Frontsoldaten: The German Soldier in World War II [Paperback]

Stephen G. Fritz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 19, 1997

" Alois Dwenger, writing from the front in May of 1942, complained that people forgot "the actions of simple soldiers….I believe that true heroism lies in bearing this dreadful everyday life." In exploring the reality of the Landser, the average German soldier in World War II, through letters, diaries, memoirs, and oral histories, Stephen G. Fritz provides the definitive account of the everyday war of the German front soldier. The personal documents of these soldiers, most from the Russian front, where the majority of German infantrymen saw service, paint a richly textured portrait of the Landser that illustrates the complexity and paradox of his daily life. Although clinging to a self-image as a decent fellow, the German soldier nonetheless committed terrible crimes in the name of National Socialism. When the war was finally over, and his country lay in ruins, the Landser faced a bitter truth: all his exertions and sacrifices had been in the name of a deplorable regime that had committed unprecedented crimes. With chapters on training, images of combat, living conditions, combat stress, the personal sensations of war, the bonds of comradeship, and ideology and motivation, Fritz offers a sense of immediacy and intimacy, revealing war through the eyes of these self-styled "little men." A fascinating look at the day-to-day life of German soldiers, this is a book not about war but about men. It will be vitally important for anyone interested in World War II, German history, or the experiences of common soldiers throughout the world.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Drawn from letters, diaries and memoirs, this impressive study presents a rounded, detailed picture of the daily life of the Landser-the ordinary German infantryman of WWII-and takes an unblinking look at the stark realities of combat, particularly on the Russian front, where 80% of the German soldiers fought; the hardships endured; and the crushing anxiety of being surrounded by death and killing. The evidence that surfaces in these pages demonstrates that the remarkable unit cohesion and fighting performance of the Landser was due in large part to the bonds of military friendship inherited from Prussian tradition; Wehrmacht leaders "raised the concept of camaraderie almost to the level of strategic doctrine." The study also reveals ways in which the German soldier embraced ideological commitment to National Socialism and how, encouraged by Nazi propaganda, he was free to engage in virtually unlimited criminality if it was directed against the so-called enemies of the German people. Fritz, who teaches history at East Tennessee State, makes edifying comparisons between the Landser and his American, British and Russian counterparts. His book helps explain why the German army was so relentlessly efficient in battle.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

The experience of the British and American common soldier in World War II has been extensively studied. Not so, at least in English, that of his principal opponent, the German Landser (infantryman). Fritz draws on both published and unpublished material, little of it previously translated, to make up for the deficiency. The German soldier survived far more rigorous training than his Allied counterparts (which explains much of his superior proficiency), survived (on the eastern front, at least) indescribable conditions, and was more sympathetic to the objectives and attitudes of National Socialism than has been admitted previously. He also feared death and wounds, mourned comrades overtaken by them, yearned for home, and took a dim view of mud, lice, brutal NCOs, inept or martinet officers, and hostile artillery. In short, he was a soldier doing his duty; the tragedy is that he did it so well in such an abominable cause. Roland Green --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: The University Press of Kentucky; Reprint. edition (June 19, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813109434
• ISBN-13: 978-0813109435
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #384,937 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Offers an answer to the big question: "Why?", August 6, 2003

By 

M. G Watson "Miles Watson" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Frontsoldaten: The German Soldier in World War II (Hardcover)

This is an indispensible, if somewhat superficial, look at the ideological motivations of the German soldier (or "landser" as he called himself) during WWII. It is the only book I've ever read that actually attempts to probe the mindset of the rank-and-file soldiers and junior officers who fought Hitler's war rather than dismissing them as brainwashed robots or mindless products of a militant culture, content to "just follow orders."

Author Fritz genuinely wants to understand why the Landser fought so long and so hard, and against such overwhelming odds, for a government that committed such outrageous crimes against humanity. To do this he examines the correspondence of, and some of the memiors and fiction written by, the average Wehrmacht soldier (he excludes works written by veterans of the Waffen SS, because he feels they come from a different place ideologically than the guys in gray). In his examination, Fritz makes a number of assertions, observations and discoveries, some of which are extremely interesting, while others which come off as facile and opinionated.

