History is written by the victor

[Krauter]

Thanks alot for all the current suggestions guys

[Dan D]

A neglected masterpiece of war literature:

“The Stalin Front”, also published as “The Stalin Organ”, by Gert Ledig.

Gert Ledig served in a Penal Battalion on the Eastern Front near Leningrad in summer 1942 as punishment for having made “communist statements”.

“ Stalin Front is a harrowing, almost photographic, description of violence and devastation, one that brings home the unforgiving reality of total war (The New York Review of Books).


Opening scene:
“The Lance-Corporal couldn't turn in his grave, because he didn't have one. Some three versts from Podrova, forty versts south of Leningrad, he had been caught in a salvo of rockets, been thrown up in the air, and with severed hands and head dangling, been impaled on the skeletal branches of what once had been a tree.

The NCO who was writhing on the ground with a piece of shrapnel in his belly, had no idea what was keeping his machine-gunner. It didn't occur to him to look up. He had his hands full with himself...”

[Penguin]

Originally Posted by Krauter

Thanks alot for all the current suggestions guys

I second this remark! A great effort of a great community!
Thank you all for the cool tips on the Japanese films, I have only seen Letters from Iwo Jima so far. I can only recommend to watch it as a double feature.

@heatc: there was a very impressive dokumentation about surviving kamikaze pilots on arte some 15 years ago. They gathered together for the first time, 50 years after the war. I will do a bit of research to find it, or at least its title.

Originally Posted by Dan D

A neglected masterpiece of war literature:

“The Stalin Front”, also published as “The Stalin Organ”, by Gert Ledig.

Gert Ledig served in a Penal Battalion on the Eastern Front near Leningrad in summer 1942 as punishment for having made “communist statements”.

I must admit that I have never heard of Ledig before, but I will have to get the book. I might had known someone who had been in this particular batallion , too bad that the book is written as a novel, but maybe the names or descriptions can give me a hint about my late acquaintance.


Glad to see that there are still some readers outside! A quick amazon.com search has shown me that some of the good books have indeed been translated into american
I will make a list of books from the german pov which I can recommend tomorrow, had a stressfull day today, so I'll dive down again after this message.

over and out,
Penguin