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Description
The memoirs of the soldier Werner Völkner describe an arguably unique "professional career" - from SS-Unterscharführer to sergeant in the Royal Army of Great Britain. Born in Berlin in 1924, Werner Völkner experienced the last phase of the Weimar Republic and the "seizure of power" by the National Socialists as a schoolboy. After his apprenticeship years as a machine fitter, his time with the Hitler Youth and a short period of basic training with the Wehrmacht in Alsace-Lorraine, he decided to join the Waffen-SS.
As part of the then SS division "Totenkopf", he was trained in Arolsen as an anti-aircraft soldier on the 3.7 cm anti-aircraft gun. Apart from a short period as an occupation soldier in France, he was deployed with his unit, the anti-aircraft section of the SS division "Totenkopf", from the end of January 1943 throughout the hot spots of the Eastern Front: recapture of Kharkov, Operation "Citadel", heavy defensive fighting on the Mius, first wounding, retreat fighting through the Ukraine to Romania. In the process, the author experienced the horror of the Soviet mass attacks, which were pushed forward without regard for human casualties, the constant bombardments by Russian warplanes and the most massive artillery fire. In addition to the hardships of winter and muddy periods, partisan raids had to be expected at all times. Werner Völkner saw many comrades die, not a few of them - already dead or still wounded - mutilated by the red soldiery. Towards the end of the war, the author, who had been awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class among other decorations, was taken prisoner by the Americans in the Sudetenland after a long odyssey by an SS unit to which he had been assigned. Transferred to the British, he was shipped to England for work. In the last part of his richly illustrated book, the author describes his time as a prisoner of war and as a released civilian in the south of England, where he worked in agriculture before finally becoming naturalised and marrying. He could not return to his family in East Berlin because of the danger of being deported to Siberia. Werner Völkner built up a new existence and family in England, where he still lives today.
As part of the then SS division "Totenkopf", he was trained in Arolsen as an anti-aircraft soldier on the 3.7 cm anti-aircraft gun. Apart from a short period as an occupation soldier in France, he was deployed with his unit, the anti-aircraft section of the SS division "Totenkopf", from the end of January 1943 throughout the hot spots of the Eastern Front: recapture of Kharkov, Operation "Citadel", heavy defensive fighting on the Mius, first wounding, retreat fighting through the Ukraine to Romania. In the process, the author experienced the horror of the Soviet mass attacks, which were pushed forward without regard for human casualties, the constant bombardments by Russian warplanes and the most massive artillery fire. In addition to the hardships of winter and muddy periods, partisan raids had to be expected at all times. Werner Völkner saw many comrades die, not a few of them - already dead or still wounded - mutilated by the red soldiery. Towards the end of the war, the author, who had been awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class among other decorations, was taken prisoner by the Americans in the Sudetenland after a long odyssey by an SS unit to which he had been assigned. Transferred to the British, he was shipped to England for work. In the last part of his richly illustrated book, the author describes his time as a prisoner of war and as a released civilian in the south of England, where he worked in agriculture before finally becoming naturalised and marrying. He could not return to his family in East Berlin because of the danger of being deported to Siberia. Werner Völkner built up a new existence and family in England, where he still lives today.
- Group
- Books (first-hand)
- Author
- Völkner, Werner
- Title
- Mit der Waffen-SS über Europas Flüsse. Vom Rhein über den Dnjepr an die Themse
- Details
- Numerous bw illustrations and documents. 472 pp.
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