Book suggestions

[gordonmull]

This isn't really all that naval but I'm looking for suggestions for first-hand accounts of the WWII Eastern front, preferably from the German point of view but I'm open to Soviet. I've already read Blood Red Snow and The Forgotten Soldier, which are both excellent books.

[Red October1984]

I'm also interested if anybody has anything to recommend. I like this sort of thing.

[ikalugin]

Are you more interested in the human tragedy side of that war or the military science/history side?

[Red October1984]

Originally Posted by ikalugin

Are you more interested in the human tragedy side of that war or the military science/history side?

As for me, I like both.

Open to suggestions.

[ikalugin]

I would look if I have any good books translated.

What I would suggest reading would be the -commission for studies of war experience- materials (or whatever it was called). That commission would collect and study the combat experience and then transmit it around the armed forces in form of special documents.

This was done quickly and hence (amongst other things) allowed the Soviet Armed Forces to grow from where they were in 1941 to where they were in 1945.

[Eichhörnchen]

Hi, gordonmull: I have the two books you've read. I also have "The Outermost Frontier: A German Soldier in the Russian Campaign" by Helmut Pabst (ISBN 0-7183-0600-7) which is a personal account type book;

also "War On The Eastern Front 1941-1945: The German Soldier in Russia" by James Lucas (no ISBN number in the book, but it was published by Cooper & Lucas Ltd) factual, with good long passages of personal account, which is the type of book I especially like.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by gordonmull

This isn't really all that naval but I'm looking for suggestions for first-hand accounts of the WWII Eastern front, preferably from the German point of view but I'm open to Soviet. I've already read Blood Red Snow and The Forgotten Soldier, which are both excellent books.

Pretty good selection here:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...astern+f%2Caps

[kranz]

for a German perspective: Paul Carell - Operation Barbarossa and its continuation Scorched Earth.

[gordonmull]

Fair amount of suggestions there, I'm more into land forces' (infantry, tanker's) experiences. Jim, I had thought of a search on Amazon but I figured I'd ask here first, given the ever so slight bastion of knowledge on WWII . Settled on either Black EdelWeiss by Johann Voss or Red Army Tank Commander: At War in a T-34 on the Eastern Front by Vasiley Bryukhov.

It's not a book, but just to share for anyone who's not come across it, Pte Tom Barker's memoirs are a good read. He served with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in North Africa, then Crete. http://www.warlinks.com/memories/barker/index.php

[kranz]

don't read soviet commanders' memoirs. Most of them are like:
Day 1: we killed 100 fascists.
Day 2: we killed 1000 fascists.
Day 3: we killed 100 000 fascists.
Day 4: Retreat.

[ikalugin]

Originally Posted by kranz

don't read soviet commanders' memoirs. Most of them are like:
Day 1: we killed 100 fascists.
Day 2: we killed 1000 fascists.
Day 3: we killed 100 000 fascists.
Day 4: Retreat.

I guess retreating got us to Berlin, huh?

[ikalugin]

However, if you insist I would sum up German memoirs the same way Koshkin did:
(can be found here in Russian, original is not mine: http://armor.kiev.ua/humor/txt/ger.php)

 

- We lost because of Hitler. Hitler was a fool. German soldier - best Soldier. German commander - like Friedrich the Great but without the vices.
- Russians buried us under their corpses. Russians were too numerous. Russian soldier - is a beast, he eats that could not run from it, sleeps while standing like a horse, and sneaks around. Author numerous times witnessed how whole armies sneaked through the front line, nothing was giving away their presence - normal artillery preparation, aerial bombardment and then suddenly there is an entire Russian Tank Army in your rear.
- SS was sometimes taking it too far. I mean, they should have been content with the regular marauding, mass executions by firing squads and occasional rape, without which the German Soldier would suffer from over abundance of energy and jolly spirit. Most of population on the new territories would have accepted us then.
- Russians had T34. It is unfair. We didn't have such tank.
- Russians had too many anti tank guns. Every soldier had an anti tank gun, they would hide with those in small crevices, in the tall grass, in the tree roots.
- Russians had way too many Mongolians. Mongolians backed up by commissars are a scary thing.
- Russians had commissars. Commissars are scary. Most commissars were Jews. We killed our Jews, Himler was a fool, we would have won with Jewish commissars (comment from Ika - this should not be viewed offensive for the Jewish).
- Russians were using an unfair move - they would pretend that they were surrendering and then would shoot us in the back. Once a whole Russian Tank Corps would kill in this way a German Heavy Tank Battalion.
- Russians were killing German Troops. This was unfair, as everyone knows that it is only allowed for Germans to kill Russians, not the other way round.
- Allies betrayed us. British and Americans that is.

[Dmitry Markov]

I don't know if these books are translated - but those are masterpieces:

series of Artem Drabkin books with interviews of veterans ("T-34 in action" is translated and is present on amazon as kindle edition)

All these books names are beginning with " Ya dralsya na ..." (I fought in a ...) and then a name of combat arm : artillery, fighter planes, bombers, Il-2's, tanks and so on...

The other great source for first-hand memories is Drabkin's project iremember.ru - maybe it might be even more useful for those who don't speak russian. There are hundreds of recollections all sorted by combat arms. You can use google translate (with care of course ;-)

PS. iremember.ru HAS English version! Didn't notice a small icon in the corner :-) So please don't use google translate on that ;-)
This site is absolutely "must read" for anyone interested in first-hand memories from Soviet side WWII Eastern Front. Those grannies aren't bound these days with secrets or ideology they just tell their stories and you can see everybody had different experience - that makes it very valuable.

Best Regards!

[kranz]

Originally Posted by ikalugin

I guess retreating got us to Berlin, huh?

American supplies and sacrificing a tremendous amount of people got you to Berlin.
Nothing else.

[ikalugin]

Originally Posted by kranz

American supplies and sacrificing a tremendous amount of people got you to Berlin.
Nothing else.

So overstating the importance of Lend Lease and the Soviet irrecoverable losses? I see. I guess Soviet army fighting better on the operational level by the 3rd period of the war has nothing to do with it. I suggest reading this though:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.co...u&client=opera
(not even Russian)

That article should be interesting to the OP (and contributors to this thread), as it provides the overview for the development of the Eastern Front histories and criticism of a number of historical works.