How do you rate Patrick Agte's books?

Rick-rs · Post by **Rick-rs** » 12 Nov 2002 17:12

As a grandson of a Waffen-ss veteran I have some experience about the way it works with people like Agte,after the dead of my Grandfather there were a few so called alte Kameraden who where intrested in his legacy, they did not even felt ashamed to burden my Grandmother with questions about wardiaries etc.only two days after his death.
I was the executor of my Grandfathers will so eventually they came to me and I told them to f**k off,but still,they know no shame.

About Himmler,if you can't see he was a pathetic chickenfarmer who was swept away by the events off his time you are blind.
Everytime when he was confronted with the effects of his own policy,he either fainted ore got the flue ore something.
Himmler was living in a dreamworld full of perfect people with even their own castle with round table,this is what he wanted most,a mystical cult-like movement,but he couldn't live up to his own standards,he knew this better about himself than anyone.

He is the perfect example to see what happens if frustated nobody's come to power,they surround themselves with real animals like Heydrich ore Dirlewanger who he needed to execute his twisted ideas,he was not even man enough to get a active part in it.

Cheers Rick

David C. Clarke · Post by **David C. Clarke** » 12 Nov 2002 18:08

Rick wrote:

About Himmler,if you can't see he was a pathetic chickenfarmer who was swept away by the events off
his time you are blind.
Everytime when he was confronted with the effects of his own policy,he either fainted ore got the flue
ore something.

Good Point Rick, I didn't take that into account. Good for you to tell the vultures to Go to Hell! I don't quite understand why the Veteran's group hasn't taken the same tact with Agte, if what has been said is known to the members. Best Regards, David

Rick-rs · Post by **Rick-rs** » 12 Nov 2002 21:40

Hi David,

I think that the greatest factor that allows people like Agte to act like they do is fear,I believe that most people don't have a clue of the fear veterans of the Waffen-ss have,most of them are afraid that events in the past will catch up with them and come back to haunt them.
We sometimes think this fear is not grounded,but if your around 80 years old and you witness other veterans being arrested and put into jail then you'll have a different point of view.
Specially the Eastern Front veterans atleast saw things happen,and what they really witnessed ore took part in they only know themselves.

If you have people like Agte who has a huge archive of privat pictures, diaries etc. they fear the knowledge he has.

Maybe I went a bit over the top with my comment about Himmler,but I know that he was just a pencilpusher with a great imagination,his greatest achievment was sucking up to Hitler,he never lived up to the standards he set up for his own SS.

All the best D,Rick

heinz kling · Post by **heinz kling** » 13 Nov 2002 01:04

If Agte is such an arsehole, why would anybody help him out in writing the book on Peiper?

Panzermahn · Post by **Panzermahn** » 13 Nov 2002 02:41

no wonder a lot of forum members dislike Patrick Agte because of his actions as biased nazi researcher...

But still, objectiviely, u had to admit his book on Jochen Peiper is truly as can be an extraordinary book eventhough he authored it using illegal ways...it's a truly good book visually if not the contents..

David C. Clarke · Post by **David C. Clarke** » 13 Nov 2002 03:26

Hi Rick, I apologize for my naivete, but again you've given me valuable insight. I should not have underestimated the persecution against SS veterans and the effect it must have on them psychologically, especially over all of these years. I wouldn't want to be at their age, 80 or older, and have to worry about some unscrupulous person destroying the life I've made for myself and my family. Thanks again. Best Regards, David

Timo · Post by **Timo** » 13 Nov 2002 07:20

heinz kling wrote:If Agte is such an arsehole, why would anybody help him out in writing the book on Peiper?

Because he wrote it before the whole Wendy affair happened and people became aware of his true nature.

By the way, alot of the contents of the Peiper book is based on errors, myths, guess work and plain lies. But it seems your opinion is made and your just looking to prove your point nomatter what we say.

John P. Moore · Post by **John P. Moore** » 13 Nov 2002 08:15

I don't know how many of you who are making the critical remarks about Patrick Agte have had any personal experience with him. I have known Patrick Agte personally for over 10 years and was introduced to him by a former Waffen-SS officer and very senior post-war police official whose wife had been a school teacher of Agte's. My experiences with Patrick Agte have only been positive and we are good friends, although we may not share the same political views. I personally know hundreds of former Waffen-SS officers and enlisted men and I never heard anyone make a negative comment about Patrick Agte, although they do sometimes criticize one another in my presence. I should add that those are also current observations from my most recent visit to Germany last September where the comments from veterans towards Munin Verlag and Patrick Agte were only positive. Patrick Agte and other Munin Verlag associates were favorably featured in the last issue of the Totenkopf Division's magazine, "Der Melder". I also visited the Munin Verlag operation and it is most impressive with a good stock of all of the many books advertised in the "Der Freiwillige". The Munin Verlag is a thriving business and I encourage everyone to support it. Be thankful that the "Der Freiwillige" is still published thanks to the dedication of Patrick Agte. The old saying that you can't please all of the people, all of the time is probably a good description of Patrick Agte. It is unrealistic to expect Patrick Agte to support everyone's request for research material. He is not the Bundesarchiv, National Archive or Public Records Office any more than I am.

