Good WWII German military autobiographies?

[Brian G Turner]

I'm suddenly in the mood to read WWII autobiographies, preferably from German military personnel.

I think we have a few members who are into WWII military history - therefore, do you have any recommendations? Aside from Sven Hassel, of course.

 

[WaylanderToo]

try:

Stuka Pilot - Hans Ulrich Rudel. The guy was quite amazing if you see some of the stuff accomplished... however (there had to be one didn't there!) apparently he was an unrepentant Nazi til the very end (well after the war)

IIRC Hans Joachim Peiper and Otto Skorzeny also had bios, could be wrong there though

 

[Vladd67]

There is the diary of Wolfgang Hirschfeld, a radio operator aboard U 109. There is also this book
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01257PIPC/?tag=brite-21
It's good to see it has been picked up by a publisher, the copy I have was a self published edition that now goes for stupid money.

 

[WaylanderToo]

Heinz G Konsalik wrote some military novels (I know it's not quite what you're after) some of which come from his experiences as a war correspondent

 

[svalbard]

The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer. He was a grunt in the Gross Deutschland Division from 1942 to his capture in 1945. He was 16 when he joined up and an old man when the war end. It is a compelling read. I was once informed that the book was used by West Point as teaching tool in how men reacted in combat situations.

I generally give this one an annual read.

 

[svalbard]

You might also try The Unknown Soldier by Vaino Linna. It is an account of a Finnish battalion during WWII. Similar the Sajer's story it really gets into the mind of a soldier on the front line.

 

[EJ Heijnis]

Not German, but I really liked Japanese Destroyer Captain by Tameichi Hara. He contributed to most of the major engagements of the Pacific War, and offers a fascinating perspective on those events as he experienced them. He seems to have been a decent human being, as well.

 

[Foxbat]

Panzer Leader the memoirs of Heinz Guderian.

 

[Foxbat]

For a different perspective, you could try Until The Final Hour by Traudl Junge (Hitlers last secretary).

 

[Cayleb]

I would recommend "Lost Victories", the autobiography of Field Marshall Erich von Manstein who saw action in a variety of senior positions until March 1944 when he was sacked by Hitler and spent the rest of the war in retirement.

Then there is "The First and the Last", the autobiography of General Adolf Galland, one of Germany's leading fighter pilots.

Field Marshall Erwin Rommel did not write an autobiography but "Knight's Cross", David Fraser's biography of him is well worth reading.

From lower down the totem pole you might look at the autobiographies of two Luftwaffe fighter pilots: "I Flew for the Fuhrer" by Heinz Knoke and "Betrayed Ideals" by Hans Ekkard Bob, the latter dying only two years ago.

 

[Nerds_feather]

Not military, but the Albert Speer one is a must-read.

 

[MWagner]

Speer is a must-read if you want an insight into a brilliant schemer who tailored the perfect mea culpa to make himself into a character the post-war victors were eager to see: the decent German who was led astray by Hitler. I'd caution against his memoirs unless you're prepared to read Albert Speer: His Struggle with Truth in order to expose Speer's self-serving lies. No doubt there were many decent Germans who went along with Hitler's regime out of a sense of duty to their countrymen. Speer wasn't one of them, and neither was Traudl Junge, who played the same role of the penitent Good German. If you want to find Germans who truly fit that role, the inner circle of the Nazi Party is the wrong place to look. Speer and Junge were both ardent and ambitious Nazis, who pressed their way eagerly through the circles of fanatics and sycophants into Hitler's closest confidence. The notable flaw of the otherwise brilliant movie Downfall was presenting these two as sympathetic characters caught up in a nightmare. There were millions of decent Germans caught up in a nightmare in 1945, but none of them were to be found in Hitler's bunker.

 

[Venusian Broon]

One that I've had my eye on, but not the cash to supply me with the needs to purchase it (sadly a common feature of my burgeoning wish list)...

Lost Victories: The War Memoirs of Hitler's Most Brilliant General by Erich Manstein.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Just finished Guy Sajer's The Forgotten Soldier - an exceptional read. Far more detailed and personal than anything I've read so far. The one criticism is that it is clearly a novelization, which on the plus side means it is very well written, but on the negative never explains how someone who claims to know little German could record so many German conversations, commands, and orders.

 

[reiver33]

I’d add my recommendation of ‘Lost Victories’. It provides an interesting insight into Hitler’s psychology when under stress; despite his ‘indomitable will’ he hated responding to the enemy agenda and would procrastinate, side-track arguments, and basically refuse to confront evidence of failure, especially if his actions were to blame. How the German military managed to function at all, at the highest level, is a miracle.

 

[Vladd67]

If you can get hold of a copy I suggest Goodbye Transylvania. It’s the story of a Romanian of German extraction who had to flee the country so he could join the German army rather than the Romanian one. He ended up in the Waffen SS, moved to England after the war and wrote this book whilst doing a creative writing course after he retired. Actually having looked on Amazon I see this book is now widely available.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01257PIPC/?tag=brite-21
Oops looks like I recommended this back in 2015.

 

[svalbard]

Just finished Guy Sajer's The Forgotten Soldier - an exceptional read. Far more detailed and personal than anything I've read so far. The one criticism is that it is clearly a novelization, which on the plus side means it is very well written, but on the negative never explains how someone who claims to know little German could record so many German conversations, commands, and orders.

Here is a link that explores the authenticity of The Forgotten Soldier. Well worth a read.

The Forgotten Soldier

 

[Brian G Turner]

Here is a link that explores the authenticity of The Forgotten Soldier.

I read something like that before, which had put me off reading The Forgotten Soldier - which is a shame because it's the most powerful account I've read so far.

The main criticisms do seem petty and unfair - less about the existence of details as much as the precision by which they are described.

Even still, I did wonder at times if there was some Sven Hassel influence - am I the only one who thought Hals=Tiny, and the veteran=the Old Man?

 

[svalbard]

That did cross my mind when I read it. I put the veteran/old man down to that there must have been someone like that in all units. For 16 year old Guy Sajer a grizzled veteran of 30 would have being a very old man!

There was another character in the book that reminded me of the NAZI diehard in the Hassel books. Cannot remember either of their names.

The telling thing for me from the link is that Sajer never claimed any great heroics for himself in the memoir. That struck me as quite authentic.

 

[Brian G Turner]

IMO there's too much detail for it to be dismissed. Even though he described the wrist cuff on the wrong arm, the fact that he knew to mention it at all is something.