In the hell that was World War II, the Eastern Front was its heart
of fire and ice. Gottlob Herbert Bidermann served in that lethal
theater from 1941 to 1945, and his memoir of those years recaptures
the sights, sounds, and smells of the war as it vividly portrays an
army marching on the road to ruin.
A riveting and reflective account by one of the millions of
anonymous soldiers who fought and died in that cruel terrain, In
Deadly Combat conveys the brutality and horrors of the Eastern
Front in detail never before available in English. It offers a
ground soldier's perspective on life and death on the front lines,
providing revealing new information concerning day-to-day
operations and German army life.
Wounded five times and awarded numerous decorations for valor,
Bidermann saw action in the Crimea and siege of Sebastopol,
participated in the vicious battles in the forests south of
Leningrad, and ended the war in the Courland Pocket. He shares his
impressions of countless Russian POWs seen at the outset of his
service, of peasants struggling to survive the hostilities while
caught between two ruthless antagonists, and of corpses littering
the landscape. He recalls a Christmas gift of gingerbread from home
that overcame the stench of battle, an Easter celebrated with a
basket of Russian hand grenades for eggs, and his miraculous
survival of machine gun fire at close range. In closing he relives
the humiliation of surrender to an enemy whom the Germans had once
derided and offers a sobering glimpse into life in the Soviet
gulags.
Bidermann's account debunks the myth of a highly mechanized
German army that rolled over weaker opponents with impunity.
Despite the vast expanses of territory captured by the Germans
during the early months of Operation Barbarossa, the war with
Russia remained tenuous and unforgiving. His story commits that
living hell to the annals of World War II and broadens our
understanding of its most deadly combat zone.
Translator Derek Zumbro has rendered Bidermann's memoir into a
compelling narrative that retains the author's powerful style. This
English-language edition of Bidermann's dynamic story is based upon
a privately published memoir entitled "Krim-Kurland Mit Der 132
Infanterie Division." The translator has added important events
derived from numerous interviews with Bidermann to provide
additional context for American readers.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
