military

I have read several German memoirs - Soldat, The Forgotten Soldier, In Deadly Combat - plus several other studies of the Waffen SS, and I'd say this book ranks as good or better than any of those in terms of readability, insight, and thoughtfulness. Combat memoirs, whether American or German ("If You Survive" and "Company Commander" come to mind on the American side) can often become a series of descriptions of small unit battles that, while representing the thrust of the book, can be difficult to follow, or can have the perverse affect of stripping the humanity from the narrative. In the case of German memoirs, I have found as an English reader that the formal language in the translations can often compound that affect.

Regardless, the story in Black Edelweis, of a patriotic German who joins the Waffen SS late in the war, is outstanding at painting a picture of pre-war Germany through the eyes of the authors' family, the comradeship that held the German army, the horror as he discovers after the war the deeds of his countrymen in regard to The Holocaust, and the patriotism and pride that the author stills feels for his unit and the way he served. I would highly recommend it to students of the German side of World War II, and would recommend it as an outstanding introduction for history readers who have never read a German memoir to the genre. It is easy to read, enjoyable, and thought provoking.

An amazing book which is very well and thoughtfully written. The author carefully examines his own motives and actions, and then sets them against the background of his emerging knowledge of the holocaust after the war.

He and his unit were not involved in atrocities, and I have found no record of accusations against the Nord division. Part of this (or much of it) may be owed to the fact that they operated mostly in the Arctic and then on the Western Front during the final days of the war. They luckily never served in Russia or Poland, so were not in a position to be confronted with the war against the Jews. Despite this the author recognizes that he was involved in the organization that carried out the killings, and feels complicit to an extent.

Very interesting look at German homefront life, and the much ignored fighting in Finland on the Arctic front.

Not a trace of the self-pity and "look what the Allies did" that you find in some accounts of this nature, but also shows that not everyone in an SS uniform was a bloodthirsty monster. A view some will not approve of.

The best personal account from a German veteran of World War II that I have read.