WORLD WAR II - NONFICTION
"In Deadly Combat: A German Soldier's Memoir Of
the Eastern Front" 
By Gottlob Herbert Bidermann, Translated and Edited by Derek S. Zumbro
This is an excellent account of combat on the Easter Front by one of the many main line unsung German Wehrmacht infantry divisions. This memoir follows the exploits of the 132nd division through it's many battles starting in June 1940 as it marched through Eastern Poland, and fought it's way south to Sevastopol. The division was then transferred to Leningrad and fought there with distinction. When the Russians cut off the northern army group, the 132nd fought their way in retreat to the Courtland area where they surrendered with the fall of Germany. After the surrender, Bidermann spent several harsh years in Soviet POW camps before he was finally returned home.
Bidermann started out as a gunner on a Pak (anti-tank) crew. He was later sent to officer training school and became a line officer for infantry (landser). He was wounded several times and won two Iron Crosses for bravery, the first for taking out 3 T-34 tanks near Sevastopol. This man saw one hell of a lot of combat and was lucky to live through some of the worst fighting of the war. He gives some pretty detailed accounts of action and good summaries of the overall situations of the campaigns. I suggest you have a good map handy to avoid confusion and enhance the pleasure of reading this book. I wish there existed a Russian equivalent.
The Russians were every bit as bad as the German SS
and police units. I know the German rear units treated the Russian prisoners
horribly but the Russians were just as bad. They tortured and executed Germans
captured with regularity. Their leaders were a bunch of murdering dogs. After
reading this book I had some sympathy for the regular German grunts doing there
job, especially when they knew the war was lost. I found myself at times rooting
for the Germans. In the introduction there is some question as to the validity
of one of my favorite books, Guy Sajer's "The Forgotten Soldier". For
some reason academia and the officer elite don't think an enlisted man can be
intelligent and grasp strategic concepts. Maybe Sajer did a little research to
enhance his book. Bidermann certainly had a broad grasp of the Easter Front.
Reviewed by Kenneth S. Smith 10/10/2000
Available from:
University Press of Kansas
