Customer Reviews

In Deadly Combat: A German Soldier's Memoir of the Eastern Front (Modern War Studies)

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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.

Much has been written about the Wehrmacht, discussing strategies, campaigns, results and commanders; less has been written about the common German soldier in W.W.II. In this
extraordinary book, Gottlob H. Bidermann narrates his experience in the 132 Infantry Division on
the Eastern Front from June 1941 to May 1945 followed by surrender and internment in Russia
until the summer of 1948. He was commissioned and received officer training in 1943 but
continued to be assigned to the 132 Infantry Division. Bidermann's memoirs were written for and
distributed to the survivors of his regiment and division, and originally were not for general
audiences. Derek S. Zumbro, a US Naval officer and friend of the Bidermann family, was given a
copy of his memoir in 1985 by Bidermann which Zumbro translated; the memoirs were published
as the book IN DEADLY COMBAT.

The text is basically an accurate chronology of the events Bidermann personally experienced on
the Eastern Front. Daily death, suffering and destruction was encountered and the author states
"We tended our wounded, buried our dead and moved forward to the next encounter, knowing
that eventually, we would meet the end of our journey". He later notes "Most of us owed our
lives to the skill and self-sacrifice of other in our company, many of whom were no longer with
us."

It is interesting to read the author's personal reactions to brutal combat. He relates how his
training and discipline gave him life saving split second reactions when face to face with the
enemy. While generally not critical of German combat general officers, many of whom he
admired, like the common soldier in all armies he "called it like was". For example, commenting
on one general "And the highest commander, to whom credit for the catastrophe should be
awarded, was not present to witness what his decisions had wrought. As always, the soldiers in
the field bore the brunt of these mistakes and paid with their lives." In another case he wrote
"When captured" General Shoerner "was wearing a traditional Bavarian alpine costume, for
which he had exchanged his uniform and golden party badge. Only weeks earlier he had subjected
untold numbers of soldiers to summary execution for similar displays of cowardice."

Equally interesting is his attitude serving on the Eastern Front, as his division went from a
conquering army in 1941 to the desperate fight for survival in the Courland pocket. Bidermann
writes "....those who continued to cling to the belief in a "final Victory", now realized the
hopelessness of our situation. That said the will to resist the Soviets, the fighting spirit within the
ranks of the Courland fighters, remained unbroken" resulting in the fact "....the troops in
Courland were .... the only combat units in the German army that were never defeated in open
battle." The author makes the interesting statement "We saw the true sense of our operations in
Courland as having one clearly defined objective: the defense of European culture..." then he
laments that the West ignored what he termed "the tragedy unfolding in eastern and central
Europe. Communism descended on an entire culture...."

The text is dictated by the framework of the German army in which Bidermann fought, by the
nature of the Reich and largely by a set of cultural and intellectual conventions in the army which
differed widely from those of the British and Americans. These factors contributed a cohesiveness
that allowed Germany to maintain front-line effectiveness when units like the 132 Infantry
Division fought the enemy for 3 1/2 years, almost without relief. Amazingly, Bidermann relates
that within the framework of the army there were no plans, policies or training for retreat and a
strategic withdrawal which could have reduced losses and preserved unit strength. When orders
were received to surrender on May 8, 1945 the author writes "The philosophy of fighting to death
had become so ingrained within us during the past years that to surrender, as we were now being
ordered to do, was inconceivable." Although they knew that the Russians liquidated thousands of
Polish officers in Poland and expected possibly the same fate, the culture and strict discipline of
the army did not allow for disobeying orders; Bidermann's division surrendered as ordered.

Throughout the text, references to events at home are noted such as "....our relatives lived in a
daily terror of the bombs...." and "The attempted assassination revealed that the war was lost.
Hitler was nothing more that a dictator in brown." Then finally, "In general, news of the death of
Hitler was received by the troops with indifference; however, it must also be said that some
breathed a sigh of relief."

The Epilogue describes of the brutal life in the Soviet prisoner of war camps. The text states "In
the twentieth century prisoners were often afforded little or no protection in any form and
remained free game for the victors. One could beat them, work them to death, shoot them or
simply let them starve." Bidermann observed all of this in Soviet prisoner of war camps. It should
be noted that the same philosophy was followed in Japanese prisoner of war camps. In contrast,
the author states "In the United States prisoners had confinement vastly different from our ordeal
in the gulags. They were well-fed and in the best of health...."

While the writer did not report witnessing atrocities, neither does he ignore their existence. This
work is refreshing as it narrates the hard, brutal life of a front-line an infantryman in combat with
none of the usual apologies of "we were just following orders." often found in other memoirs.
This is a "must read" for those interested in W.W.II history.

