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GoldLyrics.com - IN THE FIRE OF THE EASTERN FRONT: The Experiences of a Dutch Waffen-SS Volunteer on the Eastern Front 1941-45 (Bluejacket Books)
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List Price: $49.95
Our Price: $36.46
Your Save: $ 13.49 ( 27% )
Availability: Usually ships in 2 to 4 weeks
Manufacturer: Helion and Company Ltd
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 355
EAN: 9781906033224
ISBN: 1906033226
Label: Helion and Company Ltd
Manufacturer: Helion and Company Ltd
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 288
Publication Date: 2008-11
Publisher: Helion and Company Ltd
Studio: Helion and Company Ltd
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Editorial Reviews:
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Dutch SS accounts are very rare, particularly ones such as this, covering recruitment, training, and front-line service first with 5th SS Panzer Division 'Wiking', then later with SS Regiment Besslein. He not only informs and illustrates the general politics of the time, but also explains how Dutch views of the Third Reich changed so radically, discusses the founding of the Waffen-SS, the recruitment of Dutch volunteers into it and why so many non-German Europeans volunteered to fight and risk their lives for Germany. His discussion of the intensity of the SS's training is also noteworthy. Of course, the core of the book lies in Hendrik's recollections of his service on the Eastern Front between 1941 and 1945, initially with the 5th SS Panzer Division 'Wiking'. He offers the reader an impressive and fluid account, whether it be describing the midst of battle, surviving 50 degrees below zero, frosts and frozen ground, or traversing quagmired roads. Of particular historical interest are his later recollections of service during 1944-45 with SS Regiment Besslein on the Eastern Front, focusing on his participation in the epic defense of Breslau - this siege remains little-known in the West, and first-hand accounts such as Hendrik's are even scarcer, making this title a worthy addition to the literature on the Second World War.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: An interesting perspective
Comment: Verton was a Dutch Waffen SS voluteer. His story is laced with many explanations and justifications for his decision to join the Waffen SS and later settle in post-war Germany; these do not detract too much from the story and perhaps help readers who are not famililar with the motivations of non-German Waffen SS voluteers. The retribution his family suffered due to his and his brother's service for Germany was a new insight for this reader. Overall, a good read and recommended for persons interested in first person stories of the Eastern Front.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Miraculous survival and literary snapshots of the times
Comment: What made this book stand out was the author's un-apologetic reasons for a Dutchman voluntarily serving in the German Military. Although he does not give due blame and responibility for the mass murders of the Nazi's (he does describe some of the atrocities of the Communists), the author does give a good and clear account of the fighting he was in and the defense of Breslau, Germany which was never taken in battle before the fall of Germany. This was an interesting account in particular as it is a fairly unheralded battle and the author was a witness. His defense of the SS and German military is valid for the reasons he accepted as an indoctrinated idealistic young man. -Just as the reasons for fighting for their cause were equally as valid for the typical US or Soviet soldier. Government leaders so typically manipulate the patriotic juices of their citizens in order to get them to support whatever war happens to be the current cause, whether it is fighting the "Red Menace", "Evil Nazi's", "Stopping Communism", "The Taliban". Wars are a profitable tool of the Controllers and every nation has lost too many fine sons for the temporary control of real estate in the name of their Cause.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A welcome and recommended addition
Comment: "In The Fire Of The Eastern Front: The Experiences Of A Dutch Waffen-SS Volunteer On The Easter Front 1941-45" is the personal memoir of Hendrick C. Verton and reveals a perspective on the battlefields of World War II that is not often encountered by an American readership. Verton includes his recruitment, training, and frontline service experiences as he saw service with the 5th SS Panzer Division 'Wiking" and then later with the SS Regiment Besslein. Verton touches upon the general politics of the day and explains how Dutch views of the Third Reich changed radically over the years of the war. Verton also covers that founding of the Waffen-SS, the recruiting of Dutch volunteers like himself, and why many non-German European volunteered to fight and imperil their lives for Germany and Adolph Hitler. Verton's stories of fighting in pitch battles, surviving 50 degree blow zero weather, transporting men and equipment over terrain that would range from quagmires to frozen ground is as compelling as it is informative. Exceptionally well written and impressively candid, "In The Fire Of The Eastern Front" is a welcome and recommended addition to the growing library of World War II military memoirs and autobiographies.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent coverage of Siege of Breslau 1945
Comment: This is a very interesting book. The author manages to cover a lot of interesting ground, which is not usually written about in other German World War II memoirs. In particular, his perspective as a Dutch volunteer is written about at length. The prewar conditions in the Netherlands that the author views as responsible for the early years of World War II seeing so many of his fellow countrymen volunteer for service at the front with the Germans are explained in detail (even if one may not always agree with his political opinions).
