Soldiers of Destruction: The SS Death's Head Division, 1933-1945 - Updated Edition

by Charles W. Sydnor Jr.

Book Overview

Charles Sydnor relates the political and military experience of the SS Totenkopfdivision to the institutional development of the SS and the ideological objectives of Nazi Germany.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0691008531
• ISBN13: 9780691008530
• Release Date: May 1990
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.4" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Awesome!

This classic is a scholarly and highly readable account. The best german divisional history that you can buy. A must read for students of the Eastern Front and the Waffen SS. Readers with a general interest in military history will also appreciate this one.

Best Military History I've Ever Read

[...]Doubtless this book is the finest divisional history ever written and I daresay for prose, succintness of presentation and lucidity of relevant detail Sydnor has set a standard I have yet to read surpassed. He does not gloss over the 3rd SS division's sordid origins, leadership or questionable wartime behavior but does pay attention to the dogged determination (some would call it fanaticism) that was the Waffen SS's claim to fame. I am only sorry Syndnor hung up his writing boots after this fine tome because he certainly had the flair to write popular history. In sum, "Soldiers of Destruction" is an indispensable addition to any military history buff's library. I haven't read his new updated pb version but am certain it is as readable as the original, hardback edition I have.

Academically honest insight in to the Totenkopf and Eicke

Dr. Syndor presents us with what appears to be an academically honest, truthful account of the development of the SS Totenkopf division. He traces its indisputable origins from the concentration camp system into an elite Waffen SS combat Division. Syndor captures the facts regarding the effect that Theodor Eicke had on creating the division from his hand picked staffs in the concentration system. Thus creating a combat division led and manned by individuals already hardened to cruelty to the "enemy behind the wire". Syndor presents a detailed account of Eicke's rise through the concentration camp system, his immense political connections, the origins of the Totenkopf division under Eicke's guidance. The author is clearly impressed by the combat performance of the Waffen SS and the Totenkopf division in particular; however, he presents facts and adequate footnotes for anyone to investigate. The truth speaks for itself, the Waffen SS, with the esprit of the troops and the political indoctrination, were elite combat units. They fought at times to the last man and withstood hardships and casualty rates beyond what most other troops would endure. They also committed acts that carried the political will of the Fuhrer and the Reichsfuhrer SS to the occupied territories and the front. This is NOT an apologist's book about the Waffen SS, nor does it state that every SS trooper was a criminal. The truth, as usual, is somewhere in between. It does paint the SS and the Waffen SS as the criminal organizations that they were. It also details the combat performance of this elite combat unit. The last half of the book is sketchier on details of the Totenkopf's combat records, but this was due to the loss of many of those detailed records to the war waged upon Germany. This is an excellent book, my only criticism is that it does not have enough photo's and statistics (specifically, after action reports).

A Disturbing Portrait

Charles W. Sydnor's Soldiers of Destruction has been out for some time. First published in 1977, it remains a unique work among World War II histories. Essentially the book is a history of the formation (especially the politics involved) and personnel policies of the SS Totenkopf Division from 1933-45. Those looking for a history of the battles, in which SSTK fought, especially during 1943-45, will have to look elsewhere.In addition to the other strengths of this work let me point out two that I have not seen mentioned in any of the other reviews:First the author provides very interesting information on the comings and goings of SSTK officers and men between the division and other SS authorities, especially the concentration/extermination camps. From the SS ideological perspective both organizations, the Waffen SS at the front and the camp guards were performing the same function, fighting the same merciless enemy. It is interesting that the SS stressed from the very beginning of the war that "guard duty in the camps was no less soldierly or important than service in the front lines. The SS Totenkopf units guarding and running the camps were depicted as heroic detachments filled with exemplary SS men performing an invaluable service by protecting Germany from the internal enemies" behind the wire (see footnote p 324). For the SS the fanatical enemy faced in Russia which supposedly hoped to destroy Germany was the same as the helpless inmates being driven to the gas chambers of Auschwitz, killing either in as great of numbers as possible guaranteed not only Nazi victory, but the physical survival of the German race in its death struggle with the "Jewish-Bolsheviks". As an explanation for the unexplainable this attitude along with the terrible experiences of the SSTK on the Eastern Front does much to answer the question as to how such slaughter of innocent civilians was possible. Today such simplistic thinking seems ludicrous, but we should not underestimate the effect of racist or other type of exclusionist ideology on young minds that are indoctrinated over a period of years from figures in authority (not to mention specially-selected fanatics) that they trust. An indication of the power of their persuasion is the fact that in May 1940 only four men in the entire division had not publicly renounced Christianity (see footnote p 85). The second point, which comes out in the book was the wastefulness of such units as SSTK for the German war effort. The author mentions repeated complaints of German Army commanders as to the high battle casualty rates among the SSTK, rates due in many cases to incompetent officers. Also due to the stringent selection process that Eicke maintained men who could have served as officers or NCOs in other formations, served as privates in the SSTK. This was a trait common to all the Waffen SS formations, the Army's Grossdeutschland Division and all the Luftwaffe ground formations. Germany, facing so many ene

An excellent account of the Death's Head Division

This book is an excellent account of the TotenkopfDivision from its inception to its destruction during WWII. It was very engrossing and I couldnt put it down. Very well written with an extensive bibliography. It certainly eliminates many doubts about whether the Waffen SS was linked to the Concentration Camp system when in fact many of the senior commanders of various divisions saw action with the Totenkopf Division both in the front and behind it. Made me want to look further into the history of this unit and the Waffen SS as a whole.