Books about WW2 from a German perspective

[W-D Forties]

Can anyone recommend a good book, or books, about WW2 told from a German perspective? I'm looking for something readable covering a fairly wide perspective and more homefront based than millitary. My dad was a tail gunner on Lancasters and I'm particularly interested in the bombing campaign from the German point of view.

Having read quite a lot of books and spoken to a lot of people about the British experience at home I'm really interested in learning more about the 'average' Germans experience, I feel it's a hole in my understanding of the whole period. I know there will be a lot but I'm looking for a personal recommendation.

Any thoughts?

 

[1961MJS]

Hi

These three books aren't home front, but all three do mention a little about it. Sajer was home on leave once in 3-4 years. Voss was only in the Waffen-SS for a few years, being younger if I remember correctly. Knappe was wounded and recuperating back in Germany a couple of times.

"the Forgotten Soldier" by Guy Sajer is a famous book about life on the Russian Front (and on leave once) from the Nazi side of things. some of the guy's dates are wrong in the book, but if you look up the author, it appears that this is a true first person account of the war. His memory of actual DATES is much worse than his memory of what happened. You won't LIKE the book, but it's well written and seems truthful.

"Black Edelweiss" by Johann Voss is also good, but Johann was only in the war for a couple of years. If I remember correctly, it mentions his time in Hitler Youth etc. He wrote the book in 1945-46, so it was all fresh in his mind too.

"Soldat: Reflections of a German Soldier, 1936-1949" by Siegfried Knappe is also a great book. Siegfried goes in to detail on how things started (1936) and also writes of his time as a Russian Prisoner. He was a prisoner for quite a while PROBABLY because he was one of the last 50 people to leave the Fuhrer Bunker.

This should keep you going for a few days.

later

 

[Spitfire]

Len Deighton: Bomber - a novel, but build on a lot of research. Telling the fictional story of a small german town, bombed by RAF - by mistake. The brilliant book follows both the RAF crews, the Luftwaffe nightfigthers and the locals in the fictional german town. A fantastic read!

 

[W-D Forties]

Thanks for the suggestions all. If any of you have partners who are into the same thing (I'm saying that as all of the replies have been from men!) doe they have any suggestions perhaps?

 

[botty]

"A woman in Berlin" if you can find a copy. It is the book that the recent film was based upon. Printed anonymously in the 1950's

 

[Flicka]

Not a book, but yesterday there was a documentary on WWIi that was partly based on material by a female amateur filmer on tv here.

 

[W-D Forties]

Thanks again, I shall try to track down 'A woman in Berlin', it sounds just what I'm after.

 

[1961MJS]

Hi

You should do a search on "German Homefront" on Amazon, there are ten or so books that might interest you. If you search for "Woman in Berlin" you'll find one on 1000 year old woman in Berlin also. It looks good too.

Later

 

[Mustang]

I would also recommend "Black Edelweiss". It is considered to be one of the few honestly written books from a German perspective.

 

[W-D Forties]

I'm finding that most of the searches I do come up with a military perspective. The only likely one is 'Under The Bombs: German Home Front 1942 - 45' which is an American study.

 

[B-24J]

Hi W-D Forties,

The Pennsylvania Cable Network (USA) has done many interviews with veterans (www.pcnstore.com) and one of them was with a woman who wrote the book, "THE HITLER I KNEW: A Young Girl's Memoirs of WW II in Germany". Thea Johnson is the author.

The Amazon description:

An English and German Version In Englischer und Deutscher Sprache This is the story of a young girl's experience during WWII in Germany. It tells about the devotion to Hitler. It describes the life as a member of the Hitler Youth; what happened when WWII started, with the never-ending bombardments by the US and British bombers and the destruction of her home, school and town. It tells of the many killings, the horror, fear and despair. The constant struggle after the war to survive without food, when the French forces occupied the city. The big disappointment in Hitler who promised a great future for Germany, but took the loyalty of the German people and led them into endless, hopeless wars. He would not let anyone or anything stop him from invading other countries and killing millions of innocent people. The story is accompanied with photos of Hitler and photos to show the destruction and death of a city.

I recall the interview (Which is for sale at the PCN store.) as being very interesting.

A friend of a friend was also in the BDM at this time and her experiences were similar to the Thea Johnson's. Bombing, fear, food shortages.

Perhaps not too dissimilar from the experiences of the those in the Blitz.

The civilians in Poland, Russia, Ukraine...had it much worse.

Your Dad was a Lancaster tail gunner? He has my admiration and thanks!


John

 

[Rathdown]

The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer; and any of Hans Helmut Kirst's novels...

 

[samtemporary]

Just finished reading The End: The Defiance and Destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1944-1945, by Ian Kershaw, a British historian. This book focuses on the German home front during the end of the War period, specifically from the perspective of the general citizenry. He also addresses points of view from forced labor, camp inmates, and front line soldiers, but his primary focus is what - and how - the German population supported and lasted through the bitter end. Strongly recommend it.

