In Deadly Combat: A German Soldier's Memoir of the Eastern FrontUniversity Press of Kansas, 2000 - 330 páginas Firsthand perspectives of German WWII infantrymen are rare, as respected historian Dennis Showalter (Tannenberg: Clash of Empires) points out in his excellent introduction. Bidermann, who is an 18-year-old private in the 132d Infantry Division at the beginning of this memoir, takes us through the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, passage across the Dnieper and southern steppes, battles in the Crimea, engagements in northern Russia and retreat through Riga to the Baltic. He retrospectively reviews historical records and sketches the daily happenings and ambience of his unit in a matter-of-fact and unpretentious -- yet invariably proud -- tone. The translation is direct and generally graceful, sometimes lyrical. Retired Navy SEAL Zumbro, who has translated German accounts for the Eisenhower Center of the University of New Orleans, has translated and expanded Bidermann's 1964 private German publication, utilizing the same preserved documents and retrospective interviews from other members of the 132d. Before war's end, the unit was cut off in Courland, though Bidermann claims it was "never defeated in open battle". After surrender in 1945, the remnants of the division were held in extended captivity. The Wehrmacht subculture, which Bidermann describes but does not connect back to the Reich's atrocities, was compulsively "professional", with loyalty to fellows its all-consuming central ethic. This ethic seemingly sustained these soldiers through continual dire peril of body and soul. Some did survive. |
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In Deadly Combat: A German Soldier's Memoir of the Eastern Front Gottlob Herbert Bidermann Vista previa limitada - 2000 |
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132d Infantry Division aircraft ammunition armored Army Group Army Group Courland Army Group North artillery batteries artillery fire assault assigned attack attempted barrage battalion batteries battle began Bidermann bunker burst camp captured casualties column combat commander counterattack Courland Crimea darkness dead defenses Despite destroyed Dnieper earth east Eastern Front enemy forces engagements evacuation explosions feldwebel Feodosia field fighting flank forest fortress forward Gefreiter Grenadier Regiment 437 ground gun crew halt hand grenades headquarters heavy helmets hundred meters Infantry Regiment 437 Kertsch kilometers Lake Ladoga landsers Leutnant located Luftwaffe machine gun marched Maxim Gorki morning mortar night Oberst observed officer opened fire penetrated platoon positions prisoners quickly ranks rear received Red Army reinforced remained rifle road Russian sector Sevastopol shell shelter-quarters smoke soldiers submachine gun supply tank terrain tion trenches troops units vehicle village weapons Wehrmacht wounded