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Frontsoldaten: The German Soldier in World War II by [Stephen G. Fritz]

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Stephen G. Fritz

Frontsoldaten: The German Soldier in World War II Kindle Edition

by Stephen G. Fritz (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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“Drawn from letters, diaries and memoirs, this impressive study presents a rounded, detailed picture of the daily life” for frontline Nazi soldiers (Publishers Weekly).

Stephen G. Fritz explores the day-to-day reality of the average German infantryman—or Landser—during World War II. Through letters, diaries, memoirs, and oral histories, most of which describe life on the Russian front, Fritz presents a richly textured portrait of the Landser that illustrates the complexity and paradox of his daily life.

Although clinging to a self-image as a decent fellow, the German soldier nonetheless committed terrible crimes in the name of The Third Reich. When the war was finally over, and his country lay in ruins, the Landser faced a bitter truth: all his exertions and sacrifices had been in the name of a deplorable regime that had committed unprecedented crimes.

With chapters on training, images of combat, living conditions, combat stress, the personal sensations of war, the bonds of comradeship, and ideology and motivation, Fritz reveals war through the eyes of these self-styled “little men.”

Print length

312 pages
Language

English
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Publisher

The University Press of Kentucky
Publication date

June 19, 1997
File size

678 KB
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Drawn from letters, diaries and memoirs, this impressive study presents a rounded, detailed picture of the daily life of the Landser-the ordinary German infantryman of WWII-and takes an unblinking look at the stark realities of combat, particularly on the Russian front, where 80% of the German soldiers fought; the hardships endured; and the crushing anxiety of being surrounded by death and killing. The evidence that surfaces in these pages demonstrates that the remarkable unit cohesion and fighting performance of the Landser was due in large part to the bonds of military friendship inherited from Prussian tradition; Wehrmacht leaders "raised the concept of camaraderie almost to the level of strategic doctrine." The study also reveals ways in which the German soldier embraced ideological commitment to National Socialism and how, encouraged by Nazi propaganda, he was free to engage in virtually unlimited criminality if it was directed against the so-called enemies of the German people. Fritz, who teaches history at East Tennessee State, makes edifying comparisons between the Landser and his American, British and Russian counterparts. His book helps explain why the German army was so relentlessly efficient in battle.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

About the Author

Stephen Fritz is associate professor of history at East Tennessee State University and the author of numerous articles on modern German history. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From the Back Cover

Alois Dwenger, writing from the front in May 1942, complained that people forgot "the actions of simple soldiers.... I believe that true heroism lies in bearing this dreadful everyday life." In exploring the reality of the Landser, the average German soldier in World War II, through letters, diaries, memoirs, and oral histories, Stephen G. Fritz provides the definitive account of the everyday war of the German front soldier. The personal documents of these soldiers, most from the Russian front, where the majority of German infantrymen saw service, paint a richly textured portrait of the Landser that illustrates the complexity and paradox of his daily life. Although clinging to a self-image as a decent fellow, the German soldier nonetheless committed terrible crimes in the name of National Socialism. Idealistic and motivated by a desire to create a new society, he waged a cruel ideological war on behalf of a racist conception of national community. Though he was fiercely proud of his skill and resilience, his stubborn efforts ultimately led only to more senseless destruction. With chapters on training, images of combat, living conditions, combat stress, the personal sensations of war, the bonds of comradeship, and ideology and motivation, Fritz offers a sense of immediacy and intimacy, revealing war through the eyes of these self-styled "little men." In contrasting these German soldiers with their American counterparts, he makes clear how much soldiers everywhere have in common, but he also reveals differences in ideological intensity, group cohesiveness, ingenuity, discipline, and quality of equipment that will come as a surprise to many readers familiar with the history of World War II. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From the Publisher

Stephen G. Fritz, professor of history at East Tennessee State University, is the author of Ostkrieg: Hitler's War of Extermination in the East and Endkampf: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Death of the Third Reich. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Review

"Fritz does an impressive job of detailing what war was like for the average German soldier on the front lines in World War II."— Paper Wars"Drawn from letters, diaries and memoirs, this impressive study presents a rounded, detailed picture of the daily life of the Landser—the ordinary German infantryman of WWII—and takes an unblinking look at the stark realities of combat.... Helps explain why the German army was so relentlessly efficient in battle."— Publishers Weekly""A moving account of personal observations combined with a thoughtful commentary in which the author provides numerous insights into the combat environment.""— American Historical Review""So readable as to be difficult to put down.... Should prove enlightening to students of German as well as military history.""— Virginia Quarterly Review --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From Booklist

The experience of the British and American common soldier in World War II has been extensively studied. Not so, at least in English, that of his principal opponent, the German Landser (infantryman). Fritz draws on both published and unpublished material, little of it previously translated, to make up for the deficiency. The German soldier survived far more rigorous training than his Allied counterparts (which explains much of his superior proficiency), survived (on the eastern front, at least) indescribable conditions, and was more sympathetic to the objectives and attitudes of National Socialism than has been admitted previously. He also feared death and wounds, mourned comrades overtaken by them, yearned for home, and took a dim view of mud, lice, brutal NCOs, inept or martinet officers, and hostile artillery. In short, he was a soldier doing his duty; the tragedy is that he did it so well in such an abominable cause. Roland Green --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Review