 

[W-D Forties]

Aha, I have heard of Ian Kershaw so I shall check that one out. Thanks samtemporary.

B-24J my dad joined the RAF in about 1943-ish aged 17 (he lied about his age). It's only fairly recently that I realised just what a dangerous position tail gunners were in. Most of the men he served with didn't make it back and he never really talked about it at all, I don't think he liked to remember. He was involved in some of the worst raids of the war, also the disasterous Auchberg one. After he died his partner told me that he felt tremendous guilt over all the people he'd killed. Hence my interest now.

 

[Spitfire]

Aha, I have heard of Ian Kershaw so I shall check that one out. Thanks samtemporary.

B-24J my dad joined the RAF in about 1943-ish aged 17 (he lied about his age). It's only fairly recently that I realised just what a dangerous position tail gunners were in. Most of the men he served with didn't make it back and he never really talked about it at all, I don't think he liked to remember. He was involved in some of the worst raids of the war, also the disasterous Auchberg one. After he died his partner told me that he felt tremendous guilt over all the people he'd killed. Hence my interest now.

If that's where your interest springs from, I strongly recommend "Bomber" by Len Deighton - once again. Although fiction - Len Deighton is not only one heck of awriter, he is also a very precise and honest researcher.
From Amazone:
Review
'A massively different novel... the effect is -- quite literally -- devastating' Sunday Times 'A massive and superbly mobilised tragedy of the machines which men create to destroy themselves... masterly and by far Mr Deighton's best'. Douglas Hurd, The Spectator 'A magnificent story... the characters lean out of the pages' Daily Mirror 'For sheer readability he has no peer' The Standard 'The magnificent Bomber is rich with historical detail' The Times 'A master of fictional espionage.' Daily Mail 'The poet of the spy story.' Sunday Times
Product Description
The classic novel of the Second World War that relates in devastating detail the 24-hour story of an allied bombing raid. Bomber is a novel war. There are no victors, no vanquished. There are simply those who remain alive, and those who die. Bomber follows the progress of an Allied air raid through a period of twenty-four hours in the summer of 1943. It portrays all the participants in a terrifying drama, both in the air and on the ground, in Britain and in Germany. In its documentary style, it is unique. In its emotional power it is overwhelming. Len Deighton has been equally acclaimed as a novelist and as an historian. In Bomber he has combined both talents to produce a masterpiece.

 

[Smithy]

It's only fairly recently that I realised just what a dangerous position tail gunners were in.

Without doubt the most dangerous position. German nightflighters as a rule used to try and knock the rear gunners out with their first attack. Many didn't survive longer than a few brief seconds once the firing started.

My father flatted just after the war with a chap who had been a Lancaster pilot who had flown missions over Germany. My Dad said the fellow was seriously mucked up by it. One night they were having a few drinks and he told Dad some shocking stuff and how on several occasions they had had to use a hose to wash out what was left of the rear gunner from the remains of the rear turret.

Book-wise you should also look at "Das Boot" (the movie/mini-series is fantastic as well and IMHO the best war film ever made).

 

[W-D Forties]

We've got a few books about bomber crews - the millitary angle, but as someone who sometimes protrays a homefront mother, (and as a mother myself with 2 boys) I'm really interested in the view from the ground, what it was like to live under the bombardment through the eyes of my German counterpart.

Sometimes people ask me if I could have coped during the war. I believe I could, mainly because as a parent you just have to, whatever the circumstances. What I can't imagine is sending my boys off to fight as my grandmother did (she had 4 boys of fighting age and a daughter), or losing everything in one raid. I have some insight into the British experience of the blitz, but given just how much punishment the German civillians took I'd be very interested in finding some first hand accounts. The market if pretty saturated in personal accounts from the Allied side, but it seems harder to find the German equivalent to 'Nella Last's War', and I suppose that is what I'm really after.

 

[The Lonely Navigator]

Not sure if you'd be interested in ones that are related to the subject of U-Boat crews. If you are, let me know and I can put some titles down for you.

 

[Young fogey]

U-boat book

U-boats: Iron Coffins by Herbert Werner, a captain's own story. I read it around the time Das Boot came out.

 

[The Lonely Navigator]

U-boats: Iron Coffins by Herbert Werner, a captain's own story. I read it around the time Das Boot came out.

Actually I don't recommend that one from the research I've done. If you read Hadley's 'Count Not the Dead' there was a scathing remark about that book by a U-Boat historian (don't remember the name off-hand). But it isn't a recommended book. This is even discussed on uboat.net

'Steel Boat - Iron Hearts' by Goebler is a very good one (it is not from the perspective of a commander)

'Enemy Submarine' by Wolfgang Frank is another good one. Frank went out on a patrol with Prien (much like Buchheim did with U 96). There are some minor inaccuracies in the start of the book, but that is the only 'first hand' account that I could find of someone who went out on patrol with Prien and wrote about it.

There's a start though...I can dig up others.