This is a very interesting and quite different approach to experiencing the events of the second world war. It is interesting in the fact that it tells the story of a German Division from the perspective of the members of the Division, and does so primarily for the benefit of those members rather than for the public at large. So, this then is a fascinating if somewhat oddly focused study of the war along the eastern front from the viewpoint of the German foot soldier.

It is often frightening and revealing, especially when one considers the fact that the author actually survived over five years of combat. So, although the writing style is a bit stiff and belabored, it is well worth the effort. This is the story of an "average" foot soldier involved up to his muddy ankles in the most outrageous and provocative battles in modern history. This is truly a story for the record books, one told with honesty (at least from the author's perspective), and one deserving of your time and study. Imagine slogging through the heat and rain and mud and snow and ice of the campaign into and then through Poland and Russia, and retracing mile by mile, yard by yard, foot by foot as the Russians relentlessly push the 200 divisions of the German Army slowly and painfully back from all of the gains, inflicting murderous tolls along the way. The portrait given is one revealing the levels of hardship, depravations, depravities, and extreme experiences of a common soldier involved in the most terrible and hard-fought campaign of World War Two, Operation Barbarossa.

This man was really there and on the ground throughout it all; the battle experiences, decorations and wounds suffered rolling through the Crimea, the taking of Sebastopol, the long and savagely fought campaign in Leningrad, and then later the long, slow and very costly retreat while trapped in the "Courland Pocket". The author obviously matures and changes in the process of these experiences, although one sometimes wonders how much of this change is the result of faithful recollection as opposed to selective memory after the fact. But this is a minor quibble, for it is a story quite well told. One sees the changes such experiences must make on any ordinary human being; the slow but inexorable metamorphosis from a sensitive and caring young man to a battle -hardened survivor who does what he needs to do to protect himself and his comrades with trained indifference.

This is indeed a worthwhile and well-described (which is not to say easily read) story of the view from the ground level by someone who was there, and who, while writing ostensibly for the attention and approval of his comrades, must have been (at least minimally) accurate in describing the conditions, experiences, and lessons of war. Of course, for anyone who has lived through the crucible of war, whether in WWII or Korea or Vietnam, finally it comes down to living in the small community of buddies and surviving in that context that becomes paramount in the day-to-day experiences. This is, in that sense at least, a very moving and graphic document in describing such experiences, and should be read and understood by any serious student of WWII.

This is the story of the 132nd Infantry Division and its trek across the vast expanses of Russia, from the crossing of the Dnieper, to the prolonged and grim battle for Sevastopol, a once beautiful town on the edge of the Black Sea, to their eventual retreat and ultimate surrender in the Courland Pocket (Which at the time was a term strictly 'verboten' to use, as this was officially designated the 'Courland Front')

There is a dearth of first hand reports from the Eastern Front, a testament which only lends credibility to the extreme brutality of "Barbarossa". This is an excellent personal narrative on this Front, and while the writing style is a bit stiff at times, there are personal revelations that can only be told by one who was there.

The author often found himself in continual fighting, with little or no sleep. Indeed, the Soviets favored night fighting, as much for the effect of sleep deprivation as anything else, and usually at a horrible cost to themselves. This book is well detailed when describing unit designations and where and how they fought together. While this book can not match the visceral brilliance of "The Forgotten Soldier", which is unique in its description of battelfield hell, it is at times a powerful read, and as the last of the aging JU-52's leaves the Pocket with the last evacuees, and the soldiers later learn that 32 of the 35 slow and ungainly transport planes are shot down in flames with no survivors, one can almost feel the desperation these men most have felt. Highly recommended.

I have read both "Soldat" and the "Forgotten Soldier", I must rate this book over the other two. This book is a great first person account on the hell of the Russian Front. Bidermann's account of his AT gun crew knocking out Soviet tanks in the the Crimea, reads like a novel. Bidermann also fills parts of the Divisions (132nd ID) history that he himself was not present for with great detail. This book described the mindset of the typical Landser so well I felt like I was their too. A must read for anyone who wishes to see the war from German eyes.

