The Waffen SS: Hitler's Elite Guard at War, 1939-45

Rating:
Summary: Elite warriors, brutal murderers - deserving of both titles
Review: "Waffen SS-Hitler's Elite Guard at War, 1939-1945" by George H. Stein is a fabulous work of historical literature. Many an author, popular and academic, has tackled the topic of the SS and Waffen SS but very few have done so in an objective fashion like Stein. Far too many presentations of the Waffen SS have been from apologist and revisionist authors who fail to recognize and/or admit the complicity of portions of the Waffen SS in the atrocities committed in the name of the NSDAP and Adolf Hitler. At the other end of the spectrum are those authors, again large in number, who simply paint ALL that served in the Waffen SS with broad strokes of guilt. Stein captures a story that falls between the extremes and thus is more realistic and truthful, and thus more historically accurate with clear lack of hysterics.

"Waffen SS" begins with a historical perspective on the establishment of the SS [initially the Allgemeine (General)-SS] and formation of the earliest incarnations of the armed SS - initially from the units such as the Leibstandarte SS "Adolf Hitler" (Hitler's Chancellery Guard) and the SS-Totenkopfverbande (Death's Head Units, early concentration camp guards), to organization of the Waffen SS as war approached. This presentation provides considerable information that allows the reader to connect (or disconnect as appropriate) various components of Himmler's greater SS. This is critical to the process of a reader drawing objective conclusions about guilt of the Waffen SS in non-combatant war crimes.

Stein then spends considerable time discussing the military exploits of the Waffen SS, both early and oft strained integration into the Wehrmacht during the initial phases of the war up to the defeat of France and the AEF, as well as their later fierce and destructive battles fought east across the Soviet Union and their return west in defense. Stein's prose does not fail to convey a picture of a fanatical and determined fighting force. Clearly the Waffen SS (especially the early incarnations that were still volunteer and elite) was an accomplished "army". Stein also discusses how the elite Waffen SS was in later years of the war converted through conscription (mostly) into a hodge-podge of a force that often was worth very little and sometimes more trouble than it was worth.

In the third major section of "Waffen SS" the author presents a clear and concise (without simply rehashing particular atrocities covered in depth elsewhere) description of crimes that can be connected to the Waffen SS, whether directly or indirectly. While crimes can clearly be attributed to battle formations, both combatant- and non-combatant-related, it is also clear from Stein's presentation that a majority of Waffen SS units were not likely involved in such events. This is not to say that Stein presents an apologist view, quite to the contrary - he presents an honest assessment of guilt - the Waffen SS was guilty but it is unfair to claim all units were simply butchers. Yet equally unfair would be a claim that the Waffen SS was simply an army free of guilt. When it comes to connections between the Waffen SS and the holocaust the story is one mostly of semantics. As Stein points out it is beyond doubt that the SS represented the system by which Hitler attempted (and nearly succeeded) to murder all of the European jews and other "Untermensch" (subhumans). It is also clear that many of the units involved were, at least on paper, part of the Waffen SS. Moreover, much of the concentration camp staff turn over was between the camps and the front lines. Yet it is not at all clear that fighting units of the Waffen SS were directly involved in these acts. Thus it becomes an issue of semantics because it depends upon how one defines "Waffen SS". Again this is not to say that Stein presents an apologist view or one of strict and total condemnation. In fact Stein presents a picture in which the facts are presented and the reader is free to define the culprits for themselves.

In the final section Stein gives a very concise and extremely well written summary. This section itself is worth the price of the book. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Stein is liberal in his use of sources and yet it also becomes clear that Gerald Reitlinger's "SS: Alibi of a Nation" is one he favors and must feel captures much of the story of the SS (although not in the concise manner in which Stein sets out to do - as he states right up front). This is a five star effort worth a read!!!


Rating:
Summary: A classic
Review: Despite its age, this is about the best impartial overview of the Waffen SS by an academic historian who did researched on his subjects, instead od the likes of Michael Reynolds or Tim Ripley, who just recycled other, mostly German works.

Rating:
Summary: Identifies the Seriously Anti-Semitic Nations
Review: Probably the most valuable contribution of this book is the list of non-German nationalities represented in the SS, along with the approximate numbers of each nationality thus represented. Irrespective of whether or not all these units were directly involved in anti-Jewish "aktions", they all contributed to the Holocaust by furthering the German war effort and prolonging German rule over Europe. With all of the bad rap Poles get for being almost as anti-Semitic as the Nazi Germans, you would expect that there would be more Poles in the SS than any other non-German nationality. Surprise! There was not a single Polish SS unit in existence! (Though there may have been a few Polish individuals in other SS units, and then mostly Poles of German extraction (Volksdeutsche) as well as those of mixed Polish-German ancestry). Nor is it true that the Germans did not seek Polish collaborators: Early in the war Germans tried to get Polish volunteers as auxilliary staff for the concentration camps, and got not a single applicant. So the Germans could forget about recruiting ethnic Poles for the SS. Although there certainly were "little league" anti-Semites among the Poles, the "big league" anti-Semites were the other European nationalities who supplied volunteers for the SS. It is high time that Holocaust films and popular-level Holocaust educational materials get off the Poles' case and tell it like it ACTUALLY was.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent narrative of the Waffen SS - Hitler's soldiers
Review: This literary work provides a comprehensive yet concise historical narrative of the Waffen SS - the elite Nazi militarized wing of the vast Armed Forces of Germany. When on the offensive, the Waffen SS spearheaded Nazi Germany's military victories. Subsequently, in Germany's years of defeat, the idealogical fanatics of the Waffen SS fought to the bloody and bitter end to defend their Fuhrer and Fatherland. One dominant fact emerges overall from George Stein's book; and that is the fact of the existence of the thorough military professionalism of the Waffen SS and its soldiers and officers.

Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece
Review: With that book, George H. Stein has done a great historical work. His conclusions about the Waffen SS are still valuable to that day, even if there are some small errors, generally concerning the military history of some foreign units (ie the 13 SS "handschar", the 14 SS "Galizien" or the 33 rd SS "Charlemagne").

I must admit that, this well documented book with a large amount of german official documents, gave me a good comprehension about this branch of the german armed forces.

Stein is not wrong when he demonstrates that the vast majority of Waffen SS soldiers weren't compromised in the genocide toward the european jews. However and Stein doesn't forget that point, it should be mentionned that some Waffen SS members and units have been involved in "the final solution" or Shoah, especially in central and eastern europe.

Finally, he is right when he considers that many european 'volunteers' didn't fought for hitler's regime but rather for their homeland and were, in fact, fooled by Himmler's promises...

Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece
Review: With that book, George H. Stein has done a great historical work. His conclusions about the Waffen SS are still valuable to this day, even if there are some small errors, generally concerning the military history of some foreign units (ie the 13 SS "handschar", the 14 SS Galizien or the 33 rd SS "Charlemagne").
I must admit that, this well documented book with a large amount of german official documents, gave me a good comprehension about this branch of the german armed forces.
Stein is right when he writes that the vast majority of Waffen SS soldiers weren't compromised in the genocide toward the european jews and, he is also right when he considers that many european 'volunteers' didn't fought for hitler's regime but rather for their homeland.