Waffen-SS: Hitler's Black Guard At War [Hardcover]

Christopher Ailsby (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 22, 1997

National Socialist Germany's Waffen-SS (Military SS) was one of the most fanatical and feared military organizations in history. From its humble beginnings as a small, select troop whose duty it was to protect leaders and speakers at N.S. Party meetings, it grew during World War Two to nearly one million men, and included dozens of nationalities. During its existence it achieved some of the most stunning victories ever seen in the annals of warfare. This coffee table size large format title is a fully illustrated volume on the battles, campaigns, and alleged war crimes of National Socialist Europe's fighting elite.

It was in the Soviet Union that the Waffen-SS found its greatest testing ground. It was here that the elite Waffen-SS Panzer divisions proved themselves to be masters of mechanized warfare and the combined arms battle. With the aid of full-color maps and color and black and white photographs, this book recreates all the aspects of their epic struggle on Europe's Eastern Front. This title also traces the wartime growth of the Waffen-SS, and includes details on all the legendary Waffen-SS leaders.

Not just highly trained soldiers, the men of the Waffen-SS were highly motivated idealists; ideological warriors selected on the basis of rigid standards. Trained to be highly aggressive on the battlefield, they achieved success on the battlefield that created legends that persist to this day.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Siena; First edition. edition (August 22, 1997)
• ISBN-10: 0752528335
• ISBN-13: 978-0752528335
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 9.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,860,228 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Good Review, April 15, 2002

By 

John G. Hilliard (Toronto Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Waffen-SS: Hitler's Black Guard At War (Hardcover)

This book is a historical overview of the positive aspects of the Waffen-SS. The book is a coffee table size book that is full of both black and white and color illustrations, pictures and diagrams that cover all the major battles, campaigns, and surprisingly alleged war crimes. The book takes what some would call honist and others a bias view of their activities and accheivments. If you are interested in the Waffen SS or World War 2 this is an interesting look at the best of the German military forces. The book may even work to dispel some of the assumptions people make when talking about the Waffen SS as they were all camp gaurds - none were.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A small history book of the Waffen-SS, April 2, 2006

By 

Michael Valdivielso (Alexandria, VA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Waffen-SS: Hitler's Black Guard At War (Hardcover)

Waffen-SS Hitler's Black Guard At War by Christopher Ailsby is a fast read. The book is focused totally on the history and events of the Armed SS, the fighting branch of one of the most feared organizations of the Third Reich.

While it does touch on the other branches and duties of the SS the book itself deals with the military units, their battles and the major campaigns.

At only 176 pages it is packed full of photos and the bare facts. In most cases the facts are very bare, very straight forward, and if you don't know much about World War Two a lot of it will not make much sense. It is like a jug-saw puzzle in which you are always seeing some of the pieces. This is not a history of the Reich or the war. It is just a basic history of the Waffen-SS.

2 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars a small correction, March 8, 2005

By 

S. A. Kuipers (Groningen, Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Waffen-SS: Hitler's Black Guard At War (Hardcover)

In reaction to the statement made by mr. Hilliard who wrote the review that's above this one : the 3rd Waffen SS panzerdivision "Totenkopf" (death's head) was indeed made up of former concentration camp guards.

A small number of these were men who found working in the death camps too horrible and preferred the front. Indeed, some only did the required tour of service in the camps in order to get into this division, but one did have to have done service in the camps, either as a guard, a torturer or whatever the heck these animals did there, to qualify for servive in the Totenkopf.

The commander of this division from 1940 to 1943, when he was mortally wounded, was SS-Gruppenfuehrer Theodor Eicke, the first commandant of Dachau, a pathological sadist who had set a new and frightful standard of brutality in this camp.

Had he lived and been captured by the allies he would have been tried at Nuremberg and more than probably hung.

These were not the "brave, loyal soldier who fought valiantly and very expertly against the soviet masses and who didn't commit war-crimes as the rest of the SS did" as the legend of the Waffen SS goes.

The author and Mr. Hilliard should know better than to go on spreading these myths.

The Waffen SS were not the best & toughest soldiers in history. They were the best equipped units in the german Army in WWII and more effort went into keeeping them up to strength with remounts and replacements then went into replenishing the Wehrmacht divisions, especially after 1943.

These were highly motivated, well trained and superbly equipped soldiers, but not supermen.

And quite a few were or had been concentration campguards, bullies, executioners and gas chamber operators.

Besides, Waffen SS units composed of men who hadn't served in de concentration camps also committed atrocities and war crimes. The Waffen SS should not be held up as an example of laudable military accomplishment. Their are too many tarnishes on it's shield.