Customer Reviews

Ss-Totenkopf: The History of the 'Death's Head' Division 1940-45

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As another reviewer says, this book offers absolutely nothing new about the division or the men of the division. As typical of those critical of the Waffen-SS, it mostly focuses on and over exaggerates either the political indoctrination or attrocities. Especially with the 'Totenkopf' division the constant reminder that the origin of the division was in the concentration camps and the division should be guilty by association. However, only about 1/3 of the original personnel at time of activation were from the SS-Totenkopfverbande, the organization that ran the camps.

Besides offering nothing new, there are historical inaccuracies throughout. For example, the author on page 126 uses the Soviet account of the battle of Prochorovka (part of the battle of Kursk and largest tank battle of all time) which claims that the SS Panzer Divisions have Panther tanks. None of the SS Divisions had Panther tanks at the time of the battle of Kursk and they did not get them until later in 1943 or early 1944. Moreover, on page 188 there is a table of 'Totenkopf' tank inventory for the battle of Kursk and there are no Panther tanks, only Panzer III's, IV's or Tigers. Not to mention the 'Totenkopf' division did not take part in the battle of Prochorovka, it was holding the Psel bridgehead.

The only part that the book offers that is good is at the end of the book. There are short descriptions of the weapons used by the division. The tables are good too for quick reference. The one table gives the division's war service with what corps, army, and army group it was attached to and the location for that time period.

If you want good information about the 3. SS Panzer Division 'Totenkopf,' there are definately better books out there. Charles Syndor's "Soldier's of Destruction" is excellent for the development and combat record of the division for the first half of the war, for the period of 1943-1945 the details are flawed at some points. The two books under the title "Wie ein Fels im Meer" or "Like a Cliff in the Ocean" by Karl Ullrich are excellent. One volume is the divisional history published by veterans of the division, and the other is a photo album with tons of great photos. The best book about the 'Totenkopf' division is Wolfgang Vopersal's 8 volume history of the division titled "Soldaten - Kämpfer - Kameraden. Marsch und Kämpfe der SS-Totenkopf-Division," however it is in German and hard to aquire. Hope that helps.

This book is about the SS-Totenkopf Division, a WWII German front line unit originally formed from concentration camp guards. The author has done a great job of laying down the basic facts of the Totenkopf Division-its origins, battle history, commanders, equipment and atrocities. The story follows the division's exploits from the invasion of France to the Eastern Front to the final battles in Hungary. The author explores the character of the Totenkopf's founding father, Theodor Eicke, in detail. The author credits Eicke's leadership and methodology for the division's success in combat. That methodology included desensitizing the men to violence by encouraging brutality in the camps and demanding that orders be obeyed without question. Other commanders and heroes of Totenkopf are covered, but Eicke, by far is given the most thorough examination. This 'praise' of Eicke is tempered by a discussion of the atrocities committed by the division and by it's former members. The book wraps up with a chapter on weapons of the Totenkopf, where everything from small arms to tanks is briefly described. I found the book easy to read. Although the book lacks the detail that an advanced reader on the subject would demand, I would recommend it as an introductory book for anyone wanting to learn more about the SS formations

When I initially read the reviews posted here, I was hesitant to waste my time reading this book. Now that I have done so, however, I find that most of the complaints are unfounded.

The purpose of _SS-Totenkopf_ is to provide an overview of the development, formation and behaviors of the SSTK, as well as provide some good pictures to gawk at. It is not supposed to be an exhaustive chronical, so it naturally lacks some of the details of other works on the subjects. So yes, if you want a more thorough examination of the topic, Syndor's _Soldiers of Destruction_ is the way to go -- but if you really couldn't care less what Eich said to so-n-so on such-n-such about the supply of heavy artillery in 1941, then this book isn't such a bad way to go.

What I find a bit unsettling about the criticisms here though, are the ones that complain that Mann has exaggerated or overstated the record of Nazi indoctrination and atrocity that is associated with the SSTK. I find this to be not only innaccurate, but actually somewhat apologist. Once frequently finds among historical enthusiasts of the Waffen-SS a tendancy to take the old SS veteran's oft-repeated statement of "we were soldiers, just like any other" at face value...though in fact, it is often not true at all, and especially not for the SS Totenkopf Div.

In actual fact, the SSTK were deeply indoctrinated by the their fanatical Nazi commander, Theodor Eich, for the explicit purpose of being merciless guardians of the concentration camp system, which they were founded to support. Time after time, their record in combat reveals that this practiced cold-bloodedness resulted in astonishing willingness to commit war crimes and massacres against POWs and civilians (to such a degree that during the invasion and occupation of Poland, the Wehrmacht commanding generals tried to have them removed from the field on account of their atrocious behavior toward civilian Jews and Poles). Indeed, a considerable number of SSTK served in the murderous Einsatzgruppen, and were revolved freely through the Nazi concentration camp system even while that mechanism became a vast killing machine directed at Hitler's racial enemies. This is not mere conjecture on the part of Mann, but established fact, expounded upon in great detail by none other than Charles Syndor's _Soldiers of Destruction_ itself, a book which many of the critics here recommend as an alternative read to this one!

In short, if you are looking for a brief overview of the SSTK, with some decent pictures of the division in action, I would take the criticisms here with a grain of salt, and give Mann's book a chance.

