Soldaten

On Fighting, Killing, and Dying

By: Sonke Neitzel, Harald Welzer, Jefferson Chase - translator

Narrated by: Simon Prebble

On a visit to the British National Archive in 2001, Sonke Neitzel made a remarkable discovery: reams of meticulously transcribed conversations among German POWs that had been covertly recorded and recently declassified. Neitzel would later find another collection of transcriptions, twice as extensive, in the National Archive in Washington, D.C. These were discoveries that would provide a unique and profoundly important window into the true mentality of the soldiers in the Wehrmacht, the Luftwaffe, the German navy, and the military in general - almost all of whom had insisted on their own honorable behavior during the war.

Collaborating with renowned social psychologist Harald Welzer, Neitzel examines these conversations - and the casual, pitiless brutality omnipresent in them - from a historical and psychological perspective, and in reconstructing the frameworks and situations behind these conversations, they have created a powerful narrative of wartime experience.

©2011 Soenke Neitzel and Harald Welzer; English translation by Jefferson Chase copyright 2012 (P)2012 HighBridge Company

Banality of evil

Any additional comments?

Scholarly account of secretly recorded conversations of WWII German POWs. The transcripts are presented more or less verbatim which makes them all the more chilling as the subjects converse in cold blooded detail murder of civilians, war crimes, and the thrill of killing as if it were a video game. You will find little remorse here. An unnerving account of what war turns men into. On the downside, I found the narration a little dry and lacking.

Deflates claims that only a few knew

I grew up in a town close to Camp Forrest where German POWs were held in the continental United States during the war. Although this book deals with German POWs held in The United Kingdom, this book was of particular interest to me. I was shocked at how prevalent the ideas about people in territories invaded by nazi troops were. It seemed to be more or less accepted that regardless of any written rules of conduct (which seem nebulous at times), that committing rape and murder were perfectly acceptable practices. Any small act was accepted as a pretext for the most appalling crimes against humanity. The "thousand year reich" will certainly be remembered for far more than a thousand years for these acts. I pray that we do better.

More accounts less analysis please!

I was very interested in listening to the soldiers recordings but tended to dose off when the author started analysing their conversations. I'm not saying I did not value the authors input; I would of just preferred to listen to more of what the soldiers had to say. Some of their stories where just incredible. I'm so happy I did not have to live through such an ordeal. It's a worth while listen for anyone interested in WWII from a German soldier's point of view.

Not what you expect

Authors arrogantly tell you what to think about what German soldiers said. Book has moments of enjoyability matched against large swaths of academic pontification and hubris.

Soldier

Would you try another book from the authors and/or Simon Prebble?

no

What other book might you compare Soldaten to and why?

I dont think there is another book like it

What didn’t you like about Simon Prebble’s performance?

He is very monotone. But he is british

Was Soldaten worth the listening time?

Yes

Any additional comments?

readslike a military report, because it is