SS Panzergrenadier: A True Story Of World War II

Rating:
Summary: A True Story - At Long Last
Review: Why, in spite of overwhelming enemy force and nearly hopeless odds, did Germans fight in World War II to the bitter end? In this fast-paced memoir, a seasoned German-American author tells why he volunteered, as a teenager, during the final months of the war for service in the famed SS Leibstandarte panzer division of the elite Waffen SS. He describes his role in the furious winter combat of the "Battle of the Bulge," in bloody fighting in Hungary, and during the final, desperate battles in Austria. After finally surrendering to U.S. troops on May 6, 1945, he was held -- along with hundreds of thousands of other German prisoners of war -- under brutal conditions in primitive stockades without shelter. Thanks to the kindness of individual GIs, he was spared transfer to Soviet imprisonment, or prolonged custody in U.S. internment. He then migrated to the United States, where he built a successful life and became a U.S. citizen. Told from an unapologetically German point of view, Schmidt provides a frank, "politically incorrect" explanation -- with a keen regard for American sensibilities -- of the appeal of the Third Reich regime, and the realities of the Hitler Youth and the Waffen SS. He boldly tackles such sensitive subjects as the "Malmedy massacre" and the destruction of the French village of Oradour-sur-Glane by SS troops in an anti-partisan reprisal. This unforgettable memoir will change forever your view of World War II and Third Reich Germany.