Waffen-SS Commanders: The Army, Corps and Divisional Leaders of a Legend: Augsberger to Kreutz (v. 1) [Hardcover]

Mark C. Yerger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1997

The units of the Waffen-SS were some of the most successful and influental combat formations produced by any country in this century. Their abilities and accomplishments, in both defense and offense, remain legendary. Finally, the commanders of these elit

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. (August 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764303562
• ISBN-13: 978-0764303562
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.9 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,384,053 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Reference, December 24, 1999

By 

wonderrat "wonderrat" (Mountain View, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Waffen-SS Commanders: The Army, Corps and Divisional Leaders of a Legend: Augsberger to Kreutz (v. 1) (Hardcover)

Waffen-SS Commanders is a two-part series on the major commanders of the Waffen-SS, perhaps the most controversial fighting formation in history. Yerger's sympathies with his subjects shows, but he is willing to distinguish between SS officers who conducted themselves in a professional manner and proved themselves in combat and the political favorites of Himmler who rose from the ranks of the German Polizei and whose units were particularly brutal in anti-partisan operations but were no match against professional soldiers. Examples of the former include Otto Baum, Heinz Harmel (whose treatment of prisoners and civilians at Arnhem earned praise from the Allies-General Harmel is still alive and at nearly 100 years of age still conducts his daily life in the same way as he did as a soldier), Paul Hausser and others. The lesser lights among the commanders of the Waffen SS include Friderich Jeckeln, Curt von Gottberg, and Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski, who testified for the prosecution at Nuremberg out of survival and not remorse for any actions-his brutality during the 1944 Warsaw uprising and his granting of POW status to Polish insurgents to insure that he would not be branded a war criminal in the eventuality of a German defear are documented by Yerger. To his credit, von den Bach did not renege on his promise to the Poles, although had Germany somehow won the war or negotiated a separate peace with the West, the Poles probably would have suffered a different fate.

As controversial a subject as the Waffen-SS was, not all of the commanders could be considered brutal criminals or incompetent as portrayed by revisionist history. To be sure, they served an ideology which was evil and most of the commanders were members of the NSDAP, but the majority of SS commanders were in fact professional soldiers equivalent to their army counterparts in the Wehrmacht. Most of these commanders did conduct themselves in a correct manner and fought with honor for their country, even if the regime they served had few redeeming qualities. It is a tribute to these commanders that the Waffen-SS still arouses much passion, even today, and most modern armies today use tactics and innovations which originated with the Waffen-SS over 50 years ago.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pictorial biographies of Waffen SS commanders., March 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Waffen-SS Commanders: The Army, Corps and Divisional Leaders of a Legend: Augsberger to Kreutz (v. 1) (Hardcover)

Like other works by Yerger, "Waffen SS Commanders" is primarily a picture history. It also has nice 2+ page biographies of the military careers of senior Waffen SS officers. There are occasional passing references to their lives after the war, but nothing beyond 1-liners. Some of the biographies are of well known figures such as Dietrich and Hausser whom you can read of elsewhere, but this is probably the only place you will find biographies of minor figures such as Jungkuntz and Hampel. This is the first volume of what is intended to become a 4-volume series, and alphabetically only goes up to Kreutz. Guess who wrote the preface to this book!

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Waffen SS Commanders,Volume 1 and 2, May 10, 2009

By 

B.K.Price "Fantasy Doctor" (Liverpool,England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Waffen-SS Commanders: The Army, Corps and Divisional Leaders of a Legend: Augsberger to Kreutz (v. 1) (Hardcover)

I have bought more than seventy book on the subject of the Waffen ss.
Yerger's work is by far the best, it delves into the history,training, the tactics and stratagies used by what was probably the the finest military formation since the Spartans.

You will also read in great detail the biographys of some of the best military minds of the twentyieth centurary,Paul Hauser and Felix Stiener.
There are also many more commanders without the experiense of the Fist World War who rose swiftly through the ranks thanks to skill, courage,and determination. Amongst these were, Kurt"panzer"Meyer, Heinz Harmell and probably the best of this new breed of divisional commanders Otto Kumm, the last commander of the Liebstandarte.

There is also infomation on awards given to these men during there military carrier, there are also many pictures that have never been publised before as they were amongst the commanders private collections.
I guess it helps that the author is or was friends with many of the men written about in these books.

If you liked these books you will like his series, German Cross in Gold Holders of the Waffen SS.
It deals with the personal historys of the men awarded this medal, it also has more pictures never before published.