RKT's of the SS & German Police, Vol. 1...

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Michael Miller
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RKT's of the SS & German Police, Vol. 1...

#1

Post by Michael Miller » 24 Feb 2016, 23:15

At long, long last, it's headed to the printers. 430 pages and just over 900 photos.

Thanks to the many AHF members who provided invaluable assistance to the project. Thanks also to those who have criticized and maligned it before it's even been published, for you have only stiffened my resolve to complete this four-volume undertaking.

Best wishes,
~ Mike

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/190998 ... 1_2&sr=8-2
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krichter33
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Re: RKT's of the SS & German Police, Vol. 1...

#2

Post by krichter33 » 25 Feb 2016, 03:33

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:


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Michael Miller
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Re: RKT's of the SS & German Police, Vol. 1...

#3

Post by Michael Miller » 02 Mar 2016, 04:23

Constructive criticism is one thing, and a thing to be encouraged.

However, what was posted here by certain forum members was in no way constructive, and I would have removed those posts for any author, if requested.

Such commentary should be made via private message, at least until the book is actually printed and available for review.

~ Mike

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Re: RKT's of the SS & German Police, Vol. 1...

#4

Post by Mark Costa » 02 Mar 2016, 16:50

Mike:

Again, I very much appreciate your efforts and look forward to this and your other upcoming books. They are a great addition to every library.

Mark

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Michael Miller
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Re: RKT's of the SS & German Police, Vol. 1...

#5

Post by Michael Miller » 02 Mar 2016, 17:03

Thank you very much, Mark, for this and all of your support over the past 10+ years.

~ Mike

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Xavier
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Re: RKT's of the SS & German Police, Vol. 1...

#6

Post by Xavier » 02 Mar 2016, 17:24

remember, do what you like..... and stick to it...!

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Re: RKT's of the SS & German Police, Vol. 1...

#7

Post by Michael Miller » 02 Mar 2016, 17:52

Sample pages.
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Re: RKT's of the SS & German Police, Vol. 1...

#8

Post by DargesFlyKiller » 02 Mar 2016, 21:45

Looks great Mike, It looks like a good reference book for looking up any RKT. Are there any photo's of Josef Diefenthal?

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Re: RKT's of the SS & German Police, Vol. 1...

#9

Post by Michael Miller » 02 Mar 2016, 22:09

Two portrait photos of Diefenthal, one as SS-Ustuf. prior to RK bestowal, another as SS-Stubaf. with the RK.

~ Mike

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Re: RKT's of the SS & German Police, Vol. 1...

#10

Post by Michael Miller » 02 Mar 2016, 22:11

I think Gebhard (first name still unknown) is the only one for whom there is no photo.

~ Mike

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Re: RKT's of the SS & German Police, Vol. 1...

#11

Post by Michael Miller » 04 Mar 2016, 00:23

Just to beat a dead horse- here's a little more of my rationale for creating this project.

As far as I know, only two other authors have written works detailing all Waffen-SS and Police RKT's (Ernst-Günther Krätschmer: Ritterkreuzträger der Waffen-SS, 4th ed. Nation Europa Verlag, 1999 & Jost W. Schneider: Verleihung Genehmigt!/Their Honor Was Loyalty! An Illustrated and Documentary History of the Knight’s Cross Holders of the Waffen-SS and Police, 2nd ed., R. J. Bender Publishing, 1993). Both were written many years ago, and although revised editions came out later, they remained very slim on detail, with very inconsistent photo coverage and quality. I do not post these scans to imply that mine is a better work; just sharing them to reveal the differences between my and their entries on SS-Gruf.u.Gen.Lt.d.W-SS u.Pol. Brenner. What you see below is the entirety of the coverage my predecessors provide on this officer.

In addition to more detailed entries and more photos, my series examines other categories not included in these earlier works, such as the 50+ men of the Allgemeine-SS (e.g. Rudel, Diddens, Beisswenger, Graf von Strachwitz, etc.) who received the Ritterkreuz while serving in the Wehrmacht, RKT's of the Wehrmacht who later transferred to the Waffen-SS, etc., as well as every member of the Allgemeine-SS, Waffen-SS, and Polizei decorated with the RK d. KVK.

