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Summary: Prompts nostalgia for my Father's tales of WWII
Review: Biderman gives a fantastic, continuous narative that had me cringing at the thought of hardships to come and exhausted by the never-ending, life-threatening encounters with the Russians. Biderman fails only in the lack of maps and the repetitious descriptions of the campaign of the northern army, but this is in keeping with the drawn-out events in the battles surrounding Leningrad. The conditions endured by Biderman and his colleagues will humble the hardiest mountaineer and reminded you of just how easy you have it in life. I wish my father had lived longer so that we might sit and ponder Biderman's experiences. My father served in the US army on the Western Front, and met the Russians at the end of the war. Read this book along with stories of Shackleton, and H. W. Tilman for the sheer adventure of it.
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Summary: In Deadly Combat
Review: Bidermann writes a great book. He brings the reader into the world of the Eastern Front from the view of a real soldier...not some staff officer as many others books available. He tells it like it probably truly was there in Russia. I recommend this book.
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Summary: excellent personal account of the eastern front
Review: Brave men facing overwhelming odds against the Russian during the end of the brutal war. Under the point of view of landsers fighting bravely through hunger, bitter cold, and fatigue through an unrelenting barraged of Russian troops. Their sacrifices are so tragic that they made if for a Fuhrer who can never comprehend what valor and honor mean. This memoir give a very detail account of a soldier's life in the eastern front w/ vivid details of the horror one face in war. The only setback is there's no map detailing the movement of the troops and their retreat making a better visualization. Also it seems to be missing the flight, torture, execution, and slave labor of the Russian people. It would seem that as an officer, he would've witness these acts. So I am not sure if he just want to focus only on the military aspect of the war or avoid it altogether.
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Summary: A Layperson's Guide to Reading "In Deadly Combat"
Review: First of all, the scope of this man's experience is vast: after a third of the book he's already been through more than the guys in "Band of Brothers". By the last third of the book, you're just trying to push through it and all the endless brutality blurs together, which tends to trivialize his experience. Skim through it first to get the "so what happens next?" stuff out of your mind, then go back and read the individual experiences with the attention they deserve. Remember that this book is chiefly a memorial to ALL those in his division, so about 70 percent of it recounts movements and actions of other parts of the group. This stuff may be important to historians, but for the rest of us it's like those endless sections of the Bible where they slog through who begat who. For the lay reader, the heart of this book is the shocking and numbing personal experiences in combat. To understand these accounts, make sure you know which way they are going (North or South? Attack or Defend?), the time of day (can people see?), the terrain (where can people hide?), the climate/weather, and which way his friends are. It's also important to look up German words in either the glossary or the table of military rank. The rest you can figure out later, including guessing where all these obscure towns are on the map. With these caveats in mind, I think that most laymen will find this book as gripping and as shocking as I did.
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Summary: Engrossing Account of Combat on the Eastern Front
Review: Firstly, before launching yourself into this excellent book please take the time to read the introduction by Dennis Showalter as it will help explain the style of writing to be found in this book. The book was originally written for the survivors of Bidermann's regiment and division, not for the general public. Bearing this in mind you will have a better understanding and feeling for the author's account of his experience of fighting on the Eastern Front during WW2. At times you might find the narrative old fashioned and even cliched but this is definitely not the case, it has to be taken in context of when and why this book was first written. This is a great story, on par if not better than Guy Sajer's 'Forgotten Soldier'. This is a combination of a combat history of the 132nd Infantry Division and the author's role and experiences in the fighting on the Eastern Front. The author, Gottlob Herbert Bidermann, won two Iron Crosses, the Crimea Shield, the Close Combat Badge, the German Cross in Gold, the Gold Wound Badge (wounded five times), the Honour Roll Clasp and the Tank Destruction Badge. What is remarkable is that the author survived five years of combat on the Russian Front fighting in Crimea, Leningrad and later in the Courland Pocket. I found his stories about his early years fighting with an anti-tank section using the Pak 37 "doorknocker" very interesting, I had always believed these weapons to be next to useless on the Russian Front however I was surprised. You can trace the change in the author from a novice who still cared about human beings, even his enemy to one whom has been brutalised by warfare to a point past indifference to death and destruction. I have taken the liberty to include below a short section of the text from the first chapter to give you an idea of the author's style of writing: "The NCO was grasping one of the wheels of the Maxim carriage, his sightless eyes peering forward at the ammunition belt where it fed into the chamber of the weapon. Another held his rifle clenched in cold fists, his head resting against the ground as if asleep, the olive-colored helmet secured tightly under his chin. Hartmann slipped past me and slowly approached two other figures lying closely together, side by side. One of the figures had draped an arm across the other in a last embrace, as if attempting to comfort a dying comrade. As Hartmann neared, a cloud of flies rose in protest, breaking the deadly silence and I moved forward to join him in surveying the ghastly scene. Moving silently among the carnage, Hartmann suddenly turned and slipped past me without speaking, heading in the direction from which we had come. Carefully avoiding the eyes of the dead, I quickly followed him. In this abode of death, only the trees, still and quiet, appeared to be survivors and witnesses to the struggle that had occurred, hidden within this wooded glade". I found this book to be a very fascinating account of the fighting conducted on the Eastern Front from the perspective of a young German soldier. It offers some very interesting insights into combat and its affect on men who in the end just tried to survive against immense odds. There is a number of absorbing black and white photographs supplied from private sources that give the book a human touch. The only real problem that readers may find with this book is the lack of maps detailing the movements and combats of the 132nd Infantry Division. Overall this is the sort of book that should be in the library of every serious reader or student of the war on the Russian Front during World War Two.
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Summary: Unbearable
Review: Get Guy Sajer's book instead. This is one dry, repetetive and no so well written. I had to kick myself in the face to stay awake while reading this.
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Summary: Finally, an engrossing personal ost front account
Review: Gottlob Bidermann's book of his personal experience on the eastern front was,to me, something that I have longed for for some time. The only other personal account commonly known proir to this time was Guy Sajer's which, though a good read, I felt may not all be true. The time period covered is mid 1941 until the end of the war. Largely a personal narrative, the description of battle in the crimea, kerch, and breaking the seige of Sevastopol were of great interest to me. The description of desparate fighting with the russians and eventually to simply to survive were touching. Little mention is made of the politics of war, which is fitting, for I feel the common landser had little time or energy to expend on this. One can grasp from this narrative the camradery among the landsers and an incredible amount of military discipline that allowed at least a few to survive an abysmal situation. The portion of his story dealing with the surrender in the Courland pocket and subsequent imprisonment in Russia were heart breaking -- to suffer so much in nearly 4 years of war and then to endure this seemed too much for any man to endure. I can give no higher reccommendation for this book for military historians and for general readers the triumph over overwhelming adversity of the human spirit.
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Summary: Great Insight
Review: I'm pretty familiar with the German perspective in WWII. Most books like this are very good, but this one is, perhaps, a step above. Detailed, apolitical (as the German Army should be), and a smooth read. The unuaual (and not often written about in detail) areas where the 132nd Infantry fought (Crimea/Leningrad/Kurland) are a nice treat, too.
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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.
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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!
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