The Eastern Front: Memoirs of a Waffen SS Volunteer, 1941–1945 Kindle Edition

First let me start with a negative, that hardly ever happens on a five star rating. Degrelle must have one of the world's best memories as he goes into very specific detail of skirmishes and battles that occurred over several years. I can't believe anyone could remember such minute daily activities. There must be some writer's prerogative in his work. OK. No big deal.Now for the positive parts. First, the Eastern Front was so bloody that after reading Degrelle you wonder that anyone was left. For example, Degrelle notes his mixed feelings at first seeing a young, dead female Russian soldier. He writes too about the large numbers of Asiatic soldiers. Some detail is fascinating including his description of Romanians using large amounts of ammunition with limited success and their habit of killing Russian prisoners. It seems that once the Russians learned of this the surrender rate declined precipitously.Now aside from interesting tidbits (he was fascinated too by the primative living conditions of the Russians), the main point he makes is that he wasn't fighting necessarily for Nazi Germany but rather against Soviet Communism and his wish to protect Europe from this menace. He mentions it time after time. That's the main point of the book.At the book's end I was sorry to read about Allied aerial attacks against civilians. The idea of fighter planes strafing refugees is incomprehensible. I was also struck at the attitude of say the Danes and the Norwegians against the Germans. Both countries were little affected by the war but at war's end the civilian populations of these countries actions towards the Germans was brutal, this after thousands of their citizens had volunteered to fight the communists.I usually comment on paper quality and print size and here both are good. It makes reading a little easier for those of us with trifocals. A very interesting read with good insights. . .especially noting why Degrelle and other Europeans joined the German military. One final thing. His description of supply and logistics especially in rugged country is excellent.

Detailed though exaggerated account of Léon Degrelle's adventures. Language and style is a bit old fashioned, of course, but that does not dilute the story, which is unbelievable, heroic, creepy and fascinating.Sometimes the reader can’t stop thinking Degrelle cuts corners and exaggerates to make his point and incidents even more interesting and colorful. That is, he is something like John Rambo and Baron Munchausen combined.

This is an amazing account of what it was really like to be a European soldier (and a volunteer at that) fighting against Soviet Russia. While I often got lost on the technical details, I found myself really moved by Degrelle's passion to save Europe from the horrors of communism.There are so many moments in the book where I really felt like I was right there in the middle of the battle. Degrelle is not shy about describing some of the terrible things he heard and saw in this insane war: ie, horses getting blown up into the air by bombs; sludging through mud nearly up to your waist for hours at a time; fighting for days on end without any sleep; walking over so many dead and blown up bodies that one nearly slips on random body parts; etc.Degrelle's descriptions of the ways in which the Soviets often treated captured soldiers was quite disturbing - although I am grateful that he did in fact take the time to explain (and thus inform the rest of us - something that I have found mainstream sources of history often fail to do). I am referring to incidents in which Soviets would beat and torture their prisoners, crucify them alive, cut off their reproductive organs and stuff them into their mouths, and so on. This is just a brief glimpse into the book and I do apologize for the crudeness of such subject matter. But unfortunately these things did happen, and Degrelle deserves credit for making a record of his experiences, so that the world can know what happened.Sickening to think that the US was giving material aid to the Soviets at the time.All in all, this is a very informative book.

It seems the majority of war memoirs that are given the public spotlight are those of soldiers who were part of the Allied Powers. A great deal of people have little to no conception of the experiences of the opposing side. A side comprised of millions of soldiers who were subjected to the most intense battles, skirmishes, and firefights of the entire Second World War.‘The Eastern Front’ gives a rare insight into the eyes of an often overlooked yet significant part of the Axis cause - the foreign legionaries. Leon Degrelle, a Belgian fascist of Walloon decent is one of these soldiers. The beginning of the book details his life just before the breakout of the Second World War with a young Degrelle at the forefront of fascist politics in Belgium known as “Rexism”. The story quickly delves into the circumstances of the German invasion of his country with his perspective of the occupation thereafter and how it opened up profound opportunities for the Belgian fascist, energetically collaborating with his occupier.The majority of the book thereafter centers around his experiences as a foreign legionnaire of the Waffen-SS and his account of the many, incredibly intense battles him and his legion engaged in on the Eastern Front. The reader will find themselves deeply engaged in the story as Degrelle details his crusade against the Red Menace throughout the 5 years of battle in service to the German fatherland with chapter upon chapter of unbelievable stories that make one question how the man even survived.I recommend this book to those seeking one hell of a war story of the Second World War from a very unique, often ignored perspective.

