Mark Yerger passed away

[legionair]

I am shocked to read that my good friend Mark died.
I knew his health was not so good but it is unexpected for me to read this post.

Rest in peace, Mark.

[Andy H]

Though not an author of an area I was particularly interested, his gravitas within his subject matter was well known
and that is a sad loss to the wider MH community.

Deepest sympathies to those he loved and loved him.

Andy H

[ajax]

I own several of Mark's publications and had the pleasure of receiving a reply to a question I had. Nothing was a problem to him and he will always be an inspiration to me. I've been offline for a while therefore it is a shock to hear of his passing.
Thoughts with his family.
RIP Mark

Thank you

[brdc1]

Ignacio,
I just came across this extensive research that the late Mr Yerger carried out. I am particularly interested in the later story of the SS-Division Totenkopf as my father was a foreign 'Freiwilliger' who was transferred to Totenkopf (Regiment "Theodor Eicke") from a foreign SS-Division.
This was in September 1944 and he was wounded and hospitalised away from the front line (near Warsaw) not long after.
Unfortunately I don't have any photos and he told me he got rid of the Wound Badge he had been awarded.
I read your research with great interest and am keen to see photos.

[John P. Moore]

It has been two years since Mark Yerger died. While Mark certainly contributed much to the body of knowledge concerning the Waffen-SS it is clear that his work lacked the objectivity to be of genuine historical significance. I came across these piece today that is worth reading and thinking about,

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_C._Yerger

A key point of this essay stated, "Historians consider his portrayals to be uncritical, inadequate, and euphemistic."

I must say that my own thinking about the Waffen-SS has evolved in recent years and I currently pursue my research with a much greater degree of objectivity. My recent work with a professor in Helsinki has led to the realization that even the "Wiking" division had engaged in widespread war crimes since its early days. I once held that division in high regard, but no longer. I offer this advice to authors of literature concerning the Waffen-SS - Do you want your work to be remembered for its objectivity, depth of information and historical significance or do you want to be remembered as Mark Yerger is?

John Moore

[Mori]

I must say that my own thinking about the Waffen-SS has evolved in recent years and I currently pursue my research with a much greater degree of objectivity. My recent work with a professor in Helsinki has led to the realization that even the "Wiking" division had engaged in widespread war crimes since its early days. I once held that division in high regard, but no longer. I offer this advice to authors of literature concerning the Waffen-SS - Do you want your work to be remembered for its objectivity, depth of information and historical significance or do you want to be remembered as Mark Yerger is?

John Moore

Good to know how your point of view evolves. (By the way, you certainly want to update the introduction of your Führerliste - the copy I once checked had a testimony from a former SS member which was *very* embarassing to read).

I thought research had long made clear that there weren't many (or any?) "clean" unit in the Wehrmacht of the SS, that war crimes litteraly started on the first days of the war - the first week of September 1939 -, and that they were committed by pretty much all types of units. It was a "discovery" of the 1990s rather than anything new.

[Michael Miller]

Congrats on your epiphany. Rather ill-advised and poor manners to share it in a memorial thread, as others have pointed out on a different forum to which you've posted it.

A notable excerpt from a 2-year-old thread (http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...hlight=blivet):

"I am in complete agreement with Mark Yerger's comments. While some of you may disagree with what we say, stop for a moment and consider that perhaps we know what we are talking about. Mark and I both have put out quality publications for over 20 years and have invested considerable money in necessary research along with having actually met the people we write about. We both read a lot and have extensive libraries and archives. I believe that we are a good judge of what constitutes a good book. I don't see it here with Mike Miller. When someone boasts about their new masterpiece all over the Internet, they should be prepared for some criticism if their work comes up short in the view of some."
~ John P. Moore

It should be noted that you had not even seen the book in question when you made that and numerous other comments attempting to run it through the muck.

