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Title: Black Edelweiss: A Memoir of Combat and Conscience by a Soldier of the Waffen-SS by Johann Voss ISBN: 0-9666389-8-0 Publisher: The Aberjona Press Pub. Date: July, 2002 Format: Paperback List Price(USD): $19.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.92 (13 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Near the top in terms of German Memoirs
Comment: I have read several German memoirs - Soldat, The Forgotten Soldier, In Deadly Combat - plus several other studies of the Waffen SS, and I'd say this book ranks as good or better than any of those in terms of readability, insight, and thoughtfulness. Combat memoirs, whether American or German ("If You Survive" and "Company Commander" come to mind on the American side) can often become a series of descriptions of small unit battles that, while representing the thrust of the book, can be difficult to follow, or can have the perverse affect of stripping the humanity from the narrative. In the case of German memoirs, I have found as an English reader that the formal language in the translations can often compound that affect.
Regardless, the story in Black Edelweis, of a patriotic German who joins the Waffen SS late in the war, is outstanding at painting a picture of pre-war Germany through the eyes of the authors' family, the comradeship that held the German army, the horror as he discovers after the war the deeds of his countrymen in regard to The Holocaust, and the patriotism and pride that the author stills feels for his unit and the way he served. I would highly recommend it to students of the German side of World War II, and would recommend it as an outstanding introduction for history readers who have never read a German memoir to the genre. It is easy to read, enjoyable, and thought provoking.
Rating: 5
Summary: My Friend, the Author
Comment: A few years ago while touring our WWII battlefields in the Vosges Mountains of Eastern France with members of my 70th Infantry Division Association, my wife and I met the author. Since that first meeting we have had the opportunity to exchange both our recollections of and our thoughts during those dark days. At the US Military Cemetery in St. Avold I have stood next to the author as he placed flowers by our Association's memorial wreath. I have listened to his words as he shared his feelings with our group of veterans on tour in Saarbrucken, the large German city we captured in March 1945. I have felt the anguish in his mind as he described becoming aware of the horrors that the Nazis and some of his fellow Waffen SS comrades had committed in the concentration camps.
And the author has listened to my story of being ambushed and captured, then wounded by artillery shrapnel, and surviving a severed artery because a German soldier risked his life while carrying me unconscious to medical aid.
As I read the fascinating Black Edelweiss I found myself frequently comparing my situation as a 17 year old youth in rural Kansas with the author's thoughts and activities halfway around the world. Black Edelweiss has given me a new perspective on both the German military and the citizens of Germany during the early '40s.
I found once I started reading it was difficult to put the book aside.
Rating: 4
Summary: Yeah It's Good
Comment: Good book, parts of the book are enthralling and vivid. Overall not up to 5 stars, however.
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