Book Review - Eastern Inferno

[desantnik]

I don't know what it is about being on vacation and reading depressing Eastern Front books, but it started when I was home from school at Christmas time and read Guy Sajer's The Forgotten Soldier - nothing like a cheery novel to put you in the Season's good spirits.

Well, this vacation I read the Kindle version of Eastern Inferno: The Journals of a German Panzerjaeger on the Eastern Front 1941-1943 published in 2010 by Casemate edited by Christine Alexander and Mason Kunze. Again, I was not disappointed.

Our hero, a German non-com panzer hunter, recounts his actual experiences in three diaries that have become the book. He invaded on the very first day and not a spoiler alert, but didn't live to tell about it.

He mentions pre-war Soviet combat patrolling WEST of the Soviet border as asserted by pseudonum Suvorov as evidence that Stain was actually preparing to invade the Third Reich, but I digress. There is also his dispassionate mention of a Jewish massacre in Kiev (probably Babi Yar), mobile and trench warfare, longing for home, horrific artillery and air raids, penetrations and encirclements, fatigue, death, partisans, tanks, home leave, food and lack of it - plenty of stuff you don't want to think about while on vacation.

I'll never again disregard a common infantry or artillery "X killed Y fascists" citation again.

All of the savagery and suck you expect of the Eastern Front is here bearing evidence to the fact that EVERY front-liner earned his decorations in this war and we should do our utmost to remember those that did...

I highly recommend this grunt-level

[CtahhR]

Sounds like a great read I'll have to stick in on my "must read" list. The last time I was in an airport I read "Marshal Zhukov's Greatest Battles" in one sitting. Not very "grunt" friendly but great if you like reading lists of infantry units moving around. There's certainly many first hand reports out there in book form from all sides and from all levels of involvement and rank. Sometimes it's more of a lesson in propaganda than history though.

These stories we have now though are only those of those who either survived or had their works survive and were willing to talk about it. There are many folks who to this day remain silent.