translation from the German: Had 12,000 or 15,000 Jewish spoilers of the German Race [Volksverderber] be gassed as the hundredthousand Germans at the front...then the million dead of all classes and professions at the Front would not have been in vain. Schmidt claims, for example, that he was not indoctrinated into this aspect of the Orthodoxy of the NSDAP (Nazi Party) during his time in the Hitler Youth, nor officer's training for the SS (Schutzstaffel, an army that had taken a death oath to Hitler personally). This is incredulous, and disturbing. He mentions that the first Jew he knew was a doctor who cared for him during childhood. While the Greatest Generation in America is dying off at a rate of 1,000 to 2,000 per DAY, that generation of Germans and Europeans is meeting the same fate. However, the descendants, Allied or Axis, continue to this day to struggle with the meaning of what happened in Europe throughout the 20th century, and this is part of that saga. In the worldwide war in which they, and we, are now embroiled, what they thought and felt, is the heritage we must build our future upon. What would you remember and write about, had you been involved in the great malestrom of this War in 1944 at age 17, only to write about in your 70s? This question should the reader ponder--no disrespect to any who confirm Schmidt's description of what it was like to be "at the Front"--East or West--intended. Perhaps it IS the controversy on Amazon customer reviews that makes this book important.
Rating:
Summary: Historical Revisionism: A Personal Best
Review: This is an amazing book--all the more so since it is written by one who went through officer candidate training for the Waffen-SS and now lives in Florida. And he is not the only former NSDAP member nor SS-Man to live in the United States. From the number of reviews written about this book (a good read also)--33 at last count, if you are interested in the World War II, the Holocaust, the Great Patriotic War, the European Union of the 21st Century, this is a must read. I say this not because I agree with Herr Schmidt's attitudes, nor his version of "history", but because he is one who put to paper thoughts of many of his compatriots. It is in English, and he writes in English well--no obfuscation from translation. He presents a rather rosy view of a childhood in the Saarland, reunification with Germany by plebescite, the state of Germany following the Treaty of Versailles, and the pride in a country rebuilt from the ashes of the War to End all Wars (that was the first one). Herr Schmidt does not provide, frankly, much context for his writing, and that is the major flaw of the book. It simply cannot be read alone--one must have knowledge of, or pursue knowledge of, the context in which a young man born in 1927 could find himself running errands during the Battle of the Bulge, the last great German offensive of the war, to have been at (so he says) so many important places during this time in the winter of 1944-1945 in the Ardennes, and lived to tell about it. I ask anyone who is interested in this type of personal memoir to compare it to, say, memoirs of Union and Confederate soldiers of their experiences during the American Civil War, of Jews who survived (or as in the case of Anne Frank, did not survive) the Holocaust. Everyone knew the program of the "Final Solution" or had access to it, for example. "Mein Kampf" was given to every newly married couple in Germany. The "Endlösung der Judenfrage"--the Final Solution of the Jewish Question--is disclosed on page 772. My translation from the German: Had 12,000 or 15,000 Jewish spoilers of the German Race [Volksverderber] be gassed as the hundredthousand Germans at the front...then the million dead of all classes and professions at the Front would not have been in vain. Schmidt claims, for example, that he was not indoctrinated into this aspect of the Orthodoxy of the NSDAP (Nazi Party) during his time in the Hitler Youth, nor officer's training for the SS (Schutzstaffel, an army that had taken a death oath to Hitler personally). This is incredulous, and disturbing. He mentions that the first Jew he knew was a doctor who cared for him during childhood. While the Greatest Generation in America is dying off at a rate of 1,000 to 2,000 per DAY, that generation of Germans and Europeans is meeting the same fate. However, the descendants, Allied or Axis, continue to this day to struggle with the meaning of what happened in Europe throughout the 20th century, and this is part of that saga. In the worldwide war in which they, and we, are now embroiled, what they thought and felt, is the heritage we must build our future upon. What would you remember and write about, had you been involved in the great malestrom of this War in 1944 at age 17, only to write about in your 70s? This question should the reader ponder--no disrespect to any who confirm Schmidt's description of what it was like to be "at the Front"--East or West--intended. Perhaps it IS the controversy on Amazon customer reviews that makes this book important.
Rating: 
Summary: A German viewpoint
Review: This is an autobiography of a young SS soldier during the last two years of the war. He tells his experience that is contrary to our perception of the Third Reich, and in particular how strict the German military was regarding either rape or looting. Both were capital crimes.
It corresponds to what my cousins and acquaintences, veterans of the wehrmacht, told me on the same subject. They did not dare loot or rape as one cousin put it.
You also get an idea on the ideals of that society.
