Through Hell for Hitler: A Dramatic First-Hand Account of Fighting on the Eastern Front With the Wehrmacht - Hardcover

Metelmann, Henry

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0971170916 ISBN 13: 9780971170919

Publisher: Casemate, 2009

Synopsis

Here is the extraordinary story of one man’s war. This book portrays the gradual awakening in the mind of a young Hitler Youth ‘educated’ soldier of a Panzer Division, bogged down in the bitterest fighting on the Eastern Front, to the truth of the criminal character of what he is involved in.

Having in mind that about 9 out of 10 German soldiers who died in WWII were killed in Russia, the book throws light on the largely unreported heroic sacrifices of Soviet soldiers and civilians often against seemingly hopeless odds, without which Europe might well have fallen to fascism. It deals less with grand strategies, tactics and military technicalities than with the human involvement of ordinary people, from both sides, who were caught up in that enormity of a tragedy, that epic struggle in Russia.

It throws light on the chasm which existed between officers and men in the sharply class-divided Wehrmacht with most of the top rank officers having been drawn from the old imperial aristocracy.

About this title

About the Author

Henry Metelmann was born into a working class family in Altona, near Hamburg, on Christmas Day, 1922. A member of the Hitler Youth, he was called up into the Wehrmacht in 1940, becoming a panzerjager, or rank driver. After service in France, his unit went via the Southern Russian Front to Stalingrad. After the Battle of Kursk, his unit moved to Polan and then Austria. Surrendering in 1945, he was a POW in America and then Britain. After a short time in Germany, he returned to Britain and worked on the railways until his retirement and now lives in Surrey.

Review

An interesting perspective of the average soldier on the Eastern Front. Unlike some other books in the genre, the Author acknowledges the attrocities committed against the Russian people and we see him struggle to come to grips with the ideological differences between National Socialism and Communism. In fact, the most interesting aspect of this book is the numerous encounters the Author had with ordinary Russian peasant and soldier. Very well told. This book is the thinking man's "Forgotten Soldier." --By A in Scottsdale "ashackel"

Until I read Henry Metelmann's obituary in the Daily Telegraph I had never heard of him. I downloaded his book and found a rich historical narrative from the point of view of a soldier first as victor then vanquished. This book is not an apology, rather it is a statement about what happened and what drove events. To understand the German war machine, and no doubt atrocities since, you need to read a book like this without making judgement until you have completed it. Read this book and yours will be a far more informed understanding and opinion. --By Bryan Jones

The author offers almost no "big picture" of his war, he basically recounts what he would have known as a driver. He mentions in passing that he was in the Anti-tank Unit. I don't know if he ever mentions that he was with the 22nd Panzer Division, an ill-fated division that was formed in late '42. It's early performance was not stellar. The unit was disbanded in early '43 after being decimated in the Russian counter-offensive at Stalingrad. The author is very unsentimental about his time and experiences in the Wermacht, in great contrast to most German accounts of the war. This is the most interesting aspect of the book. He is quite candid about the German arrogance that characterized the conquering armies of the first half of the war. He talks of what people knew and did not know. His unit was not a paragon of German invincibility, or even a company of brothers. Our soldier participated in battles with senseless casualties and poor leadership. The author had many hair-breadth escapes. The Herren have written many books with one point of view. This soldat gives a very good insight into how some of the others felt. --By A Customer

Edition details

• Publisher: Casemate
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0971170916
• ISBN 13: 9780971170919
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 206