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Stormtrooper on the Eastern Front
€ 14,90
Fighting with Hitler’s Latvian SS
BLOSFELDS Mintauts: Stormtrooper on the Eastern Front. Fighting with Hitler’s Latvian SS
Englisch, 207 Seiten, 19 s/w-Abbildungen, 11 Karten, broschürt
Following the conquest of his native Latvia by the Nazis, the author was given the stark choice: service in the SS or forced labour in a slave camp. So he ‚volunteered‘ to fight for the Nazis. He describes his training and how he became an instructor before being sent into Russia. He nearly perished during the terrible winter of 1943-44 being wounded and finding himself with his friend lying dead on top of him. As the tide turned and the Russians advanced remorselessly through. He was wounded twice more and awarded the Iron Cross for bravery.
With German resistance collapsing, the author had to flee for his life – capture by the Russians meant almost certain death. He surrendered to the Americans but describes the neglect he suffered at their hands. Unable to return to Latvia now occupied by the Russians, he became a Displaced Person eventually settling in the UK.
Personal accounts of war from the German perspective are rare and those of one who fought with the SS in Russia infinitely more so. Thus Stormtrooper on the Eastern Front provides a unique insight into the horrors of war which absolutely demands to be read.
