Customer Reviews

Hitler's Renegades: Foreign Nationals in the Service of the Third Reich (Photographic Histories)

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This book proves to be a well written and well illustrated book on the foreign soldiers who fought and died for Hitler's Third Reich. The author keep things simple and carefully summarized how, when and why so many various foreign nationals chooses to fight for a regime that proves to be so racially hateful. It seem to be interesting that Germans played its "anti-communist" card very well in recuiting foreign nationals to fight for them. Many volunteers from Western Europe came through that route. Fight against Stalin were another reason for the eastern Europeans to joined up with the Germans. Ethnic warfare, various form of anti-Semitic movements and desire for independence like the Indians were all part of the reasons why these foreign nationals fought for Germany. Some like Spaniards or the Italians were sent by their governments to Russia where they had a terrible time.

The author also reflects on how these foreign nationals were used, how good they were and how they were trained and organized. Its interesting to note that once the German authority took them out of their homelands, many of these eastern European troops became discouraged and their effectiveness suffered. The book also point out how the Germans themselves have to adjust and adapt to many of their foreign soldiers, some like the Russians who were regarded as "sub-human" and amount of trust place upon some of them.

The book also points out that at the end of the war, the British and American powers exactly didn't covered themselves with glory when they sent hundred of thousands of people back to Russia against their will where they were destroyed by Stalin. Western Europeans on the whole, met a kindlier fate then their eastern comrades.

Overall, a very informative book, it got great photographs, the writing proves to be easy to read and the book appears to be well researched considering that its more of an introductory book to this subject matter.