Likewise, the way the early volunteers joined the SS, their induction and training is also explained at some length.
If you are looking for combat experiences, then the fact that the author served in the East in Silesia during 1945 easily justify buying this book. His account of service in a Kampfgruppe in besieged Breslau with SS Regiment Besslein is very good indeed. There is plenty of detail, particularly as these events are little known in the English-speaking world, and even less written about.
This title is well worth buying because of the different perspective it offers, and particularly for its excellent coverage of some aspects of the final months of the war on the Eastern Front which receive very little coverage elsewhere.
Customer Rating:
Summary: not for the casually interested
Comment: In a nutshell: In the Fire of the Eastern Front left me with mixed feelings. On the one hand as the publisher's blurb suggests WWII memoirs of Dutch Waffen-SS volunteers are very rare and this makes this book interesting and worth having in it's own right. On the other hand for me it did not deliver on all points. Foremost is the fact that from a purely military-history point of view the descriptions of the frontline experiences are a lot less detailed than one could hope for. For instance there is little specific technical information relating to (the use of) small-arms in combat nor much about tactics, little unit or order of battle information and the author surprisingly rarely mentions specific comrades or unit commanders. The time the author Hendrik Verton spent in the ranks of the Wiking division (in fact with a detached sub- or ad hoc unit of said division) was limited to the winter of 1941-1942 and spring of '42 on the central part of the front. Verton then fell ill with typhoid fever and was transported back to Germany. The period from the summer of 1942 to the summer of 1944 is covered in only a few pages; after recuperating from his illness the author took part in a couple of training courses. The action only picks up again in the second half of 1944 when Verton is posted to a Kampfgruppe in East Prussia and afterwards to SS (fortress) regiment Besslein in Silesia (an area of Eastern Germany which is now part of Poland). Unclear remains why Verton never returned to the Wiking division. The Silesian and Breslau siege part of the book I found to be the most interesting. Breslau held out till after the fall of Berlin and it is an epic episode in the closing stages of the Russo-German war which is not well known outside of Germany. Verton's experiences during the siege are well worth the read. The fairly extensive post-war part of the book is fairly interesting but one could secretly wish more of these pages had been spent on his actual front-line experiences.
Completely superfluous however to all but the complete WWII novice are the many pages relating the general course of the war. Who for example wants to read some digression about the Battle of Britain in an Eastern Front memoir? Having read about two dozen German veteran memoirs it still amazes me why some editors do not make their authors stick to what they personally experienced, with say only the broadest outlines of the bigger picture of the front where the author served to put things in perspective.
Unsurprising but perhaps for some after a while annoying are the many `apologist' statements in the book. They do not detract from the substance of this memoir and of course the author is free to expound his views on whether WWII was really such a clear-cut showdown between pure good and pure evil. Interesting in this light is the recent book on WWII in Europe by Norman Davies. However Verton is not an historian and while he repeatedly accuses Western opinion of being unfairly biased towards Germany in general and to the Waffen-SS in particular the author then resorts to his own bias and paints a very one-sided picture of stalwart volunteer idealists bravely fighting Communism and saving Western civilization. No shades of gray here. However precisely because of the fact Verton is not a historian it is interesting to see how so long after the war a person can still be so adamant and unwavering about his views and convictions.
The translation from the original German could have benefited from better proof reading. Some sentences seem a bit quirky. A couple of times an obviously Dutch word or name should have been translated into Dutch instead of being left in German. Also a Dutch newspaper is called National Socialist instead of Socialist (or Social Democrat), an embarrassing mistake. Sometimes abbreviations are not explained, footnotes and an index are sadly missing and some quotes are not attributed. The bibliography is almost exclusively German.
So there you have it, a mixed bag. If you are not familiar with WWII nor with eastern front memoirs from the German point of view do not buy this book, you will be disappointed. A far better start would be Blood Red Snow for instance by Koschorrek. If you are more familiar with the Eastern front and or are interested in the Waffen-SS volunteers then this book should be in your collection, despite its faults. Before you order it though you might first want to have a look see at Twilight of the Gods by Hillblad and Wallin.
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