I had never heard of Jude Law before I watched the film `Enemy at the Gates' which tells the fictionalised tale of a Russian sniper during the Battle of Stalingrad. I vividly recall how those Russian troops were sent into battle with one rifle for every two soldiers. True or not, that portrayal was never far from the reality of the day and I mention it only to draw the reader into one of the fiercest and costliest times of WW2 - the Eastern front fought between Russia and Germany.
This is a captivating work from Albrecht Wacker in which he reveals the memoirs of a German soldier - and sniper, who was awarded the Knights Cross for his service. Many readers will possibly think an `Iron Cross' is an Iron Cross but the Knights Cross was only awarded to those who already held the Iron Cross and was made to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. No German soldier became any less brave just because his country was beaten and this is the story of one of the bravest.
As with all good books, this finely crafted work begins right at the beginning where we find accounts of the differences between the hardened soldiers and the newest recruits on the eve of battle. Even the biggest and hardest of men have been known to lose control of either their stomach or their breakfast before a battle and yet, in this work it is explained in such a way that we might begin to understand such matters.
With consummate skill, as the book progresses, we are drawn into one man's part in a huge conflict and the subsequent retreat for those who were lucky enough to escape either death or Soviet imprisonment. I use the words `consummate skill' because we are given the benefit of reliving this simple soldier's life from the day on which he arrived as a raw recruit right through to his eventual survival. Throughout the work there is no triumphalism or defeatism aimed at either one side of the conflict or the other. In short, it is an account of what happened to one man movingly told - exactly as it happened with exaggeration, false modesty or unnecessary anti-Russian sentiments.
Right at the end of the work, we are treated to a poem found in a document which was written by an unknown poet - probably a dead soldier. In many ways that poem explains how true professional soldiers feel after their wars are over. In some ways it almost explains Post Traumatic Stress. For the subject of this book, it also explained why he was required to do what he did but, please, do not read that poem until you get to it or you will miss the enjoyment of the splendid way in which the book is concluded.
A few relevant historic black and white photographs appears together about midway through the work and one of these shows Sepp Allerberger wearing both his Iron Crosses.
NM
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Customer reviews
The greatest and most disturbing book I have ever read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 October 2019
Honestly this has been one of the greatest and at the same time most disturbing books I have ever read. The depths of the depravity encountered during the war, especially coming from the russian side is literally imperceivable if not utterly inconceivable. The frightful and helpless experiences described from the german side paint an equally unimaginable picture filled with abysmal sadness and agony for soldiers and civilians alike. The heroic fight and acts of bravery and comradeship against the inevitable defeat, does little to calm the soul from the feeling of rage and disgust at the above, and serves as a mere silver lining, indicating the honour and duty-bound service with which in vain the Landsers tried to conduct themselves. Even as a person with immense interest and fascination in the second world war, such a testament can only ground me and serve as an absolute, horrid, bitter reminder as to what a cataclysmic and calamitous event it really was. The thought of all the immensely unfortunate souls caught up in these events having been able to find some form of peace in an afterlife is a wishful one, but truly necessary in being able to accept the accounts described in this book, while maintaining any sense of sanity or emotional stability. Never before have I been shaken to my very core in such a way and from such seemingly simple words, which however hide behind them a brutality that could never be measured by any earthly scale or measure.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 October 2019
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Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 April 2022
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 October 2019
The greatest and most disturbing book I have ever read
By MARIA ZAKKA on 21 October 2019
Honestly this has been one of the greatest and at the same time most disturbing books I have ever read. The depths of the depravity encountered during the war, especially coming from the russian side is literally imperceivable if not utterly inconceivable. The frightful and helpless experiences described from the german side paint an equally unimaginable picture filled with abysmal sadness and agony for soldiers and civilians alike. The heroic fight and acts of bravery and comradeship against the inevitable defeat, does little to calm the soul from the feeling of rage and disgust at the above, and serves as a mere silver lining, indicating the honour and duty-bound service with which in vain the Landsers tried to conduct themselves. Even as a person with immense interest and fascination in the second world war, such a testament can only ground me and serve as an absolute, horrid, bitter reminder as to what a cataclysmic and calamitous event it really was. The thought of all the immensely unfortunate souls caught up in these events having been able to find some form of peace in an afterlife is a wishful one, but truly necessary in being able to accept the accounts described in this book, while maintaining any sense of sanity or emotional stability. Never before have I been shaken to my very core in such a way and from such seemingly simple words, which however hide behind them a brutality that could never be measured by any earthly scale or measure.
By MARIA ZAKKA on 21 October 2019
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Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 June 2017