"Helps explain why the German army was so relentlessly efficient in battle." -- Centro Internazionale Promozione Editoriale

"Fritz does an impressive job of detailing what war was like for the average German soldier on the front lines in World War II." -- Paper Wars

"Drawn from letters, diaries and memoirs, this impressive study presents a rounded, detailed picture of the daily life of the Landser -- the ordinary German infantryman of WWII -- and takes an unblinking look at the stark realities of combat." --Publishers Weekly

An excellent collection of first hand accounts. Deals mainly with the traumas of the Eastern Front, and does much to dispel the myths of German Soldiers as unwilling participants in this murderous clash of competing idealogies. Also notable is the intellectual depth of the average Landser. The literary skill with which they relay their experiences makes for interesting reading. The only criticism I have of the book is the poor editing evidenced by repetition of many of the quote passages. --David Kirk

I have read many books on world war 2. In most of them, you find military engagaments described on a map as advancing or retreating arrows, stylized squares representing units, dotted lines showing the front before and after, etc. Similarly, the text dwells on breakthroughs and advances, counterattacks, stubborn defence, retreat, new front established... This is the "view from above" of war, the aseptyc description of a chess game where we admire elegance of manouvre, brilliance, sometimes determination. But what about the sweat, the blood, the fear or the men who ultimately had to climb out of their foxholes and attack? What made them stand their ground for years in conditions that defy imagination? This book gives a fantastic insight in the "view from below", on what war really was at the individual level for the average german infantryman (elite formations are excluded). The book relies mostly on letters, diary entries and autobiographical novels, and in this sense it can look fragmented or even repetitive sometimes, as it occasionally repeats some quotes or relies on a necessarily limited number of sources. Still, the book is definitely worth reading. First, the choice of the subject is original and appropriate: the infantry represented the vast majority of the German armed forces, as opposed to the elite units (the armored divisions, the paras, the waffen SS) that have a received a disproportionate amount of attention. Second, the book does a great job at describing the daily experience of war for the german soldier, using abundantly sources like Guy Sajer's "Forgotten Soldier" and Willi Heinrich's "Cross of Iron" (two great reads as well), but goes beyond that. For example, in chapter 7 and 8, the author explores the role of comradership and ideology in motivating the german soldier to fight to the bitter end, dispelling the myth that the average infantryman was either a fighting automaton or an apolitical, passive recipient of orders. Some of the most interesting insights relate to the origin of the nationalistic idealism of the rank-and-file, the "socialist" successes of Nazism and how they were perverted to achieve a politically motivated, resilient fighting force. This is definitely something you do not read much about, not even in The Forgotten Soldier (I guess because Sajer, being Alsatian, had escaped indoctrination as a youth). Finally, the book is valuable because it is balanced, showing the ugly nature of war but also its intoxicating power, the infantryman's loneliness in front of death but also the strength of camaraderie, and the idealistic ethos of so many soldiers. --Danny Boy --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0078XFP98
Publisher ‏ : ‎ The University Press of Kentucky; 0 edition (June 19, 1997)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 19, 1997
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 678 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 312 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0813109434

Best Sellers Rank: #1,058,340 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #1,305 in History of Germany
- #4,489 in World War II History (Kindle Store)
- #5,003 in German History (Books)

Customer Reviews:
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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5

113 global ratings

5 star		64%
4 star		19%
3 star		11%
2 star		4%
1 star		3%

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Dudley Ristow

A look into the other side .....

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 17, 2022

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WW2 2 books on Allied soldiers fill library shelves so this was a rare and fascinating insight into the German "grunt" particularly fighting the '41-'45 conflict on the Eastern Front. Surviving that war of annihilation under the most horrific conditions was nothing short of a miracle. Recommend this book as an essential read for any WW2 fanatic.

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EndSieg

Good analysis of the Landsers' motivations in WWII

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 29, 2011

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In this partially successful work, Stephen Fritz (author of Endkampf: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Death of the Third Reich ) attempts to: 1) describe the common experiences of German soldiers at war, and 2) offer some explanations for the furious fighting by the average Landser in defense of the Nazi regime; through identifying common themes and patterns in letters, diaries, and memoirs from the front, especially the Russian front. Fritz is not the first to have studied the latter issue and his book should be read in combination with Omer Bartov's Hitler's Army: Soldiers, Nazis, and War in the Third Reich which he references and discusses in his notes. Wolfram Wette's The Wehrmacht: History, Myth, Reality would also be a good adjunct to chapter 8 ("trying to change the world") about racialism and anti-Semitism in the Wehrmacht. And of course Guy Sajer's The Forgotten Soldier which is quoted extensively.