Regards,

John Moore

Timo · Post by **Timo** » 13 Nov 2002 12:59

John, I can't agree with you on this. Many LAH veterans I've personally met are very negative about Agte due to the methods he used towards Wendt and other veterans. These comments came not only from Wendt, but also from Jupp Steinbüchel and Helmut Merscher to name some. According to them most LAH veterans have a negative opinion about Agte and this is the main reason why not much is published in the Freiwillige about this unit.
And talking about the Freiwillige, what exactly should we be pleased with? Since he took over the magazine, it contents are less and less about the Waffen-SS and more and more political ranting about everything leftish and thus about the government. All this due to his extreme right political views. Also, you cannot deny the fact that he does not help anybody out. I know a dozen people who have written at least 25 letter to him over the last years and none of them did he reply to. More then one year ago this led to a complaint from veteran HIAG members to Agte, who promised to answer the letters asap. Nothing happened since...

heinz kling · Post by **heinz kling** » 14 Nov 2002 01:52

John P. Moore wrote:I don't know how many of you who are making the critical remarks about Patrick Agte have had any personal experience with him. I have known Patrick Agte personally for over 10 years and was introduced to him by a former Waffen-SS officer and very senior post-war police official whose wife had been a school teacher of Agte's. My experiences with Patrick Agte have only been positive and we are good friends, although we may not share the same political views. I personally know hundreds of former Waffen-SS officers and enlisted men and I never heard anyone make a negative comment about Patrick Agte, although they do sometimes criticize one another in my presence. I should add that those are also current observations from my most recent visit to Germany last September where the comments from veterans towards Munin Verlag and Patrick Agte were only positive. Patrick Agte and other Munin Verlag associates were favorably featured in the last issue of the Totenkopf Division's magazine, "Der Melder". I also visited the Munin Verlag operation and it is most impressive with a good stock of all of the many books advertised in the "Der Freiwillige". The Munin Verlag is a thriving business and I encourage everyone to support it. Be thankful that the "Der Freiwillige" is still published thanks to the dedication of Patrick Agte. The old saying that you can't please all of the people, all of the time is probably a good description of Patrick Agte. It is unrealistic to expect Patrick Agte to support everyone's request for research material. He is not the Bundesarchiv, National Archive or Public Records Office any more than I am.

Regards,

John Moore

I agree that Agte has been unfairly bashed, for what? Not answering requests I guess.

heinz kling · Post by **heinz kling** » 14 Nov 2002 01:57

Being a Forum host, I expect posters to be treated with respect, even though you may disagree with them. Calling me names (like saying I am an idiot) reflects on you poorly !

John P. Moore · Post by **John P. Moore** » 14 Nov 2002 02:57

I should add to my earlier comments that I know a few former infantry and signal officers from the LAH ranging in rank from Ustuf. to Stubaf., one of whom was also a regional spokesman for the HIAG. Without exception, they praised the work of Patrick Agte. Others have criticized his efforts to obtain diaries and other documents belonging to deceased veterans. His purpose is to preserve these documents for future research rather than have them sold to collectors or thrown in the trash by the widow. Collectors are also in many instances aggressively contacting widows as soon as the death of a veteran becomes known. New articles and photos have begun appearing in the "Der Freiwillige" as a result of those efforts with more to come in the future. Every magazine publisher has the right to make editorial comments in their publication and does so. Lou Holtz, a famous former Notre Dame football coach, once said a few years ago at a luncheon I attended that he never reads the editorial sections of newspapers and magazines because he does not need someone else to tell him what to think. That is probably good advice.

Timo · Post by **Timo** » 14 Nov 2002 07:16

heinz kling wrote:I agree that Agte has been unfairly bashed, for what? Not answering requests I guess.

Okay, so you only pick out those things you want to see. If your opinion is allready made, why do you ask the question anyway?

He is "bashed" for:
- Stealing the manuscript for a whole book from Wendt
- Obtaining items in an unfair way
- turning the Freiwillige into a magazine for political ranting
- not answering questions from dozens of researchers, even when veterans with high positions in the HIAG summon him to do so.

If you pick out just "bashed for not answering questions", then you better learn to read a little better. And is the one who calls others morons now angry because he's called an idiot? How poor...

Bill Medland · Post by **Bill Medland** » 14 Nov 2002 10:13

I have never met Patrick Agte during my dealings with HIAG.
But I agree with Timo that "Der Freiwillige" does seem to have more and more political comments than before Agte took it over. I like the Magazine and hope in the future he does not go too far and cause it to be banned in Germany. I have been a subscriber since 1985, and have most issues since 1956.
regards,Bill.

Timo · Post by **Timo** » 14 Nov 2002 10:33

Martin Månsson wrote:I've known Patrick for many years and have never experienced any problems with him. John has a very good point when he writes about obtaining items from veterans or widows. Let's keep in mind that he asked, there are several who does not ask but committ crimes to get hold of items, with other words, they steal it. There are numerous of examples that confirms that.

...I he askes them and gets permission thats okay. But several veterans did not want him to have their diaries, yet he told their widows that he promised them to have it. That is perhaps not a crime, but it is far from fair and many veterans dislike him for this.

I also agree with John when he writes that Patrick isn't one public archive. Even if you want you can't simply help out each and everyone who writes and ask for help, it's impossible. Patrick has one magazine and a publishing firm to take care of as well on the top of all other things. This demands time, much time.

...But not answering a single letter from anybody is an intire different story. One of my fellow researchers talked about it with Klein and on our behalf Klein told Agte to answer at least some of our letters. Yet none of our letters has been answered so far. That's 25 letters from six different researchers which did not get a single reply. A bit odd for somebody who's duty it is, according to Klein, to help other researchers

I do not agree that Der Freiwillige has been turned into one political magazine, how many new articles and photos regarding/from the Waffen-SS hasn't been published during that last years ? I myself have contributed as well as many other friends in Europe and none are political.

...Next time Agte posts rantings about Fischer and Schröder I'll keep in mind that this is not political

Still the Wendt-affair stands. Everybody seems to ignore this fact.

Axis History Forum

How do you rate Patrick Agte's books?

Just one more question for Timo

Re: Just one more question for Timo

Patrick Agte & Munin Verlag

Re: Patrick Agte & Munin Verlag

To Timo

Patrick Agte

Re: To Timo