While unquestionably the most complete history of Kurt Meyer’s war experiences we’ll ever get, one wishes the book had an extra chapter or two. Covering from the Polish invasion on 1 Sep 39 until Meyer’s release from prison on 7 Sep 54, certainly the most critical periods of his life are included but there is a before and after story that would make fascinating reading but such will never be. What we have, though, is certainly worth a look.
Weighing in at over 400 pages including a nice index, Grenadiers was written by Meyer immediately after his release from prison. He had an agenda for writing it and it was more than just money. While WW2 veterans of the Wehrmacht were granted pensions, members of the Waffen-SS weren’t and Meyer became the spokesman for the Hilfsgemeinschaft auf Gegenseitigkeit der Angehörigen der ehemaligen Waffen-SS (HIAG), an organization of former W-SS members whose goal was to rehabilitate the reputation of the Waffen-SS. "Grenadiers" was part of that effort. Readers of this book will take away that the Waffen-SS fought at the front lines just like other soldiers and that although they were part of the SS, they were soldiers, nothing more or less – unless possibly being elite – and had nothing to do with concentration camps or with other atrocities. If events didn’t fit into this purpose, they weren’t in the book.
Grenadiers start with the invasion of Poland and it’s a “You are there!” type of story. Either Meyer is a gifted writer or there is an uncredited ghost writer because the book is vividly written, totally engaging, and with a style most writers would only hope to emulate. And as far as “been there, done that”, it would be tough to find anyone who was at the front lines (or sometimes beyond them) than Meyer – Poland, Netherlands, France, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, 18 months/125 pages in Russia, and then to France and Normandy/Falaise. Perhaps he had access to combat diaries, maybe he had a phenomenal memory, or perhaps things are just burned into your brain when people are shooting at you but his level of detail is nothing short of amazing. Specific crossroads, who went what direction when, what his thoughts were as he assessed a particular situation, and specifics of casualties are just some of the details one can expect time and time again. I have no particular reason to doubt the accuracy of his story; it just surprised me that it could be so vivid that much later in his life but then, that he survived at all is quite amazing given that he lost 7 drivers during the war. The following is not in the book but from a Canadian document from one of his post-war Canadian interrogators and echoes my sentiments concerning his combat memory, “On military matters, his mind was crystal clear, and once having oriented himself on the map he was able to go through the campaign phase by phase giving strengths, boundaries, tasks, with consummate ease.”
Given that he kept receiving higher levels of command, his perspective on the battles changed over time. He started as a tank destroyer unit commander in the Polish invasion while at Normandy, he assumed command of the 12th SS-Panzer Division on the death of its commander. The reader sees the different perspectives of command as he moves up the totem pole. In all cases it’s illuminating and engrossing. One sees the tone of the book change after the Stalingrad loss with the strictly offensive phase ending and defensive operations becoming the order of the day. After one last victory in Russia, he’s off to Normandy. His descriptions of the battles there, the utter chaos that naval artillery and tac air caused, give the feeling of utter hopelessness yet the effectiveness of his unit is corroborated by the Official History of the Canadian Army in the Second World War which is available on-line. He covers more than just his actions; he provides his impressions of opposing forces throughout the book. In the Normandy phase, he is unrelentingly critical of Canadian commanders not using their initiative to overwhelm his forces though there could be an element of sour grapes here as it was the Canadians who conducted his war trial and sentenced him. He’s also very critical of German command not conducting counterattacks before the beachhead was firmly established though his criticism is leveled at the Wehrmacht and OKW, not at either Waffen-SS commanders or Hitler. Regardless, this section is riveting reading and certainly presents a picture that Normandy and Falaise were certainly places where death came quickly on the German side. And then he was captured.
