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Title: Soldat

Subtitle: Reflections of a German Soldier, 1936-1949

Author: Siegfried Knappe, Ted Brusaw

Narrator: John Wray

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-02-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 564 votes

Genres: History, 20th Century

Publisher's Summary:

A German soldier during World War II offers an inside look at the Nazi war machine, using his wartime diaries to describe how a ruthless psychopath motivated an entire generation of ordinary Germans to carry out his monstrous schemes.

Members Reviews:

An incredible true story

A very amazing story of a one very lucky mans experiences through the entirety of WWII. This is a must read for anyone remotely interested in how the average German Soldier perceived the war. Its also a great background piece for how the East / West divide opened up during this period.

Narration was sound, but a little uninspiring. It wasnt difficult to listen to, but it could have had more inflection at times and been more dynamic.

A warning: an general interest in military issues is an asset, as the average readers eyes may glaze over in parts where units, places, and dates are brought up.

In summary, an very good piece of work.

Inside the other side

I've previously read accounts written by German soldiers who fought in WWII, but this was one of the more interesting and personal ones. As reconstructed from his diary and interviews, we learn that Siegfried Knappe was an unusually capable and dedicated soldier who managed to rise through the ranks, starting as a humble private in the pre-war years, and ending up as a general staff officer who was present at Hitler's bunker before the end. Along the way, he experienced different aspects of German military life in that era, from being a teenager in a labor/indoctrination camp (sort of a pre-boot camp to get young adults used to regimentation), to being a proud young officer in infantry school, to carrying out his duties in an artillery regiment during the invasions of France and Russia, to watching things turn dire for Germany as Hitler's insane decisions doom the army in Russia and allow the massive Soviet military to smash its way to Berlin. A grim epilogue follows as he endures several years languishing in a Soviet POW camp, albeit one of the less bad ones.

As with most of the other German accounts I've read, Knappe pleads ignorance about the extent of Nazi lies and atrocities (i.e. he knew of concentration camps, but not their murderous function), and expresses remorse for his role in enabling what initially seemed like a just war to most Germans, but crossed the line into a war of aggression and conquest. Chillingly, he observes, "would I have spend much time thinking about this if we'd won the war? Probably not." He doesn't spend a lot of time on self-recrimination, though, and talks more about the horrors of life under Communism (which seems understandable, given his POW experiences).

Readers looking for combat stories won't find more than a few here, but there were plenty of other details that interested me. I'm often curious about the technical details of how things work, and I thoroughly enjoyed the sections describing how German soldiers were trained and organized, which go against the popular stereotype of mindless stormtroopers. Sadly, although the officers were instilled with a strong sense of professionalism, it seems that many were so intent on restoring the national prestige shattered after WWI and avoiding a redo of the trenches, that it didn't dawn on them that they were being used by crazy people. At least, not until their lives were about to be thrown away.