Yerger, for all his faults, produced an actual and substantial body of work. And in the last two weeks of his life, he wrote numerous emails to me advising me of projects he believed I could and should do, as well as the specific things I'd need to do to carry them through to completion. They were not of great interest to me and I did not have the skill or inclination to do them. As I've always conceded, the Waffen-SS is not my specialty or primary area of focus; I'm more interested in Gauleiters, SA leaders, and general rank officers of the SS. But I was enormously touched by the gesture. Although things soured considerably in later years, as Mark saw my humble efforts on RK and DK holders as intruding on what he felt was his jurisdiction, he was my mentor as far back as 1997. At that point, I had not even started my website, and the idea of writing ANY book seemed to me completely outside of my skill set. His encouragement and specific advice helped to remove my doubts. Mark Yerger taught me that I could produce quality work for reputable publishers.

~ Mike

[Michael Miller]

Mori wrote:

"(By the way, you certainly want to update the introduction of your Führerliste - the copy I once checked had a testimony from a former SS member which was *very* embarrassing to read)."

I have to disagree. As we should not attempt to whitewash the Waffen-SS, nor should we attempt to whitewash ourselves.

~ Mike

[history1]

[...] I came across these piece today that is worth reading and thinking about,

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_C._Yerger

A key point of this essay stated, "Historians consider his portrayals to be uncritical, inadequate, and euphemistic."

[...] Do you want your work to be remembered for its objectivity, depth of information and historical significance or do you want to be remembered as Mark Yerger is?

John Moore

1. The text reads "SOME Historians consider his portrayals to be uncritical, inadequate, and euphemistic." when I follow your link.
2. There is ALLWAYS someone who doesn´t agree with your/ones work. This doesn´t belittle the deeds or reputation. At least not in my opinion.

[Cult Icon]

It has been two years since Mark Yerger died. While Mark certainly contributed much to the body of knowledge concerning the Waffen-SS it is clear that his work lacked the objectivity to be of genuine historical significance. I came across these piece today that is worth reading and thinking about,

A key point of this essay stated, "Historians consider his portrayals to be uncritical, inadequate, and euphemistic."

I must say that my own thinking about the Waffen-SS has evolved in recent years and I currently pursue my research with a much greater degree of objectivity. My recent work with a professor in Helsinki has led to the realization that even the "Wiking" division had engaged in widespread war crimes since its early days. I once held that division in high regard, but no longer. I offer this advice to authors of literature concerning the Waffen-SS - Do you want your work to be remembered for its objectivity, depth of information and historical significance or do you want to be remembered as Mark Yerger is?

I think there is bias and a POV from every subculture. If Yerger and others did not have their "bias" they would not have been motivated to devote their lives to this work.

The book "Ronald M. Smelser and Edward J. Davies, The Myth of the Eastern Front. The Nazi Soviet was in American popular culture" got mixed reviews on amazon, some of the reviewers affirmative on the book and others hinting at a snobbery, lack of real interest, and preaching to the moralistic choir bias on the account of the academic authors in fulfilling their own agenda of producing a hit-piece on everybody who is interested in the German combat path of the war :

https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Eastern-Fro ... 0521712319

Somehow I doubt that Yerger or other in depth WW2 researchers/authors are primarily interested in maximizing distribution throughout society. They love what they do and the whole activity set brings them fulfillment, which is enough for them. But this poses a problem if one wants their work to have any legacy or be acceptable by the vox populi. They would have to change the way they operate.

There are a lot of nerd-purists/obsessives but not enough with a marketer and businessman's saavy. This is the stuff that makes best sellers, and really explodes impact. As a consequence I am more interested in writing WW2 fiction and screenplays- something that can be more popularized.

The silver lining is that Stackpole and Helion have accomplished a lot in recent years- they have reached the mass market (strong placing in Barnes and Noble, amazon) with books that originally had to be acquired at JFF and smaller at a higher price point. This means that more information is available to the "vox populi" like us but there's still a long ways to go.

[VanillaNuns]

First new post for 3 years in this topic.

I was previously aware of Mark Yerger's various SS books but the price was simply not affordable for me.

However, a combination of 15 months lockdown, cancelled holiday plans for 2 years in a row and a recent price reduction in some of his books has encouraged me to purchase the Allgemeine SS history and both biography sets of the senior Waffen SS commanders.

I am blown away by the research, meticulous attention to detail and the amount of hitherto unseen photographs.

I am sure his death is a huge loss to the military history community and researchers.

But these books are essentials for anyone interested in the subject. In life you get what you pay for, and these are well worth the money.