Frontsoldaten
The German Soldier in World War II
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
“Drawn from letters, diaries and memoirs, this impressive study presents a rounded, detailed picture of the daily life” for frontline Nazi soldiers (Publishers Weekly).
Stephen G. Fritz explores the day-to-day reality of the average German infantryman—or Landser—during World War II. Through letters, diaries, memoirs, and oral histories, most of which describe life on the Russian front, Fritz presents a richly textured portrait of the Landser that illustrates the complexity and paradox of his daily life.
Although clinging to a self-image as a decent fellow, the German soldier nonetheless committed terrible crimes in the name of The Third Reich. When the war was finally over, and his country lay in ruins, the Landser faced a bitter truth: all his exertions and sacrifices had been in the name of a deplorable regime that had committed unprecedented crimes.
With chapters on training, images of combat, living conditions, combat stress, the personal sensations of war, the bonds of comradeship, and ideology and motivation, Fritz reveals war through the eyes of these self-styled “little men.”
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Drawn from letters, diaries and memoirs, this impressive study presents a rounded, detailed picture of the daily life of the Landser-the ordinary German infantryman of WWII-and takes an unblinking look at the stark realities of combat, particularly on the Russian front, where 80% of the German soldiers fought; the hardships endured; and the crushing anxiety of being surrounded by death and killing. The evidence that surfaces in these pages demonstrates that the remarkable unit cohesion and fighting performance of the Landser was due in large part to the bonds of military friendship inherited from Prussian tradition; Wehrmacht leaders ``raised the concept of camaraderie almost to the level of strategic doctrine.'' The study also reveals ways in which the German soldier embraced ideological commitment to National Socialism and how, encouraged by Nazi propaganda, he was free to engage in virtually unlimited criminality if it was directed against the so-called enemies of the German people. Fritz, who teaches history at East Tennessee State, makes edifying comparisons between the Landser and his American, British and Russian counterparts. His book helps explain why the German army was so relentlessly efficient in battle.
