Soldiers of Destruction (Paperback)

Perhaps the one personality who permeated the division was Theodor Eicke, the first commander of Totenkopf and its major personality whose influence was felt even after his death in combat in 1943. Eicke's struggles with Himmler and the Wehrmacht to gain respect and much needed supplies as well as the various machinations within Nazi Germany's hierarchy are well detailed. Eicke was to the Totenkopf what Sepp Dietrich was to the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler and Paul Hausser to the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich: a father figure revered and respected by his men, but also feared (Eicke often punished his men by sending them to the camps as inmates but made sure his men had enough rations and winter clothing in Russia).

The Totenkopf Division fought primarily on the Eastern Front and gained a reputation as steadfast in defense. While the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler and Das Reich divisions were the spearheads of the Waffen-SS and took the forefront in the attack, it was the Totenkopf that held the line in Russia and gained respect from notable army generals such as Erich von Manstein and Maximilian Von Weichs.

Even with its enviable reputation in battle, the Totenkopf was a unit of contradictions. Some of the officers and men who were worthy soldiers included Otto Baum( holder of the Knights' Cross with Swords and Oakleaves-no Diamonds, even though he deserved them and Sydnor says that he won them), the only man to command three different divisions of the SS and one of the youngest corps commanders when he took temporary command of Das Reich along with the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division "Gotz von Berlichingen", Georg Bochmann, also a holder of the Swords and a commander of two different divisions, Karl Ullrich, commander of the combat engineer batallion, holder of the Oakleaves, and the last commander of the 5th SS Panzer Division "Wiking", and Fritz Christen, the first enlisted man in the SS to win the Knights Cross and at the age of 20 the youngest soldier to be awarded the Ritterkreuz. Totenkopf was awarded 11 Knight's Crosses for actions in the Demyansk pocket, the most Knight's Crosses awarded to a single unit in one battle. Despite such brave officers and men, Totenkopf had an unsavory reputation for atrocities and a number of war criminals did serve in the unit. Totenkopf was responsible for the execution of English prisoners of war and French colonial troops in France in 1940 and was alleged to ahve committed numerous war crimes on the Russian Front. Sydnor notes that three Totenkopf officers who later beccame division commanders were alleged to have been responsible for major war crimes in the West: Heinz Lammerding for the massacre at Oradour while commanding Das Reich in 1944, Hermann Priess for actions during the Battle of the Bulge while serving as corps commander of the LAH, and Max Simon for killing Italian civilians in 1944 and executing German civilians in 1945. Sydnor traces this to the instituion of the camps and the mentality that resulted from them and the indoctrination of Eicke which makes for an intersting study and refutes the claim made by some SS members that they were soldiers like the rest of the German military.

The final fate of the Totenkopf was in many ways a Goetterdammerung: Totenkopf managed to surrender to the Americans in Austria, but its members were handed over to the Soviets supposedly because it did almost all of its fighting in the East, a fate not shared by the LAH and Das Reich because they fought extensively on the Western Front. Few Totenkopf members survived Soviet captivity.

An interesting read and a definite must for those interested in the German military. Perhaps Professor Sydnor could do a study on the LAH and Das Reich.

Syndor captures the facts regarding the effect that Theodor Eicke had on creating the division from his hand picked staffs in the concentration system. Thus creating a combat division led and manned by individuals already hardened to cruelty to the "enemy behind the wire". Syndor presents a detailed account of Eicke's rise through the concentration camp system, his immense political connections, the origins of the Totenkopf division under Eicke's guidance.

The author is clearly impressed by the combat performance of the Waffen SS and the Totenkopf division in particular; however, he presents facts and adequate footnotes for anyone to investigate. The truth speaks for itself, the Waffen SS, with the esprit of the troops and the political indoctrination, were elite combat units. They fought at times to the last man and withstood hardships and casualty rates beyond what most other troops would endure. They also committed acts that carried the political will of the Fuhrer and the Reichsfuhrer SS to the occupied territories and the front.

This is NOT an apologist's book about the Waffen SS, nor does it state that every SS trooper was a criminal. The truth, as usual, is somewhere in between. It does paint the SS and the Waffen SS as the criminal organizations that they were. It also details the combat performance of this elite combat unit. The last half of the book is sketchier on details of the Totenkopf's combat records, but this was due to the loss of many of those detailed records to the war waged upon Germany.

This is an excellent book, my only criticism is that it does not have enough photo's and statistics (specifically, after action reports).

The writing style is smooth and engaging, and I found myself completely engrossed in the book. My only complaint about "Soldiers of Destruction" is the heavy-hand Sydnor blankets over the Totenkopf Division. As you read along you'll find that Sydnor has a seemingly great amount of respect and awe for the fighting capabilities of the SS, but he almost always counters his praise with derogatory mention of their fanaticism and loyalty to National Socialist ideology; two factors that molded them into what they were. You get the sense he feels obligated to negate their achievements.

That aside, Sydnor does a great job of bringing the Division to life. You'll feel as though you know the commanders and soldiers personally.

The subject matter of this book is not for everyone. The SS Totenkopf Division personified Himmler's absolute ideal of the SS. It could be argued that they were the most politically indoctrinated of all the SS divisions. They were brutally efficient soldiers who were indifferent to hardship. Defeat was an unacceptable option for Totenkopf soldiers in combat. It is no wonder that on several occasions the division fought until almost total decimation. Victory of annihilation was the order of the day. Numerically outnumbered almost 6 to 1 on the Eastern Front, the Totenkopf soldiers of the SS managed to rout entire Soviet armies. They were constantly thrust into the most dangerous of situations on the front. Even today the United States Marine Corps and the U.S. Army mimic some of the combat tactics developed and perfected by SS divisions like the Totenkopf on the Eastern Front.

I summary: If you like military history you'll love this book. Your WWII collection will not be complete without Sydnors' book!