Rating: 
Summary: Platfrom for revisionism
Review: This will be a very short review. Initially, I was not happy that the book was shipped with a list of the distributors other titles that they have for sale. It's a revisiontist distributor with lots of racial, right wing and Nazi apologist titles. The book started off promisingly enough, detailing the authors early years. However, it soon spiralled into a dull cycle of the authors experiences, mixed in with cloaked excuses for National Socialism, Germanys justification for going to war etc.. etc.. I could not finish the book I found it that bad. One would hit an area of historic importance, then Schmidt would launch into a two or three page rant of how the Poles forced Hitler to go to war, with lots of italics, and quotes to highlight Germanys perceived injustices. This tone prevails tirelessly through the book. His rationalisation of Hitlers attitude to the Jews was hilarious, and obviously tragic, that is, the Jews brought all their troubles on themselves, were a danger to the state, hence, Hitler was obliged to "exile" them. The constant Nazi apologism was too much and it got to the point of being whiningly pathetic. If you are interested in right wing politics, Holocaust denial, and other elements of Third Reich revisionist history, you will will love this book. If you are like me, don't buy it as there are plenty other titles out there, that are a hundred times better and are actually historically relevant( and probably cheaper ), especially by Johann Voss, Van Der Heydte, Otto Weidinger, Hans Von Luck, to name but a few.
Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece
Review: To Herr Schmidt I would like to say thank you for writing this book. I have read many books about the second world war and the german soldier none have been this informative. It was written very well, the type of book you can't put down. I have read accounts of other german vets and they spend half the book saying how sorry they are. Herr Schmidt tells it how it was as a boy growing up in post WWI Germany with the shortages and suffering and tells of his actions in the Waffen SS. He makes the American reader realize that these were soldiers not monsters as they are often portrayed in American movies. I think everyone who is learning about the second world war should read this book because it is the pure and simple TRUTH. In order to understand the war you must understand what it was like for the men who fought it. Great Read.
Rating:
Summary: A young German volunteer goes to war for his Country....
Review: When I came to the United States as a 21 year old German, I was struck by the enthusiasm with which Americans flocked to war movies. From Germans, any exhibitions of patriotism and love of war were, after 1945, driven out by the victorious Allies. In the United States, nationalism flourished and movies glorified war, in which the Americans were invariably the noble and heroic victors defeating the evil enemies (i.e. the Germans or "Nazis" as they are usually called). This stereotype is likewise found in countless newspaper and magazine articles to this very day and in most history books. It is therefore refreshing and gratifying to read a book with a point of view that differs from the cliche. "SS Panzergrenadier: A true story of World War II" by Hans Schmidt is an autobiographical recollection of the war experiences of one young man, who fought on the "other" side. Schmidt was barely twelve years old when the war started. At 16 he volunteered to join an elite branch of the German armed forces, the 'Waffen SS'. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge during the cruelly cold winter of 1944-45, and later on the Eastern front, which by then had moved frightfully close to the homeland. He suffered frost bites, was wounded twice, and in the end survived with some luck Esenhower's atrocious POW-camps at the notorious Rheinwiesen and elsewhere, where, after the war, hundreds of thousands of German soldiers perished miserably from hunger, thirst and exposure. Eisenhower had reclassified German prisoners of war as DEF (Detained Enemy Forces), using this ruse to circumvent Red Cross inspections of the camps, a clear violation of the Geneva Convention (see James Bacques "Other Losses"). If anything, the book makes clear that war is horrific; there is nothing glorious about it for those who have to fight in the trenches. Schmidt tells his story honestly and in plain language. There are tales of death and suffering, of heroism and cowardice, succeses and failures, back and forth, as the battles raged toward the ultimate defeat of Germany. He assures us, that German soldiers did not act or behave in the distorted, cruel or fumbling manner in which they are so often portrayed in American films. On the contrary, they fought with honor, dignity and courage against overwhelming odds for their survival and that of their families and their fatherland. There is no animosity, bitterness or hatred in Schmidt's writing. Indeed, he recognizes gallantry in American GIs, wherever he saw it. He is still in touch with at least one former GI, against whose country he fought nearly 60 years ago. The book is fascinating to read and, once started, hard to put down. Not in the mainstream of today's political correctness, it is sadly not carried by the big-name bookstore chains. Fortunately freedom of expression and the press are constitutionally guaranteed in the United States, which regrettably is not the case in Schmidt's original home country, where offenders of stringent censorship laws, enacted or intensified during the 80s and 90s, are prosecuted. The author's experiences in this regard are vividly chronicled in one of his previous books "Jailed in 'Democratic' Germany". The book represents a major contribution to a more balanced view of historic events and a better understanding of a soldier's love and loyalty for his country and his duty to defend it honorably. It is a 'must-read', and I strongly recommend it.
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