Tony Le Tissier Bücher

2. Verdenskrig; USSR; Tyskland; Brückenköpfe; Küstrin;

Die Berichte dieses Buches bilden einen nicht unwichtigen Teil des eigentlichen Quellenmaterials zu vielen wissenschaftlichen Untersuchungen über die letzte Phase des Zweiten Weltkrieges auf deutschem Boden. Sie lassen die Betroffenen selbst zu Wort kommen. Der britische Historiker Tony LeTissier läßt in diesem Buch deutsche Soldaten über die letzten Monate, Wochen oder Tage des Krieges als Augenzeugen erzählen. Es sind erschütternde Berichte, die Zeugnis ablegen von der ungeheuren Brutalität dieser Kämpfe. Minderjährige Flakhelfer berichten ebenso wie alte Panzergrenadiere, wobei die Erlebnisberichte die gesamte Breite der Stimmungslage dokumentieren: Die erstaunliche Zähigkeit, mit der viele Einheiten den aussichtslosen Kampf bis zum Ende durchhielten, wird ebenso deutlich, wie die Verzweiflung und der Überlebenswille anderer. Dabei werden die Soldaten immer wieder Zeugen des oft grausamen Schicksals der Zivilbevölkerung, die ohne ihr eigenes Zutun in den Strudel der militärischen Ereignisse gerissen wird. Besonders interessant ist der Bericht eines Berliner Stabsoffiziers von den Kapitulationsverhandlungen mit den Sowjets, in dem die apokalyptische Stimmung unter den letzten Verteidigern dieser Stadt in berührender Weise erfahrbar wird.

The last British Governor of Spandau Allied Prison puts the record straight about the final years of Rudolf Hess' life, and his ultimate suicide while in Allied custody. Lt. Col. Le Tissier authentically counters the many allegations, which have abounded, that the prisoner was an imposter, that he was kept in isolation, and even that he was murdered. The book also gives some fascinating insights into life in Berlin as an island of democracy in a sea of Communism.

The frenzied last day so the Third Reich from the perspective of young German soldiers

Hans Schaufler fought as the commander of a Jagdpanther tank destroyer in rearguard actions against the Red Army in East Prussia in 1945. Then, as an infantryman, he took part in the doomed defence of Danzig and made a daring escape across the Baltic in a small boat. This is his story, and it is the story of tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians who were caught up in the chaos and tragedy of the German retreat. His eyewitness account is one of the most revealing records we have of the experience of the collapse of the Third Reich in the east. As well as giving a vivid insight into the German army's tactics as they fell back before the Soviet advance, he describes the appalling conditions and the fear and panic that gripped the city. Acute shortages of men, equipment, ammunition and fuel crippled the defence, but extraordinary resilience, heroism and ingenuity still motivated the soldiers who were fighting for a lost cause and facing certain defeat.

A vivid depiction of the extraordinary circumstances of the Third Reich's final days

Operation "Berlin," the Soviet offensive launched on 16 April, 1945, by Marshals Zhukov and Koniev, isolated the German Ninth Army and tens of thousands of refugees in the Spreewald "pocket," south-east of Berlin. Stalin ordered its encirclement and destruction and his subordinates, eager to win the race to the Reichstag, pushed General Busse's 9th Army into a tiny area east of the village of Halbe. To escape the Spreewald pocket, the remnants of 9th Army had to pass through Halbe, where barricades constructed by both sides formed formidable obstacles and the converging Soviet forces subjected the area to heavy artillery fire. By the time 9th Army eventually escaped the Soviet pincers, it had suffered 40,000 killed and 60,000 taken prisoner. Teenaged refugees recount their experiences alongside Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS veterans attempting to maintain military discipline amid the chaos and carnage of headlong retreat. While army commanders strive to extricate their decimated units, demoralized soldiers change into civilian clothing and take to the woods. Relating the story day by day, Tony Le Tissier shows the impact of total war upon soldier and civilian alike, illuminating the unfolding of great and terrible events with the recollections of participants.