Best German soldier's memoir

[George L Gregory]

What is the best memoir by a German soldier?

I have read many memoirs, but I want to see if someone mentions one I may have missed.

Thanks!

[book lover]

This is the best memoir I read in a long time.Simply fantastic!

Until the Eyes Shut: Memories of a machine gunner on the Eastern Front, 1943-45


https://www.amazon.ca/Until-Eyes-Shut-M ... 191&sr=8-1

[book lover]

I would also recommend:

FRANZL:The story of Franz Gabl.

He was also a machine gunner on the eastern front and survived 3 years of combat.

[Hans1906]

Edlef Köppen "Heeresbericht"

What else?

Picture source: 1,- Mark Paperback, german flea market, early 1980s
(Own flatbead scanner...)


Hans1906

* Link to the book not accepted here in the forum, neither in german, or english language.
(Very sorry, but I do not have the time, and the patience, to write about the book, just read it...)

[Larso]

(Very sorry, but I do not have the time, and the patience, to write about the book, just read it...)

Is anyone else able to comment on this book?

[Larso]

It's a WW1 book.

[Sheldrake]

WW1

Ernst Junger - Storm of Steel
Herbert Sulzbach - With the German Guns
Erwin Rommel -The Infantry Attacks

WW2
Guy Sager - The Forgotten Soldier
Henry Metelman - Through Hell for Hitler
Siegfried Knappe - Soldat
Gottlob Herbert Bidermann - In Deadly Combat A German Soldier's Memoir of the Eastern Front
Richard Freiherr von Rosen - Panzer Ace: The Memoirs of an Iron Cross Panzer Commander from Barbarossa to Normandy
Bruno Friesen - Panzer Gunner

[J. Duncan]

A book that made an impression on my mind was
an old book (published late 1940’s/ early 1950’s)
Wilhelm Pruller’s “Diary of a German Soldier”.
Pruller goes from French theater at beginning of war to the Eastern front in Russia. From a foot soldier’s perspective.

[Hans1906]

Besides Remarque and Köppen, there is an almost endless list of books:

Liste literarischer Werke zum Ersten Weltkrieg https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_lit ... _Weltkrieg

Just a handful of books, I was able to find in the collections of my greatgrandfather Heinrich-Christian, the other
greatgrandfather Franz, was not able to buy any book at all, Franz never was a reading person, working as a carpenter
for the german Reichsbahn...

Two very different greatgrandfathers, both of them soldiers in the so-called "Great War", one of them very well educated,
and the other one a very simple man, with no time to read anything at all.

Looking at their photos nowadays, the impression on their faces nowadays, they tell the whole story.
Both greatgrandfathers look very "old" on the photos, taken after 1918, very serious, never a single smile, never.

It is a gift, to own all these photos even nowadays, and it is very touching, to look at all this, from time, to time...

War is hell!


Hans1906

[Hans1906]

One of the most impressive books, I was able to find in the library of my greatgrandfather was
"Gespenster am Toten Mann"

Written by Paul Coelestin (P.C.) Ettighoffer, and published in Germany in the year 1931.
Link: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Coel ... ttighoffer

The greatgrandfather was "deutschnational" minded back then, and many of the old books from his former collections,
they "speak" for themself, whatever all this was good for...

Hans1906

Btw. The book is an easy find on the german flea markets, very cheap, for just under 2,- Euro,
in several editions.

[Felix C]

WW2
Benno Zieser. Road to Stalingrad. Also published as In Their Shallow Graves. Apparently the HC version has photos. cheap pbk does not.

[Felix C]

Edlef Köppen "Heeresbericht"

What else?

Picture source: 1,- Mark Paperback, german flea market, early 1980s
(Own flatbead scanner...)


Hans1906

* Link to the book not accepted here in the forum, neither in german, or english language.
(Very sorry, but I do not have the time, and the patience, to write about the book, just read it...)

OK Hans I just obtained a copy. I will write back after finishing it.

[Cult Icon]

Panzer Commander, Hans von Luck

[Hans1906]

Hi Felix C,

"Heeresbericht" (Roman)

"Heeresbericht" is the title of a novel by Edlef Köppen published by Horen-Verlag in 1930. It is also Köppen's best-known work. In this novel, the author processes his own experiences of the First World War, giving the fictional plot autobiographical traits.

The novel describes the experiences of student Adolf Reisiger, who volunteered for a field artillery regiment in 1914 and fought with this regiment on the western front until he was wounded. After his recovery at the end of 1916, Reisiger – now a deputy officer – was assigned to an artillery regiment on the Eastern Front. When the peace treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Soviet Russia enabled the withdrawal of many German units from the Eastern Front, Reisiger, who was now already a lieutenant in the reserve, was again transferred to the Western Front with his regiment. After the German spring offensive in 1918 failed to achieve a breakthrough, the last attempt to win the war followed in mid-July 1918. But this offensive also fails. As the novel progresses, Reisiger's growing doubts about the meaning of this war become clear. In the late summer of 1918, his initial enthusiasm has completely evaporated. He eventually collapses mentally, refuses to take part in further acts of war and is committed to a mental institution.

Source and link: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heeresbericht_(Roman)

Please see also: http://www.verbrannte-buecher.de/?page_id=803

A very important and readable book, it is not inferior to Remarque's masterpiece, highly recommended...
One of the many reviews: Death weaves - Edlef Köppen's montage novel "Heeresbericht" - a forgotten book about the First World War
Link: https://literaturkritik.de/id/7335


Hans

[Sheldrake]

This week I read Hans Hoeller's memoir: D-Day Tank Hunter: The World War II memoirs of a frontline officer from North Africa to the bloody soil of Normandy Paperback – 25 Mar. 2022 https://www.amazon.co.uk/D-Day-Tank-Hun ... C79&sr=8-1

I had known of Hans Hoeller as he was one of the sources/interviewees for Alexander Mckee's 19690s work: Caen the Anvil of Victory. He was the anti tank platoon commander in PGR 192 of 21st Armoured Division. The memoir covers his experiences in North Africa - as a private soldier in Egypt and Libya and then as an officer in Tunisia where he was wounded. He fought throughout the Normandy campaign from Benouville Bridge in the early hours of D day to breaking out from the Falaise gap on 20th August. He was a keen photographer and his memoir is illustrated by action photos of e.g. AFVs K/O by his platoon including a scout car still on fire.

There are not many German accounts telling their story. This is worth reading.