looking for a book

[crazyivan]

does any one no of a the name and auther of a book telling a true story of a german soldiers life during ww2 it depicts his struggles with hitlers views and the harsh ness of a front line vet.many thanks for those that reply. :rolleyes:

[slehtine]

Do you remember any details? Like age of main character, front, etc?

BTW I know one book, but forgot the name and author :rolleyes:

-Sasa

[panda124c]

Originally posted by crazyivan:
does any one no of a the name and auther of a book telling a true story of a german soldiers life during ww2 it depicts his struggles with hitlers views and the harsh ness of a front line vet.many thanks for those that reply. :rolleyes:

The only one I know of is "The Forgoten Soldier" I forget the authors name.

[Warhorse]

Guy Sajer!!!

[KG Erwin]

Yes, fantastic book, still in print as far as I know. I've stated elsewhere that this is one that a screenplay should be written from. Would make a great movie, IMO, not least in the fact that Herr Sajer was a mixed German-Alsatian, so there's no chance that this would be portrayed as glorifying Nazism. This guy was a simple landser, caught up in the greatest war mankind has ever seen...hmm, maybe I should write the voice-over narration for the teaser!

[panda124c]

There is also 'The Cross of Iron' though fictional the authors creditials seem good ex-German Infantry Officer Russian Front, Willi Heinrich. He has a couple of books out the other is 'Crack of Doom'.

[DELTA32]

I think the book you are looking for is titled: SOLDAT, Reflections of a German Solder 1936-1949. Authored by Siegfried Knappe with Ted Brusaw. Available in paperback from DELL Books. The book is based on Knappe's wartime diaries from Hitler's rise to power - and ends with a five-year term in a Soviet POW camp. I believe this is the book you are looking for.

Delta 3-2

[Matt]

If you haven't found the book you are looking for, there are many books with similar themes. Sajer is perhaps one of the most powerful works, but there are several more not already mentioned and the basic soldier level and of a few of the more famous:

Oskars Perro, "Fortress Cholm"

Martin Poppel, "Heaven and Hell: The War Diary of a German paratrooper"

Wilhelm Pruller, "Diary of a German Soldier"

Han Werner Woltersdorf, "***s of War:A Memoir of a German Soldier"

"Sieg Heil!: War Letters of Tank Gunner Karl Fuchs 1937-1941"

Helmut Ritgen, "The Western Front 1944: Memoirs of a Panzer Lehr Officer"

There are also a couple of good compilations. "Frontsoldaten" by Stephen Fritz is by far the best.

By the way, Heinrich was both an infantryman and an officer on assault guns, winning the Ritterkreuz. There are hordes of personal accounts, but I did not list some of the more famous such as Rudel, Galland, Manstein, Guderian, Stahlberg, and Kurt Meyer as they are not exactly average soldiers.

Hope this helps.

Matt

The First and the Last

[crazyivan]

thanks alot to you all have already optianed 3 out of the many books listed and am finding it hard to read as i get into the action accounts all i want to do is swicth on the puter and play its quit cool.