Kurt's view of his trial is of someone who was wrongly accused, then wrongly convicted. He denies ever giving orders to take no prisoners but undermines his own story a bit by earlier, in Normandy, several times mentioning finding Canadian orders that said the same thing. Why bring up something like this if nothing bad happened on his watch? Personally, I found it odd that soldiers would walk around with orders or notes that said, “Take no prisoners”, as that flies in the face of “Survival, 101.” We’re presented his view of the proceedings and no official documents are included. He definitely viewed the proceedings as a kangaroo court with his guilt pre-ordained. If his descriptions are somewhat accurate, the evidence certainly wouldn’t have stood up in a US court of law. Using his descriptions, one of the key items against him was a document signed by a deserter and murderer of a German officer. As he states, “The ‘proof’ was a photo copy of an English translation based on the Flemish transcription of a German-Czech oral statement.” The witness was “not available” and could not be found for the trial so only this document was introduced as evidence. Other evidence is discussed and one gets Meyer’s views on it. So is the reader left in the lurch as to whether he committed the Canadian atrocities? I’d say, “No”, at least from a current legal standpoint for these particular incidents; unlike, say, Anton Dostler, he didn't directly order any executions and it's unclear how much he knew or could know concerning what troops under him were doing this hectic period unless he happened to be right there in person to witness it. In his own words, “Humans, not angels, fought on both sides.” His position appears to be, “I did nothing worse than the other side.” This doesn't mean that he didn't know a lot of non-Geneva Convention activities didn't take place on his side of the battle. In the Normandy section, he spends pages describing Canadian excesses against SS troops which, if true, would certainly constitute war crimes. Why document these if only the Canadians committed crimes? Then there are some additional statements he makes. Twice in Russia he brings up Soviet atrocities. On the first occasion, he mentions coming across murdered German soldiers outside Rowno and includes a picture. He states it as a fact, how his troops looked at him, and then we’re on to the next battle with no further discussion. Later he discusses coming across tortured and maimed German soldiers. Again, it’s discussed and then on to the next battle. After reading this book, you begin to understand Meyer a bit and it really strains credulity that he would take this sitting down. If one does some web research, there are certainly indicators he didn’t as he had more than a couple of atrocities laid at his feet, the first occurring as early as Oct ‘39 in Poland. Considering he had just been released from prison and the war wasn’t that long in the past, it’s certainly understandable he wouldn’t want to document any reprisals. It wouldn’t fit into his attempt to rehabilitate the reputation of the W-SS plus it might invite some prison time. The point is one needs to read between the lines a bit.
Sprinkled throughout the book are interesting Meyer perspectives which seem odd today but obviously not to him. After the invasion of Poland he indicates, “… we heard that the Allies had rudely rejected Adolf Hitler’s peace offer at the beginning of October.” That he would think they might accept peace after just invading and taking over a friendly ally shows his viewpoint is far different from those in the West. Later, in Normandy, he mentions how the allies “absurdly” wish unconditional surrender. Again, he appears to be living in an alternate universe. And then we get to the items that aren’t in the book but one wishes were. Nothing is said about Meyer prior to Poland. Thus we lose out in understanding how Meyer became the extraordinary combat leader he was. Was it some sort of Waffen-SS training or did he just have it built into his DNA? Was the combat fanaticism of his soldiers because they were Nazis or because of their training? Again, no insights. Outside reading indicates Meyer himself joined the Nazi party in 1930, the SS in 1931, a date before the Waffen-SS so it certainly can be inferred he was a pretty dedicated Nazi. In the book, there is no direct criticism of Hitler, only some laments such as “the calamity of Stalingrad” but nothing to lay it at Hitler’s feet. The military high command catches the criticism for not counter-attacking before the Normandy beachhead was secured, not Hitler for refusing to release the divisions. There is no criticism of any Waffen-SS unit but certainly the same can’t be said for Heer units. Even his sobriquet, “Panzer” Meyer is left to the imagination and most people, me included until I did some additional reading, assume it was related to his wartime experiences. In fact, he was given this nickname before he even joined the SS when, during a prank at the police academy at Schwerin, he fell off the 2nd story of a building and though he broke 20 bones and was expected to die, recovered completely thus gaining him the title of “tank” for his indestructibility; his wartime nickname was “Der schnelle Meyer”, gained in Operation Barbarossa. The other part that is missing is any of his actions after release from prison. Some of his speeches for the HIAG were barely short of ludicrous in their assertions (“SS troops committed no crimes, except the massacre at Oradour” yet any reading of Oskar Dirlewanger’s war activities would put lie to that claim) but all that is said in the book is a brief comment, “But crimes did happen. It is irrelevant to discuss the number of victims.” Not much of a confession for the thousands of innocents who did die at the hands of the Waffen-SS.
In summary, this is a fascinating volume. It lost a star primarily because it doesn’t include the front end story but also because it doesn’t provide insight into his post-war activities. You really understand Meyer only based on his actions but quickly see why he was legendary even among the toughest soldiers. It is a well written volume, contains a handy chart at the end to understand SS rank structure, a very decent index, and is a worthy addition to the WW2 shelf on one’s library. Besides recommending the book, I’d recommend outside reading to fill in some of the details about Meyer that the book glosses over or just doesn’t cover at all. He’s not a complex person but there’s a bit more to him than the book covers.
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