SS-Kampfgruppe Peiper: "An Episode in the War in Russia, February 1943"

by James Sidney Lucas

This is the book about war; about a particularly bitter war - that between Germany and Russia. This book records not only the horrors of war and man's inhumanity to man, but also the positive virtues... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1899765891
• ISBN13: 9781899765898
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: Shelf Books
• Length: 210 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.

Customer Reviews

German Heroes

Although I do not share their extreme right wing politics I do admire the Waffen SS and especially the elite Leibstandarte Adolph Hitler. These men really fought against all odds in the extremely cruel battlefields of the Eastern Front and acquitted very valiantly for themselves in the battles of Normandy and the Bulge. The Leibstandarte had the good fortune of having extremely aggressive and talented leaders such as Panzer Meyer who became Germany's youngest general, Wittman who was Germany's tanker ace having destroyed hundreds of allied tanks and field pieces commanding his tiger tank, Sepp Dietrich its charismatic commander more recognized as an inspiring leader of men than a tactical genius, Ribbentrop, Witt and others but one of their most outstanding officers was Jochem Peiper who gallantly led one of the Panzergrenadier batallions during the Kharkov and Kursk offensives and that led the spearhead of the attack during the battle of the Bulge. There has been plenty of literature about Kamftgroupe Peiper during the Bulge (even a Hollywood movie was made about this although in a disguised fashion), I have not find much about Peiper's exploits in Russia. This book narrates one incident in the fighting history of Pieper's command in Russia, this is the story of a daring rescue behind enemy lines in the days preceding the Kharkov battle when Germany was still coming to terms with the defeat of Stalingrad. The story is based in a true incident and captures the hardships of having to fight a stronger enemy in the harshest of environments as is the Russian Winter. The Germans were fighting for their survival as being captured by the red army meant torture and excecution at the hands of the Soviet NKVD troops, this made them fight better and be tougher and having an inspired leader such as Peiper made the SS soldiers especially effective in fighting the Soviet army. I consider this a very good book with an objective view towards an unpopular and frequently unfamiliar subject that tells us there were also heroes in the enemy side. The book works as a fact based military novel but also as a pure action novel that could easily be transformed into a great movie. The subject deals mostly with the endurance, courage under fire and honor that universal subjects. The novel is short but very readable and well crafted, one of the best books dealing with World war II.

Read with caution

Like a few other books I read about the Waffen-SS that were written during the cold war, there is a definite sympathy for the plight of these guys in their titanic struggle against the Soviets. I suppose the cold war authors figured the west would soon be fighting a similar struggle against these same foes. I'd urge readers to remember who the Waffen-SS and their leaders were. Remember what they did, and what they stood for. That aside, this seemed to me a fairly believable description of a wintertime Eastern Front rescue operation managed by a real-life character from WWII, Joachim Peiper. His name later became known to the Americans as synonymous with the Malmedy Massacre during the Battle of the Bulge. Yes, this is the same Peiper. Although his mission could be called a success, it's no picnic, with torn men and machines littering the frozen battlefield all around Kharkov. What would you expect from a tale of "The Eastern Front?"