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Title: Forgotten Soldier : The Classic WWII Autobiography (Brassey's Commemorative Series WWII) by Guy Sajer ISBN: 0-08-037437-9 Publisher: Brasseys Pub. Date: 01 April, 1990 Format: Paperback List Price(USD): $19.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.81 (155 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: No author has ever described the horrors of warfare as Sajer
Comment: I as a German born was deeply moved by the suffering of the the average German infantryman(Landser) in World War II. Sajer describes in detail the comradeship and bonding of the supply units he started out in, and then in the fighting units at the end of the war. How the German could ever survive to fight the Russian with the cold, lack of food and clothes, shortages of weapons and ammunition and the total indifference from the German High Command and political leadership is beyond me. The eastern lands, partisans, and the Russian soldiers were so hard and totally indifferent to the suffering and losses imposed on them by the Germans. However, after reading this book several times and with the knowledge I have on the German Wehrmacht, and my own family history in World War II, I firmly feel that the Germans could have beaten the Russians if they had not succumbed to this same feeling. Germans are city dwellers and do not adapt to the artic or steppe cold that well and this comes across as another theme in Sajer's book. If the German leadership had paid more attention to the supply and general welfare of its soldiers, the outcome would probably have been different. This attitude contributed mightly to the large losses experienced by the Wehrmacht and limited its operational effectiveness on all fronts. This clearly comes across in Sajer's narrative. And yet despite all of the problems encountered by Sajer and his cohorts, on a tactical level they did extremly well in both survival and fighting the Russians. After reading this book, I realized even further why Germany lossed on the Eastern front, especially strategically, since they won so many tactical engagements. This book is a masterpeice on the average German fighting man who was neither SS or a Nazi, but fought out of duty, loyalty to family or fear of punishment. Sajer points out the fear factor of the enlisted men from the noncoms and officers, and how this motivated them, but probably also limted individual decision making. They de! serve our respect as soldiers for a flawed cause. Sajer's book further points to one of the key successes of the German infantryman on the Eastern front: unit cohesion that allowed the soldiers to survive and hopefully live another hour, day, week or month by supporting each other. It is a good thing than American mititary leadership pays such close attention to supplies, medical needs, and logistics, because that is what wins wars.
Rating: 5
Summary: The best personal memoir of WWII
Comment: I also first read this book several years ago and still pick it up from time to time to read passages I have marked which are particularly vivid. What the other reviewers have not mentioned is that the English version is actually a spectacular translation of the French original. Sajer was a citizen soldier, fought the war, but suffered the additional indignity of being on the losing side. Sajer writes his story in chronological order, only stepping outside the times twice to discuss the nature of war from hindsight. In one of these short essay-like passages he admonishes even the reader: "Too many people learn about war with no inconvenience to themselves. They read about Verdun or Stalingrad without comprehension, sitting in a comfortable armchair, with their feet beside the fire, preparing to go about their business the next day, as usual. One should really read such accounts under compulsion, in discomfort, considering oneself fortunate not to be describing the events in a letter home, writing from a hole in the mud. One should read about war in the worst circumstances, when everything is going badly, remembering the torments of peace are trivial..." In sum, this book is an amazingly perfect piece of writing.
Rating: 5
Summary: Makes you think
Comment: I've just finished the book & the 150 reviews on this cite. Without going into details about the book (true v. fiction, or pro v. anti nazi), the book made me (and apparently 150 other reviewers) think. With so much fluff bombarding our literary, educational & entertainment senses, why wouldn't you read a book that makes you sit back and think. It was both the fastest read (I too, couldn't put it down) & the slowest as I reread passages over & over again. I've just ordered every used copy I could find to hand out to my friends.
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Title: In Deadly Combat: A German Soldier's Memoir of the Eastern Front by Gottlob Herbert Bidermann, Derek S. Zumbro, Dennis Showalter ISBN: 0700611223 Publisher: University Press of Kansas Pub. Date: 01 September, 2001 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: Soldat: Reflections of a German Soldier, 1936-1949 by Ted Brusaw ISBN: 0440215269 Publisher: Dell Publishing Company Pub. Date: 01 September, 1993 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Black Edelweiss: A Memoir of Combat and Conscience by a Soldier of the Waffen-SS by Johann Voss ISBN: 0966638980 Publisher: Aegis Consulting Group Pub. Date: July, 2002 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Tigers in the Mud: The Combat Career of German Panzer Commander Otto Carius by Otto Carius, Robert J. Edwards ISBN: 0811729117 Publisher: Stackpole Books Pub. Date: 01 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Panzer Commander: The Memoirs of Colonel Hans Von Luck by Hans Von Luck ISBN: 0440208025 Publisher: Dell Publishing Company Pub. Date: 01 January, 1991 List Price(USD): $7.50 |
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