On the plus side, Fritz does an excellent job of examining how Hitler's promise of a 'social revolution' which would produce a truly classless society by transferring the selfless, all-for-one values of the combat soldier (the 'frontsgemeinschaft') to the whole civilian population (creating the 'Volksgemeinschaft'), intensely motivated millions of young men. He does a fairly poor job of explaining why Germans had such intensely anti-class feelings (it is not generally knpwn that Germany has traditionally had intense class divisions and hatreds going back centuries....see Bailey's excellent work, 'Germans'); the two go hand in hand. Anyway, Fritz comes to the conclusion that for many in the German army, the war was not about conquest, but about an attempt to create a totally new world, one where all the old, corrupt ways of doing business would be thrown out the window, and a sort of socialist meritocracy created. He also does a very insightful job of showing that the Hitler Youth was not merely a brainwashing factory but a place where children were taught to ignore social status and think about the group before the individual, and how emotionally moved many of the children were by this notion. One of the most startling comments comes from a committed German communist who admitted, 'The HJ was a positive sight in my neighborhood.'

The German soldiers' reaction to combat, hardship, and suffering was largely the same as any other combatants', but Fritz points out that the superior German educational system of the 1930s and 40s produced rank-and-file soldiers who could quote philosophers and theologians in their letters home, and had a firm grasp of military and political history in Europe. This is why the letters of many privates sound like master's dissertations, and makes for good insight.

Fritz is also on the ball with his analysis of German training methods, which relied heavily on psychology (amusing in light of the Jewish origin of this science...somehow I'm sure Freud got no credit) and the understanding that cameraderie and initiative were more important than any other factor in producing first-class soldiers. He points out that the British and Russian armies actually showed far less imagination in battle, and they, rather than the Germans were closer to being 'robots' than the Germans.

Where Fritz stumbles is in his sources, which rely too heavily on Sajer's "Forgotten Soldier" and on the letters of two or three particular soldiers. He also has a tendency to throw in disclaimer-type statements, as if he fears he is being too sympathetic to the Nazis. The book sometimes has the feel of a graduate thesis itself.

Overall, though, I would strongly recommend "Frontsoldaten" to anyone who wants a better understanding of why one poor nation led by a man who was probably insane before the war even started, came to within a hair's breadth of conquering the world.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars nothing new for the student of this genre, November 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Frontsoldaten: The German Soldier in World War II (Paperback)

I had high expectations for this book as a "human story" supplement to the more technical or tactical perspectives of the Wehrmacht. I was rather disappointed as Fritz for the main simply regurgitates excerpts from the memoirs of Sajer, Knappe and other Eastern Front survivors. I also find it rather odd that the author does not include material on the Waffen SS who fought along side the Wehrmacht Landser, yet the dustjacket cover photo (which has been widely reproduced in WW2 literature) is the photo of a young SS panzer-grenadier from the Battle of the Bulge.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A masterpiece of historical writing!, January 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Frontsoldaten: The German Soldier in World War II (Paperback)

Fritz takes the reader into the heart and mind of the German infantryman. He presents them as individuals, not merely mindless cogs in the German war machine. The reader comes to realize the incredible suffering that was life on the Eastern front. These men were little more than children placed in circumstances that made them monsters, indifferent to society's conventions or their own human conscience. Unlike another reviewer, I did not find the book heavily padded. The author exhibits a clear and powerful style of writing, reading more like a good novel than a history book. The overwhelming bulk of the book consists of quotations from the Landsers themselves translated from their letters and diaries. Fritz does give a fascinating comparison of the Landser to their American counterparts in the last chapter, but this is hardly padding. All in all, this is a moving account of life for the German infantyman, who has been often ignored in favor of the members of the SS. It is a must-read for any student of military history and World War II, but it is also valuable for those interested in the human soul and how it is altered by the horrors of war.