SS Panzergrenadier: A True Story Of World War II [Hardcover]

Hans Schmidt (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0966904745 | ISBN-13: 978-0966904741 | Publication Date: December 31, 2001 | Edition: 1st

4090. This is the autobiographical true story and personal narrative of the German side of WWII. The author recounts the reasons that led him to decide to join the Waffen-SS in 1943 at the age of 16. He details his service in the German Labor Service (RAD) prior to induction into and training with the W-SS in 1944. The author recounts his extensive schooling prior to posting with the Leibstandarte SS Panzer Div., and his personal experiences in combat with the unit in the Ardennes and the final battles on the Eastern Front in Hungary, ending with American captivity. HB, 20 previously unpublished photos from author's collection, over 400 pages.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...tells it as it was for the German soldiers in the last two years of the war..." -- Dr. H.G. Migeod, South Africa

"..deserves widespread distribution in the United States. I hope that this...will be mandatory reading at all American military academies." -- John Schmitz, Colonel, USMC, and former Congressman (January 10, 2001)

"Hans provides a view of 'the other side' that cannot be found in any other book I can think of." -- Elmer Libby, WWII veteran and ex-POW

Product Details

• Hardcover: 402 pages
• Publisher: Hans Schmidt Pub; 1st edition (December 31, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966904745
• ISBN-13: 978-0966904741
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,879,698 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Controversial! Do you have an open mind to read it?, July 13, 2004

By 

"coco1966" - See all my reviews

This review is from: SS Panzergrenadier: A True Story Of World War II (Hardcover)

I believe this book needs to be read with an open mind, and an awareness that is increasingly lacking in the freeworld - of our own insidious propoganda. In my opinion, only that knowledge of self, will help to understand others better. As a patriotic Englishman who lost relatives in the war, having read the book, I have mixed feelings about the author and the book's content. Much he wrote (and I have checked out) surprisingly dispelled many of the negative myths that are common about the SS, and Schmidt exposes much allied hypocrisy and double standards about the war that are as valid today as they were then. Many of his comments really strike home, and provide valuable insights that the Victor's population rarely of ever get's to hear of: such as the lack of allied deaths in German POW camps, the SS relief of the wounded at the Bridge to Far that saved the lives of 2000 allied troops, and other rather good examples that illustrate the honour code that most, of the most disciplned army of the war, abided by. He also makes very good arguments for the lack of knowledge of the Holocaust by the great mass of the German people, such as; if it were such common knowledge, why wasn't it written about or known in the freeworld, or used in the Allied radio propoganda broadcasts, until they were actually found - never mind in a dictatorship with absolute media control. The same principle works the other way around, even in todays ideal western "democracies" with a free press, satelite communications and the Internet. A good and current example being, the "truth" about Saddam's WMD, which took several countries to war! Also, we continue to see just how simple it is to demonise an entire nation and it's army - AKA, check out the Arab "Street" opinion after the Abu Graib prisoner photos! There are many further good examples throughout the book that makes me glad to have read it. On the flip side, I think he manifestly misunderstands why the German's were so hated by the Allied soldiers - and for me that is relatively simple. It wasn't a war they asked for - and when, against your wishes, you are drafted away from home and hearth to see your mates killed - you are not going to be best happy with those you see as the cause of it all. Also, in the use of his language, I can't help but feel he harbours a latent hatred of the Jews that for all the (very) good arguments he makes about much of the war, it's cause and certain infamous incidents - detracts from (in my opinion) a very good case for the normalcy of good relations between men and countries, and the integrity and discipline of the average German soldier. And maybe, just maybe - in both cases, that is why there was a war! Judge for yourself...

21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating view into the mind of an unrepentant Nazi, January 30, 2005

By 

J. Stevens (El Paso, TX USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: SS Panzergrenadier: A True Story Of World War II (Hardcover)

In a world where the SS, including the Waffen-SS, is portrayed as nothing but bloodthirsty murderers, most of the uninitiated jump on the bandwagon of the media and join them in their claim that the aforementioned statement is true. Hans Schmidt, Panzergrenadier of the 1. SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler, is not one of them.

As a member of the Waffen-SS, he would know far more about how these soldiers really behaved in battle and in peace. Not only does he describe this in his memoirs, but he also relates (rather chillingly) some of the socio-economic and social conditions that abounded in the Third Reich to some that are occuring in America today. He provides the (true) story of the so-called "Malmedy Massacre", backed up by comments by GI's who were there, and exposes the injustices of the Nuremberg Trials. As it was written very recently, he provides his comments on such things as September 11, the Mazar-i-Sharif prison riot in Afghanistan, Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers, current American politics, and other current matters. It begs the question that perhaps we really aren't that different after all... He also goes to great lengths to expose ALLIED war crimes and how Americans were not the best soldiers the world has ever seen, something that few have the courage to do.

The one flaw in this book is the lack of actual combat (not his fault, as he spent a lot of time in the rear as a messenger) and the fact that he says that the Holocaust never happened. Granted, we as American students receive way too much Holocaust history when similar things are going on in Africa as we speak, and we committed similar atrocities against the American Indians, but to say that it didn't happen just because some concentration camp inmates he saw "looked fatter than he did" doesn't mean that it didn't happen. The book is also full of racism towards the Jews, and interestingly enough he came to the decision to distrust them not because of indoctrination that he received during WWII but because of his own conclusions that he came to after the war.

All in all, I would say that one should read this book not so much as to hear about the combat experiences of a former SS soldier but to delve into his postwar thoughts and opinions. For anybody, that should be fascinating enough.

36 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For a more complete picture of WWII, March 18, 2003

By 

Jeffrey Bimmer (Midlothian, Virginia United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: SS Panzergrenadier: A True Story Of World War II (Hardcover)

This is a very readable book. It is not a dry historical narrative nor an endless recounting of bloody combat experiences. Rather, it is a very personal account of one individual's story that fits into a larger history. Sitting next to a pretty girl on a troop train, taunts from a soon-to-be freed Russian POW, walking through a recently bombed German village are all relayed with remarkable candor.

The book is definitely written from a German perspective and contains some revisionist elements that made me somewhat uncomfortable. Although, some of these issues, like Eisenhower's horrendous treatment of German POW's and intentional Allied air attacks against civilians, have become pretty widely accepted during the past decade.

I was surprised that there was so little anti-semitism in the SS training experience although I was not particularly surprised at the emphasis on the German way of life and German Military History---in that way it had some parallels with my USMC training experience. There are a few grammatical errors but he writes better than most of the people I was with in graduate school. Further, I assume that English was not his first language. It was entertaining, informative and gave me a very different perspective on an otherwise familiar topic (WWII). I recommend it.