I keep hearing and reading about "these waffen SS guys." What is a good book to start with on this group? It sounds pretty interesting. v\r TRB
Oh... You picked about the most controversial subject to ask for a good place to start... Soldiers of Destruction by Sydnor History of the SS by Graber SS: The blood soaked soil by Williamson Hitlers Samurai by Quarrie Loyalty is my Honour by Williamson Lightning Death by Quarrie Hitlers Second Army by Blandford Wenn Alle Bruder Schweigen Waffen SS: A pictorial History by Gilbert. Thats just the one shelf on my bookcase that I can read from the computer... RED
'Pretty interesting'...hmmm, could be a can of worms ! Some very good recommendations above; also an early classic in this field was George H Stein's 'The Waffen SS : Hitler's Elite Guard At War 1939-1945' recently reprinted after being scarce for many years.
Cool thx RedBaron. Gotta start somewhere I guess. The library out here sucks! But I'll see what I can do. thx again v\r TRB
Man the library here sucks. They didn't have any decent books. But I did manage to start one that is pretty cool. It is done by Time Life Books, on the evolution of the SS and who headed it up, Himmler, Heydrich, so forth. It is really cool. Himmler sounds even more extreme than Hitler, but that is just a quick impression that I get halfway through the book. I guess the "worms" are open. v/r TRB
We could start off a whole flame-out topic here, AF4L, but here goes.... The controversy arises often because with this subject, as with many others, there are two opposing views of the Waffen-SS. On the one hand, some see this undoubtedly elite organization as unconnected to the Allgemeine SS ( the guys who organized the concentration camps, among many other unsavoury things ). These can go so far as being uncritical admirers of the Waffen-SS who they uphold as noble warriors fighting to defend their Fatherland. On the other hand, many see all the SS ( Waffen- or Allgemeine ) as a whole, equally guilty of monstrous crimes against humanity. Some go so far as seeing the Waffen-SS as ruthless, bloodthirsty automatons, brainwashed in the Nazi credo. And, again as so often, the truth probably lies somewhere between the two. While possibly the most skilled professional soldiers in modern history, their story is undoubtedly overshadowed by involvement some of WWII's most controversial massacres such as Wormhoudt, Malmedy and Oradour-sur-Glane. I hope that this is a reasonably quick overview of a very complex question. Enjoy your reading but beware ! Much cr*p has, and still is, being written about the Waffen-SS. The titles recommended above should give you, hopefully, a reasonably balanced view.
I have Gordon Williamson's "SS: Hitler's instrument of terror" and despite it has some good information, he doesn't include entire stories and is kind of an apologist according to what Martin showed me…
Apologists will find better response and be generally happier in other forums rather than on this one, thank goodness.
Well,.......I asked. This is the only forum that I post in. Do you guys have several different forums that you post in? V\R TRB
