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In Deadly Combat: A German Soldier's Memoir of the Eastern Front

AUTHOR: Gottlob Herbert Bidermann
ISBN: 0700611223
SHORT DESCRIPTION: In the hell that was World War II, the Eastern Front was its heart of fire and ice. Gottlob Bidermann served in that lethal theater from 1941 to 1945, and his memoir of those years vividly recaptures his grueling experiences with an army marching...

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Editorial Review

In Deadly Combat: A German Soldier's Memoir of the Eastern Front
- Book Review, by Gottlob Herbert Bidermann

From Publishers Weekly
Firsthand perspectives of German WWII infantrymen are rare, as respected historian Dennis Showalter (Tannenberg: Clash of Empires) points out in his excellent introduction. Bidermann, who is an 18-year-old private in the 132d Infantry Division at the beginning of this memoir, takes us through the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, passage across the Dnieper and southern steppes, battles in the Crimea, engagements in northern Russia and retreat through Riga to the Baltic. He retrospectively reviews historical records and sketches the daily happenings and ambience of his unit in a matter-of-fact and unpretentious--yet invariably proud--tone. The translation is direct and generally graceful, sometimes lyrical. Retired Navy SEAL Zumbro, who has translated German accounts for the Eisenhower Center of the University of New Orleans, has translated and expanded Bidermann's 1964 private German publication, utilizing the same preserved documents and retrospective interviews from other members of the 132d. Before war's end, the unit was cut off in Courland, though Bidermann claims it was "never defeated in open battle." After surrender in 1945, the remnants of the division were held in extended captivity. The Wehrmacht subculture, which Bidermann describes but does not connect back to the Reich's atrocities, was compulsively "professional," with loyalty to fellows its all-consuming central ethic. This ethic seemingly sustained these soldiers through continual dire peril of body and soul. Some did survive. B&W photos. History Book Club selection. Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German

Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German

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Book Review

In Deadly Combat: A German Soldier's Memoir of the Eastern Front
- Book Reviews, by Gottlob Herbert Bidermann

In Deadly Combat: A German Soldier's Memoir of the Eastern Front

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Gottlob Bidermann's riveting and reflective combat memoir vividly conveys the brutality and horrors of the Eastern Front in detail never before available in English.

SYNOPSIS

"Since 1945, the front-line realities of Germany's Russian war have been submerged under so much myth that a book like this represents a welcome reality check. The 132nd was a division for the working day. Its story, and Bidermann's, are part of the 'master narrative' of a 'demodernizing' Wehrmacht, whose men held against unbelievable odds and in the end were sacrificed to one of history's most purely evil causes. It is a story worth making available to American readers."--Dennis Showalter, author of Tannenberg: Clash of Empires

"This memoir stands head and shoulders above the many other books in this genre. Bidermann's style is crisp, succinct, and lucid and Zumbro has done a great job of retaining the author's effective style."--David Glantz, coauthor of The Battle of Kursk and When Titans Clashed

FROM THE CRITICS

History Book Club Review

An unforgettable account of life and death under almost impossible circumstances. It offers battle descriptions of unprecedented detail.

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