Soldiers of Destruction
by Charles W. Sydnor Jr.

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Book Reviews of Soldiers of Destruction

Book Review: A thorough study of a unit of contraditctions
Summary: 5 Stars

Perhaps the one personality who permeated the division was Theodor Eicke, the first commander of Totenkopf and its major personality whose influence was felt even after his death in combat in 1943. Eicke's struggles with Himmler and the Wehrmacht to gain respect and much needed supplies as well as the various machinations within Nazi Germany's hierarchy are well detailed. Eicke was to the Totenkopf what Sepp Dietrich was to the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler and Paul Hausser to the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich: a father figure revered and respected by his men, but also feared (Eicke often punished his men by sending them to the camps as inmates but made sure his men had enough rations and winter clothing in Russia).

The Totenkopf Division fought primarily on the Eastern Front and gained a reputation as steadfast in defense. While the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler and Das Reich divisions were the spearheads of the Waffen-SS and took the forefront in the attack, it was the Totenkopf that held the line in Russia and gained respect from notable army generals such as Erich von Manstein and Maximilian Von Weichs.

Even with its enviable reputation in battle, the Totenkopf was a unit of contradictions. Some of the officers and men who were worthy soldiers included Otto Baum( holder of the Knights' Cross with Swords and Oakleaves-no Diamonds, even though he deserved them and Sydnor says that he won them), the only man to command three different divisions of the SS and one of the youngest corps commanders when he took temporary command of Das Reich along with the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division "Gotz von Berlichingen", Georg Bochmann, also a holder of the Swords and a commander of two different divisions, Karl Ullrich, commander of the combat engineer batallion, holder of the Oakleaves, and the last commander of the 5th SS Panzer Division "Wiking", and Fritz Christen, the first enlisted man in the SS to win the Knights Cross and at the age of 20 the youngest soldier to be awarded the Ritterkreuz. Totenkopf was awarded 11 Knight's Crosses for actions in the Demyansk pocket, the most Knight's Crosses awarded to a single unit in one battle. Despite such brave officers and men, Totenkopf had an unsavory reputation for atrocities and a number of war criminals did serve in the unit. Totenkopf was responsible for the execution of English prisoners of war and French colonial troops in France in 1940 and was alleged to ahve committed numerous war crimes on the Russian Front. Sydnor notes that three Totenkopf officers who later beccame division commanders were alleged to have been responsible for major war crimes in the West: Heinz Lammerding for the massacre at Oradour while commanding Das Reich in 1944, Hermann Priess for actions during the Battle of the Bulge while serving as corps commander of the LAH, and Max Simon for killing Italian civilians in 1944 and executing German civilians in 1945. Sydnor traces this to the instituion of the camps and the mentality that resulted from them and the indoctrination of Eicke which makes for an intersting study and refutes the claim made by some SS members that they were soldiers like the rest of the German military.

The final fate of the Totenkopf was in many ways a Goetterdammerung: Totenkopf managed to surrender to the Americans in Austria, but its members were handed over to the Soviets supposedly because it did almost all of its fighting in the East, a fate not shared by the LAH and Das Reich because they fought extensively on the Western Front. Few Totenkopf members survived Soviet captivity.

An interesting read and a definite must for those interested in the German military. Perhaps Professor Sydnor could do a study on the LAH and Das Reich.

Summary of Soldiers of Destruction

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