Rating: 
Summary: An honorable soldier!
Review: I am about half way through this book. I have also read "Sager's" "The Forgotten Soldier". The next book I will tackle will be "Hell's Gate". I am not a history buff. I have a Master's in History. It is a discipline in objectivity. Not the tunnel vision of a history buff. I am a woman, with a youthful appearance, a handicap when disussing history.
It is not our choice of where we are born. We do not have any control over that. It is how we meet the situations of what we are born into. This man responded to the situation with honor. Can the same be said about some of the men that served, for the Allies in WWII or Vietnam, or what about the Iraqi Prison scandel?
Soldiers of Honor, no matter what nationality, serve with honor.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Memoir
Review: I found "Black Edelweiss" to be a very well written and balanced book by a member of the 6th SS Mountain Division "Nord". The author describes his pre military life, and his decision to join the Waffen SS. Mr. Voss' story is a must for the student for WWII history, and especially one from the view point of a member of the 6th SS Mountain Division. This is a highly recommended book!
Rating:
Summary: Near the top in terms of German Memoirs
Review: I have read several German memoirs - Soldat, The Forgotten Soldier, In Deadly Combat - plus several other studies of the Waffen SS, and I'd say this book ranks as good or better than any of those in terms of readability, insight, and thoughtfulness. Combat memoirs, whether American or German ("If You Survive" and "Company Commander" come to mind on the American side) can often become a series of descriptions of small unit battles that, while representing the thrust of the book, can be difficult to follow, or can have the perverse affect of stripping the humanity from the narrative. In the case of German memoirs, I have found as an English reader that the formal language in the translations can often compound that affect.Regardless, the story in Black Edelweis, of a patriotic German who joins the Waffen SS late in the war, is outstanding at painting a picture of pre-war Germany through the eyes of the authors' family, the comradeship that held the German army, the horror as he discovers after the war the deeds of his countrymen in regard to The Holocaust, and the patriotism and pride that the author stills feels for his unit and the way he served. I would highly recommend it to students of the German side of World War II, and would recommend it as an outstanding introduction for history readers who have never read a German memoir to the genre. It is easy to read, enjoyable, and thought provoking.
Rating:
Summary: A Soldier Of The Waffen-SS
Review: It was with great anticipation that I awaited the publication of "Black Edelweiss." I was with Task Force Herren (the three infantry regiments of the 70th Infantry Division newly arrived in theater without artillery and logistical support) and moved into Northeastern France to face a growing threat there. We were attached to the 45th Infantry Division during the German operation "Nordwind," in which the author, Johann Voss, was a machine gun section leader in Regiment 11, 6th SS Mountain Division (Nord). That operation was Hitler's last campaign after the German failure in the Battle of the Bulge. The author's division was hurriedly brought to northeastern France t o participate in "Nordwind" without its heavy supporting weapons from its area of operations in Finland where it had been engaged for several years against the Soviet Army. Voss's descriptions of the combat actions against us in the Vosges provide an excellent complement to those of Wolf Zoepf, author of "7 Days in January," and a member of Voss' sister Regiment 12. Voss was captured by American forces and and held for two years. During his captivity, he was assigned for a time to work for a U.S Army Judge Advocate Generals Corps officer where he had access to extensive factual documentation of the Holocaust and other Nazi crimes, and had finally to face and accept reality of the destruction of his boyhood dreams and the goals for his country as an infantry soldier. His story opens in 1938 when the author was a young boy of 13. He is caught up in the hopes and fears of his parents and other elders; the nation's need for economic recovery, and a great fear of Bolshevism and the Soviet Union. He joins the Hitler Jugend and is greatly impressed by his older friends and relatives who have gone into uniform, and the actions taken by the National Socialist government of Germany. He becomes very anxious to help his country, and when old enough, decides to join the Waffen SS. He is assigned to the 6th SS Division, Regiment 11 in Finland. He vividly describes life and military operations above the Arctic Circle against the Soviet foe. The winter of '44-'45 in the Vosges Mountains in NE France was the coldest in 50 years, and while it may not have measured up to the cold of the Arctic Circle region, I found myself comparing the actions taken by the German soldiers to deal with the extreme cold with those we used to survive the cold of the Vosges Mountains that December and January. As an infantry battalion commander many years later in Vietnam, I also found myself comparing the rigors of combat leadership I experienced with the leadership actions taken by the author's battalion commander and was duly surprised and impressed. Surprised because I had been under the mistaken impression that in WW II, the German Army officers did not show the concern for their soldiers' personal welfare and safety that we did, but in actuality I found that he seemed to follow the high standards of the U.S. Army Infantry School's leadership guidelines taught all U.S. Army infantry officers; impressed because all his men clearly loved him. "Black Edelweiss" will remain as a permanent addition to my library.