A forthcoming one or two volumes will detail, in the same fashion, all recipients of the War Order of the German Cross in Gold and Silver, as well as the Honor Roll Clasp of the Army- upwards of 1,500 entries. Sadly, that project will not be illustrated, as I could never hope to adequately accomplish said illustration. That undertaking rests in the capable hands of another author.

Best wishes and thanks,
~ Mike
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Re: Books published by members

#12

Post by Mori » 08 Mar 2016, 12:45

I'm only taking a look because of the other post from Mike: can't deny that the screenshots give a very uncomfortable feeling.

I suppose others pointed it before: it is the way they make each displayed officer some kind of hero that conveys this uncomfortable feeling. You only read about their promotions and recommandations. Selected pictures play a significant part here: smiling, clean characters, like they were from an Osprey "Men at arms" series.

It's good that there is at least on entry reminding their NS entry date. It's discreet instead of being in capital, red letters though. I wonder whether you also have an entry on war crimes, you know, whether they were part of any post war investigation, where their unit was during, say, Oradour-sur-Glane, Distimo, or anti-partisan operations in the USSR or Yougoslavia, how many PoWs their unit claimed and how many survived after surrendering, etc.

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Re: Books published by members

#13

Post by Michael Miller » 08 Mar 2016, 18:27

We all know the dark side of the SS. I'm the last person to omit acknowledgment of it. In my other three series (detailing the higher leadership of the SS & Police, SA, NSKK/NSFK, and NSDAP), all still under construction and all to be completed unless I die before I can do so, I and my coauthor provide more than abundant data on involvement in the crimes of the Third Reich by the hundreds of individuals covered. This is intended solely as a quick reference for those who require only the basic data on the Knight's Cross holders of the SS. To present their entire careers would require many more volumes. The suggestion has been made, and I paraphrase- If you don't have the time or ability to do everything with absolute completeness, you're a joke if you do anything at all. People are welcome to hold that opinion. With the four volumes of Knight's Cross Holders of the SS & German Police, I am following the old adage, "Information not shared is lost." This may be seem harsh, but it's true: If you don't need to know when SS-Gruf.u.Gen.Lt.d.W-SS u.Pol. Brenner was promoted to Polizeileutnant, or you don't care when he received his wound badges, or you couldn't care less in general about such data and such pictures, simply do not make the purchase. Or if you do buy it and detest it, give it a one-star review on Amazon. Ignorance-based reviews are an inevitable consequence of going into print.

Best wishes,
~ Mike

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Re: Books published by members

#14

Post by Michael Miller » 08 Mar 2016, 18:39

Regarding the placement of the mere fact of Nazi Party membership in "capital, red letters"-- I'm sorry, but that's among the most absurd things I've read in a decade-and-a-half of membership on this forum. If one was an adult in Germany during the 1930's and 1940's, one was almost without exception a member of the NSDAP. We deal with history here- the good, the bad, the ugly, the horrific. I do not and will not sugarcoat, whitewash, sensationalize, or downplay. To fill my biographical entries with adjectives like "evil" and "ruthless" and "abhorrent" (etc., etc., ad nauseum) would be pointless and immature. The reader can come to the correct conclusion about these men when he or she reads- as he or she will in my biographies of men like Friedrich Jeckeln, Fritz Katzmann, Reinhard Heydrich, and Heinrich Himmler- the dispassionately but comprehensively compiled record of specific orders and operations resulting from those orders.

Seriously- "CAPITAL, red letters"? "NSDAP" is already in capitals, you know.

~ Mike

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Re: Books published by members

#15

Post by Harro » 08 Mar 2016, 19:51

Mori wrote: [...] where their unit was during, say, Oradour-sur-Glane, Distimo, or anti-partisan operations in the USSR or Yougoslavia, how many PoWs their unit claimed and how many survived after surrendering, etc.
What do you have in mind? When describing an officer from Wiking or Nord you want the author to point out that they were 2100 kilometres from Oradour in July 1944?

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