Description
| Product ID: | 9781398103276 |
| Product Form: | Paperback / softback |
| Country of Manufacture: | GB |
| Title: | Voices of the Flemish Waffen-SS |
| Subtitle: | The Final Testament of the Oostfronters |
| Authors: | Author: Jonathan Trigg |
| Page Count: | 256 |
| Subjects: | European history, European history, History, Second World War, Land forces and warfare, 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000, Second World War, Land forces & warfare, Belgium, Germany, c 1939 to c 1945 (including WW2) |
| Description: | Select Guide Rating New B-format paperback - What motivated men to fight for an enemy that had invaded their own country? These are last voices of the Flemish Waffen-SS; there are very few left and they tell their story with absolute candour. After 70 years, why would they not? At the very beginning of the Second World War Germany invaded and occupied Belgium. Yet less than a year later some of Belgium’s citizens volunteered to join the Waffen-SS and go and fight on the newly formed Eastern Front against Stalin’s Soviet Union. By the end of the war thousands had volunteered. Casualties were high, but there were survivors and they returned home, often to face condemnation and retribution. This book is about the war they fought in their own words, the very few who remain, the last testament before they are all gone.The motivations of these men were complex: the Flemings have their own culture and identity and some longed for a state independent of French-speaking Belgium. Some volunteered through a deep hatred of communism, often fuelled by their Catholic faith. Some, of course, were simply persuaded by Hitler’s vision of a new world order.The Flemish Waffen-SS, in various configurations, saw action on the Eastern Front from 1941 onwards ‒ at the siege of Leningrad, in the Ukraine, then retreating into Germany itself with the remnants surrendering to the Allies as the Reich lay in ruins. This was hard fighting: and for those men who had chosen this path, the war was not over. Some stayed in Germany, some returned home, perhaps to trial as war criminals. The interviews and images gathered by Jonathan Trigg are vital historical documents. |
| Imprint Name: | Amberley Publishing |
| Publisher Name: | Amberley Publishing |
| Country of Publication: | GB |
| Publishing Date: | 2021-05-15 |