Rating:
Summary: This book changed my view of WW2
Review: One of the most important books ever written regarding WW2. In a time where history is written by the victors, an honest accounting of the mindset of a german SS soldier sheds much needed light on a dark organization. Gripping combat scenes. A moving book that will leave a lump in your throat as he remembers his last battle and comrades fallen. READ THIS BOOK!
Rating:
Summary: Stunning Memoir
Review: Stunning simply because its not a grand strategic memoir but rather the tribulations of one person in one small portion of the war. He knows where the SS stands in history and I believe knows that he can stand honorably. I could not put the book down
Rating:
Summary: Great Read
Review: The best personal account from a German veteran of World War II that I have read.
Rating:
Summary: Definately A Book Worth Reading
Review: The title of the book explains much of what you will read. A member of a Waffen SS Mountain unit fighting against the Soviets on the Finland border, the author gives a riveting account of his experiences in the dense forests of the north. As the tide of battle turns against Germany, his unit is forced to retreat into Norway. Once back in Germany they are thrown against the overwhelming Allied invasion, and fight their last stand in the Hertgen Forest.
More than just a war epic, this book gives an in depth look into the soul of a warrior who cared deeply for his Kameraden and is troubled by the cause which he and so many of his countrymen sacrificed so much for.
Rating:
Summary: Black Edelweiss
Review: the truely gripping story of a young German volunteer in the Waffen SS! I can strongly recommend this book as it depicts not only the frontline action but also the background of the author as well as the Waffen SS in a thoughtful and thoroughly interesting way. To some, the Waffe SS is the same as the "black" SS: Brutal murderers of innocent people who deserve to be put to a gruesome death. By reading this book I hope that this highly generalized view becomes a bit more differentiated. The author is simply a person who believes in fighting for a good cause - not for the Nazis but rather for his homeland and against the threat of bolshevism. Of course, by fighting for Germany he also fought for a regieme that is guilty of having committed some of the ugliest mass murders - however, as opposed to the general view, these things were deliberately kept from becoming known as many would have thought twice before volunteering to fight on the side of such a regieme. The author's reflections on this matter are very interesting!
Generally, German accounts of WW II are less sensational as American ones as they don't describe every killing of an opponent in detail. I met some veterans who told me that a soldier's honor simply doesn't allow to talk about their "kills", which I find quite honorable indeed.
Rating:
Summary: View of the Waffen-SS from the other side
Review: This book is the WW2 memoir of a Waffen-SS soldier written while in American captivity immediately following the war. Johann Voss, a pseudonym, is a thoughtful, intelligent young man from a prominent family that joins the Waffen-SS in 1943 out of patriotism and the idealistic desire to protect Europe from Communism. One of his main purposes in writing the book is to counter the evil reputation of the Waffen-SS (deservedly earned by such divisions as Tötenkopf) and show that not all Waffen-SS soldiers were cruel murderers but that some were motivated by quite selfless and altruistic goals. The book is well written, fast-paced, and quite an interesting read. It is fascinating to see how the soldiers described do not see themselves as evil world-conquering monsters, but rather as noble heroes. It did strike me as a bit too sugarcoated ' the suffering of the soldiers in the cruel winter environment of Finland is not really covered, and the focus tends to be on his positive experiences, rather than the negative. This was obviously written by an idealistic 20-year-old who had not yet been exposed to the horrible crimes of the Nazis and the SS. Still, it is worthwhile to read an account from the other side of the war and learn about their motivations for fighting ' not really that much different from the American boys over there.
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