If you like picture books, this isn't bad. But some pictures are regurgitated from other SS-Division books and detracts from the value.

Most notably, the author can't decide whether the Totenkopf division was a tough military unit or accidentally stumbled into its victories. The author presents contradictory events without realizing the silliness of his presentation.

For example, Theodor Eicke recruited bullies and thugs and purposely trained them to be brutal with beatings and "atrocities" (a picture of a punished murderer is considered an "atrocity") so that he could field a tough unit. But then, in almost the next paragraph, the author claims that Eicke finally fielded a professional unit after he weeded out the bullies.

Well, which was it?

Then he claims that the Totenkopf division was feared in battle wherever it went, not because of it's tenacity or vigor in battle, but because of the atrocities supposedly committed. Then we are supplied with the Malmedy Massacre - later disproved by the allied survivors themselves - which happened at the end of the war. How were Russians in 1941 supposed to be afraid of something that happens at the end of the war? Then the author makes little mention of the possible real atrocity at Le Paradis and instead makes much of the disproved Malmedy event.

I can't go on and on, there's too little space to detail the contradictions and bigotry present in the book. Those who value history will not appreciate this book. Those who like pictures might. Buyer beware.

I've seen three types of books on the SSTK. The first type is the comprehensive historical study that includes only a few photos. A good example would be Charles Sydnor's "Soldiers of Destruction. The second type is the photo catalog that contains a brief summary of the division but contains many excellent photos. An example would be Charles Trang's "Totenkopf". The third type is Chris Mann's "SS-Totenkopf". Its a historical summary that hasn't the detail level of the first type but has more photos than the first type. It will have a better history but fewer photos of the second type.

In the author's introduction, he begins in the 1920s with Hitler, Rohm and others trying to initiate and grow the Nazi Party and extends the coverage to describe the key events into the 1930s until Rohm is assassinated and Hitler becomes chancellor in 1933. Himmler has a bigger role as he becomes the head of the SS. The Dachau camp opens and the camp system expands which introduces Eicke and the SS camp guards which will eventually evolve into Himmler's SS Divisions with Totenkopf a prime example. Since Eicke played such an important role, the author gives him due coverage concerning his ideology, training practices and political indoctrination. Eicke believed that if you wanted to win the war you had to be more brutal and nastier than the enemy; there was no room for morals.
The historical commentary continues with a summary of the key engagements the SSTK was in and includes Poland 1939, France 1940, the drive toward Leningrad in 1941 culminating at the Demyansk Pocket, Kharkov 1943, Kursk, Mius and Merla River campaigns, Krivoi Rog in Dec 1943, Rumania in April 1944, Grodno, Warsaw, Budapest and finally its surrender to the US 3rd Army in April 1945 and the subsequent handing off to the Soviets.

In addition to the division's war history, there is also coverage of prewar recruitment and training, political indoctrination, discipline and punishments. There is also coverage on uniforms, SS insignia, Death Head insignia, arm eagle insignia, camouflage, boots and accessories. There is not much depth here buts its interesting if your reading about it for the first time. There is an extensive Appendix that includes bios of a dozen key people, and a section on Fire Power that includes the range from pistols to Tigers. There is also a summary listing of SSTK's war service. There is a table of panzer inventory on an almost daily basis up to July 16th. It gives the quantity and type of tank and gun. The SSTK started with 174 panzers and by July 16, it was down to 93 total working panzers. A table of ranks is also provided.

In addition to the concise history, Mr Mann provides 116 fine photos. There are good pictures of Hitler, Himmler, Eicke, Manstein, Hoepner, Dietrich, Priess, Seela, Mackensen and others. There are many photos of soldiers in the field and other battlefield scenes. There are a few maps which were OK.

Mr Mann intended this book to be a summary. He even suggests that if further reading is desired that Sydnor's book be read among any other book on his reading list. I didn't find any major errors, despite the confusion of when Totenkopf started receiving Panthers or that the division was fighting on the Psel River not near Prokhorovka. That's an issue that can be found in other books as well. Sydnor also brings up the topic, mentioning Totenkopf Panthers being deployed on July 12th.

If your looking for an introduction to the history of the SS Totenkopf Division with an adequate summary of it and its notorious commander as well as a bounty of good photos, this is a good low cost alternative that should be considered.

This book has absolutely nothing new to add to the existing knowledge base about the history or background of the SS.

Matter of fact, there were quite a few inaccuracies and falsehoods, that one must wonder if it was sloppy work or intentional. This was written by someone who was far removed from the subject and just rehashed a lot of old news and old propaganda.

If you want to read a book that panders to those who love to hate the SS, then this is it. For serious students of the subject, look elsewhere.

Its very lacking and he does a lot of guess work instead of putting down historical accuracies. Stick with Soldiers Of Destruction, i found that a book worth reading over and over again.

Before I say anything anything else I want to let everyone to know I HAVE NOT read this book. Obviously the reader above was either misinformed of mislead by this book. The totenkopf division was formed at the beginning of WWI in Honor of Emperor Francis Ferdinand's assasination. The name totenkopf originates from the skull and cross bones on his coffin at the time of his burial. It is true that 1 regiment of the totenkopf was involved with concentration camps, but the division was mainly a frontline unit the entire part of the war. Fighting in the BoF (battle of France) then on the eastern front for the majority of the war.