No dislikes - keeps ones attention at all times . I recommend this book for individuals who are in depth historians.

This is my 2nd review of this book as the 1st review was not allowed due to 'hate speech' by myself.So I shall not use the word again which I used previously to describe the political party of which Leon Degrelle was a proud member, you know? That political party, the one started by Hitler et ali n the 1930s and called the Natzionalsozialistiche Deutscher Arbeiterpartei.The National Soccialistic German Workers Party, which is usually shortened to a single and very well known four letter acronym that apparently we can not use on Amazon.This is no different in this context to saying a labour member or a conservative member, it is simply the name of the political party they belonged to and obviously not an insult to a traffic warden.Context folks, its all in the context.Rant over.This is a fantastic book for anyone with an interest in WW2 and particularly the Schutz Staffel or SS of which Degrelle was a proud and unapologetic member.This is what makes this book so very interesting, I have over 100 of these first hand accounts written by members of the SS and they usually have a very common theme, a deep guilt.Very few such authors admit to many of the known SS attrocities, it is usually " I didn't personally do anything' or 'I took no part in it' or I didn't actually know anything about it' which may be true in some cases, lets be honest, they were just people after all, some people are bad and some good and not every member of the near one million men that served in the SS could have been evil.I do not deny or in any way support the actions of the SS. I know the worst war crimes committed by Germany during WW2 were at the hands of the SS, Das Reich and Oradour sur Glane, Leibstandarte and Wormhout or the infamous Totenkopf and their death camps but when nearly every book is by an *innocent' member of the SS it does make you wonder.Some do feel true guilt just through association but Degrelle went to his grave totally guilt free.Leon Degrelle makes no apologies, he was a proud member of the SS and that un-nameable party despite being Belgian and was actually a volunteer!He rose rapidly through the ranks due to his methods and even attracted the attention of the fuhrer himself who became quite enamoured with Degrelle even though Degrelle was not even German, yet he perfectly fit Hitlers ideal of the Ayrian ubermensch that would run his empire.To many this book will be a very uncomfortable read due to the way Degrelle describes his time in the SS, he saw no wrong in anything he did, a difficult mindset to understand in 2023 as it is utterly unlike anything in modern times excepting some far right white supremacist groups whos views no sane person cares about anyway.I am and have been a military history buff for over 30 years and the Germans and particularly the SS have always piqued that interest.To others such as myself this book is fascinating, to others it may seem more like a hate filled manifesto to that un-nameable party.Full of interesting photos taken by Degrelle and many press photos of him with other big names from that party such as Hitler himself.A highly recommended book on a very dark subject.Fingers crossed this review is not rejected too.

Comprate questo libro del generale Degrelle ricco di particolari sulla vita e la guerra dei combattenti europei sul fronte orientale dal 1941 al 1945. La vita dei locali, quella dei combattenti, il paesaggio ed il clima vengono descritti minuziosamente. Consigliato.

The victor writes the history. Well this book is an account from the other side, the SS side in WW2.Few will agree with the ideology but no-one can argue with the story of heroes who died for a cause they embraced to their last breath.This memoir is also uplifting and beautifully written.It's a heroes story and well worth reading.I will never forget it.

First hand account of life on the Eastern Front, fast paced and very brutal, although written with some romantic idealism. I think a few maps would have helped the detailed combat narrative but this is a fascinating read, written by a soldier dedicated to his cause. "The Eastern Front: Memoirs of a Waffen SS Volunteer, 1941–1945" should be essential reading for anyone with an interest in the German-Soviet Union conflict of WWII.