This book will be well appreciated by any student of the Eastern Front. Bidermann started the war as a gefreiter with the 437th infantry regiment (part of the 132nd infantry division) and finished the war as a leutnant with the same unit. The book presents an interesting contrast between Bidermann's initial experiences as a Pak gunner in the Crimea and his actions as a junior infantry leader on the northern front toward the end of the war. While I never felt quite as "close" to the author as I did with Sajer's "The Forgotten Solder" and Knappe's "Soldat," the book was nevertheless excellent, and better than both in many respects (in particular, this book is much more detailed than Sajer's work). One of my favorite aspects of the book is its treatment of the Crimean and Leningrad campaigns, two sectors that, in my opinion, have been neglected in favor of more well-known battles such as Stalingrad and Kursk. In summary, I would highly recommend the book to any Eastern Front fanatic.

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!

This is the first book ive read in this genre and i must say its incredible. Gottlob Herbert Bidermann's expieriences while manning his AT gun on the Eastern Front are heart-pounding, and in most cases, amazing.

As I said I have nothing to compare it too, but this book definetly gives a face to the German soldier. All too often Hollywood depicts them as cowards, ruthless murderers, and clumsy fools, and Im glad to have finally read a book that truely puts things into prespective.

I could not put this book down from the moment it arrived at my house. Lets just say my social took a leave of absence in the weeks after getting this book.

If your even remotely interested in the German side of WWII, then get this book. A little knowledge of basic German may help too, otherwise you may be flipping to the glossary everytime you catch a word thats foreign to you. Again, I cant recommend this book enough, buy it, and once it gets delivered you'll be in for a real treat!

Having read Guy Sajer's "The Forgotten Soldier" I felt there could never be another book coming close to its sheer adventure, terror, and heart-thumping action. "In Deadly Combat" is not merely the memoir of the German soldier fighting on the Eastern Front, it is a sad reflection on the fighting capabilities of humans sent into harms way for morally bankrupt ends, and how insignificant those ends become to the soldier actually doing the fighting...and how, despite this, soldiers fight amazingly well.

As a western reader, like it or not, I approach this book with the questions: "What did he think about the fact that Germany was engaged in an unjust war, pursuing it with unjust means? Surely as a thinking, clearly sensitive soldier he must have known about the killings of the SS and the Einsatzgruppen? Surely he couldn't have supported Hitler?

There are few biographies that answer these questions and this one is no exception. Clearly Biderman was aware of the political tumult surrounding Hitler and he clearly makes it known he was aware of the contradictions between Hitler's optimistic statements and the suffering of the German people. Yet there is nothing in this book that alludes to the darker aspects of the war in Russia -- prisoners are taken and treated properly, German soldiers billet in Russian homes and share their food, and there is no mention in 300 pages that Biderman and his friends knew about the rampage of the Nazi killing squads,and there is no mention about the fate of the jews in areas Biderman and his unit operated. Surely it couldn't have been all like that...

But perhaps the lesson from this book is that to Biderman and his mates, the only thing they cared about was their own lives and staying alive.

Biderman is a consumate professional soldier involved in some incredible actions: facing down a Russian tank in a duel with his anti-tank squad (at one point he feels the rush of pressure as a russian shell passes within inches of his head); he fights in the fortresses of Sevastopol in long, underground laberynthine firefights blasting and burning out Russian infantry. He describes the horror of fighting in Winter, of fighting in continually waterlogged swamps south of Lake Ladoga, and; he tells the horror of the last battles of Courland in modern day Lithuanian, cut off and isolated not surrendering until Berlin fell.

There is also the harrowing tale of his years as a Soviet Prisoner of War (though in this respect he may have been luckier than his other compatriots as he was released in 1948).

Through it all we are reminded that this man and thousands of other German soldiers fought almost continually for four years on the Russian Front. They continually outfought the Russians when they were often ill-equipped, lacked air power and and were at a numerical disadvantage of, at times 20 to 1. It is clear that allied soldiers never performed at such a level of combat for such lengths of time. This is not to elevate the experience of the German soldier over that of the western allies, but it is to recognise that western armies just never expected or planned for their men to fight in the field this long or under such circumstances -- it is just not in the nature of democracy to tolerate such planning. We will never know if the Brit, the Pole, the Canadian or the American at Normandy could fight on the cutting edge of combat for years at at time because we never planned or organised our armies in such a way.

The Germans had no choice. That the average Landser outfought his allied opponent is something that is hard to conceive when contrasted with the horrid cause he was fighting for (whether recognised or not in the mind of the average German soldier). That he did so in spite of this is unsettling. The answer to why the German soldier fought so well is not in this book, the tales of harrowing fearless resistance and attack make for a hair-raising read and still raise the observation -- what a fearful fighter for such an evil cause?

Having spent a lot of time in Germany over the last 15 years and being married to the daughter of a Wehrmacht vet I can say that this book tells it like they told it. It's an important book because the survivors are in their 80s or older and there are fewer of them every year.