By Erwin Bartmann
Like many Germans, Berlin schoolboy Erwin Bartmann fell lower than the spell of the Zeitgeist cultivated through the Nazis. confident he used to be starting to be up within the top kingdom on the planet, he dreamt of becoming a member of the Leibstandarte, Hitler's elite Waffen SS unit. Tall, blond, blue-eyed, and simply seventeen-years-old, Erwin fulfilled his dream on Mayday 1941, whilst he gave up his apprenticeship on the Glaser bakery in Memeler Strasse and walked into the Lichterfelde barracks in Berlin as a uncooked, volunteer recruit.
On arrival on the jap entrance in past due summer time 1941, Erwin was once assigned to a frontline communications squad hooked up to 4.Kompanie and shortly found that survival used to be an issue of good fortune - or the safety of a father or mother angel. luck ultimately abandoned Erwin on eleven July 1943 whilst shrapnel sizzled via his lung in the course of the epic conflict of Kursk-Prokhorovka. Following a interval of restoration, and advertising to Unterscharführer, Erwin took up a put up as machine-gun teacher with the Ausbildung und Ersatz Bataillon, a coaching unit dependent on the subject of the japanese component to the Berliner Ring Autobahn. while the purple military introduced its mammoth attack at the Seelow Heights, Erwin's unit, now integrated into Regiment Falke, used to be deployed to the southern flank of the Berlin-Frankfurt Autobahn, with reference to the River Oder. The German defenses quickly crumbled and with the tip of the Reich inevitable, Erwin used to be compelled to choose from a fight for private survival and the achievement of his SS oath of 'loyalty unto death’.
From the battle at the southern area of the jap entrance to a bomb-shattered Berlin populated mostly through outdated males and demoralized lonely ladies, this candid eyewitness account deals a special and infrequently spectacular standpoint at the lifetime of a tender Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler volunteer.
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Extra info for Fur Volk und Fuhrer: The Memoir of a Veteran of the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
Sample text
Life as a recruit suited me and I have to admit that the months that followed were some of the happiest times of my life though by the time ‘lights out’ came around, I was often thoroughly exhausted and perhaps closer to tears than to laughter. On four occasions, I stood sentry at the southern end of the Lichterfelde compound close to the vehicle workshops and a cage in which lived a brown bear. The animal was a gift, presented to the Leibstandarte during the recent campaign in Greece and its antics provided amusement for a weary sentry.
The drill suit will be your daily wear while training. The space in the lower part of the locker is where you will store your boots – one pair to be worn while on watch and a second pair used in training – and one pair of dress shoes which are to be kept clean at all times. 47 ‘In the uppermost section of the locker you will hang your shirts and underwear. Steel helmets and backpacks are stored on top of the lockers. Belts and ties must be hung on the hooks on the back of the door. Finally, there is a small but adequate space at the left hand side for bread and fillings such as butter and jam.
The reek of cordite filled the air. Sitting on the bunk directly opposite my own, Max, a blond-haired recruit from around Kiel, clasped his knee with both hands. Blood oozed between his fingers. 54 Attracted by the sound of the shot, the Laughing Devil rushed into the dormitory. ’ he screamed. ’ The rifles issued to us were the Gewehr 98 model from the First World War but since all the recruits in the Leibstandarte were tall, the large size of these old weapons suited us just fine. The particular weapon that came to me had the most beautiful grain pattern on the butt which, polished to perfection over the years, was much admired by my Kameraden.