Because of the multitude of external factors, experiences and emotions-during combat and during lulls in the fighting-described and analyzed by Fritz, it is difficult to summarize and critique his book in a short review. Still, most chapters are clear and well structured while some appeared to me confusing and without a clear organization (they could have been broken down into independent chapters devoted to only one of the various concepts). Some concepts such as the Nazification of much of the regular (non-SS) troops (still controversial and debated today), the affirmation of the Landser's existence from the feeling of camaraderie, and the importance of the Volksgemeinschaft ideal appear frequently throughout the book and become repetitive.

There are enough different aspects to this book that most should find some portions of it interesting but few will find the entire book interesting. For example I was not greatly interested in the description of the effects of rain, mud, snow, cold, heat, pests. What I found more interesting were:
-the interrelationship of paramilitary routines in the Hitlerjugend and in the Reichsarbeitdienst with the strict training in the Wehrmacht, which was a major contributor to the resilience of the Wehrmacht;
-the essential role of Kameradschaft in sustaining the Landser, even after the destruction of "primary groups" (see Bartov), and its reinforcement by the Wehrmacht borrowing from Nazi ideological values (camaraderie, sacrifice, loyalty, duty, endurance, courage, obedience);
-the development of the Frontgemeinschaft (community of the trenches), born in the trenches of WWI, and its precursor role to the envisaged Volksgemeinschaft (community of the people);
-the pervasiveness of the notion that Germany was under attack from a Jewish-Bolshevik conspiracy;
-the Juenger argument of transformation and redemption through war.

In summary, I liked most of the book and would recommend it, but only to those interested in trying to understand what motivated the Landser of WWII.

5 people found this helpful

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Flamecooler

The Frontsoldaten are not who you think.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 15, 2017

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I always attempt to write my reviews with at least the skill of the author whose book I am reviewing, but in this case I will certainly fail.

I am amazed at how well the author expresses the feelings of what goes on inside of the Stahlhelm of the Nazi soldier in the foxhole. He covers not only the physical training that soldiers are forced through, but also how susceptible they are to the flood of Nazi philosophy and to their personal loyalty to Hitler to whom they are bound by oath and faith. It's no exaggeration to say they idolized him, even when defeat was the only logical outcome of the war, all the way until March of 1945 when the SS took on the task of battle policing with the power of life or immediate execution if they perceived individual cowardice or desertion.

The policy of promoting company-level leaders and commanders from within was a clear strong point supporting the Wehrmacht's fighting ability. A squad leader, platoon leader, and company commander were all chosen because each was the strongest, smartest, and toughest man in the unit. As a leader he also had the job of supporting every man in his unit morally so well that each man was confident that he could depend on his commander for his life. This is, of course, an ideal fostered in any army, but in the Wehrmacht it is one of many characteristics that kept them fighting to the death. Not so in the Waffen-SS, however, who were despised by regular army troops for their physical softness, lack of training, and unit cohesion and whose leaders frequently were political appointees.

Anyone who studies the conduct and success of armies in any era will gain a wealth of new wisdom from reading this book. The only demerit I can think of is not satisfying my curiosity of the identification of the soldier on the cover of my paperback. He must have been a machine gunner, but his healthy teeth show that the bitter end was a long way off.

But the strongest weapon they had was the top-down fostering of comradeship with their buddies with whom they shared starvation, filth, and death of their commanders and fellows. Such comradeship was a characteristic of all armies, especially the Wehrmacht, because Hitler himself commanded it and fostered it as an integral part of his Nazi philosophy (I find it's not easy to write something praiseworthy about Hitler). The American Army had not yet learned this lesson for the lack of it among the General-grade ranks, especially as applied to replacement troops, penalized our fighting ability severely.

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Top reviews from other countries

DavyA

A vivid insight into the life of the Landser

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 30, 2009

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This is an informative read & gives a vivid snapshot of the trials & tribulations of the German soldier in the second world war.
The text is punctuated with quotes from letters, diaries & other first hand accounts of life in the German army.
This is not as powerful as Sajer's "The Forgotten Soldier" (which is quoted widely throughout) but then it is not a personal recollection, in the same way as Sajer's book is.
It's an interesting attempt to describe & analyse the lot of the German foot soldier.Looking at a variety of subjects including their motivations,their training, their perspectives on the war & their recollections of lost comrades.
I did find it interesting that the author chose to quote Heinrich's "Cross Of Iron" (what next Sven Hassel ?)
An interesting read, although, if you have read any first hand accounts, particularly, as I have already mentioned, that of Sajer, it may suffer in comparison.

One person found this helpful

Frank Risby

I'm Glad I Wasn't Born In Twenties Germany!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 10, 2013

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To say that I enjoyed reading this book would I think be wrong, however to read a book by an author such as Stephen Fitz
someone who must have painstakingly spent so much time researching his subject is quite a unique experience.
How any of those men suvived is amiracle.
Thank you Stephen Fitz for a memorable and thoroughly interesting book, I found it so difficult to put down and I shall now begin reding it all over again.

Carl F

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 27, 2017

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very happy with puchase!!

Flynn

Very good read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 15, 2017

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Good