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In Deadly Combat cover art

In Deadly Combat

By: Gottlob Herbert Bidermann,Derek S. Zumbro - translator
Narrated by: Paul Woodson
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Summary

Wounded five times and awarded numerous decorations for valor, Gottlob Herbert Bidermann saw action in the Crimea and siege of Sebastopol, participated in the vicious battles in the forests south of Leningrad, and ended the war in the Courland Pocket.

In his memoir, he shares his impressions of countless Russian POWs seen at the outset of his service, of peasants struggling to survive the hostilities while caught between two ruthless antagonists, and of corpses littering the landscape. He recalls a Christmas gift of gingerbread from home that overcame the stench of battle, an Easter celebrated with a basket of Russian hand grenades for eggs, and his miraculous survival of machine gun fire at close range. In closing, he relives the humiliation of surrender to an enemy whom the Germans had once derided and offers a sobering glimpse into life in the Soviet gulags. Bidermann's account debunks the myth of a highly mechanized German army that rolled over weaker opponents with impunity.

Despite the vast expanses of territory captured by the Germans during the early months of Operation Barbarossa, the war with Russia remained tenuous and unforgiving. His story commits that living hell to the annals of World War II and broadens our understanding of its most deadly combat zone.

©2000 The University Press of Kansas (P)2017 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Stands head and shoulders above the many other books in this genre. Bidermann's style is crisp, succinct, and lucid and Zumbro has done a great job of translating." (David Glantz, coauthor of The Battle of Kursk)

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simply a superb listen...

I really enjoyed this audiobook. I dont remember a dull section. Its great if you enjoy history.

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6 people found this helpful

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A balanced and well written piece.

A well deserved five stars given. An amazing story from the "other" side of the terrible conflict. Good narrator, interesting voice and delivered in measured even tone.

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4 people found this helpful

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Quantity has a quality all it's own

Well read. Factual as far as is possible to know. Good listen but hard to feel too sorry for German POW's considering the mess they made of the world and its population. Good insight into low level attitudes from junior leaders perspective.

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1 person found this helpful

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To and fro on the Eastern Front

An awful war and awful conditions & battles in the Eastern Front which the author lived through and describes very well. The sheer madness of German high command and Hitler in particular comes through.
Of particular interest (and awfulness) was the final chapter which covered the author’s time as a prisoner of the Russians. Mind you, the Russian leadership wasn’t much nicer (if at all) to many of its own citizens.

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Better than any film

Incredible story of a German soldier on the eastern front. Shines a light on the atrocities of war and an often untold German experience.

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Not quite a memoir

A few snippets of memoir inserted into a book detailing the events of the area of the eastern front where the writer is located. Not on the same level as comparative memoirs like those by Sajer and Koschorrek.

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The only good German who fought in the East?

Sorry but this story just seems so totally unlikely in terms of the hero never seeing or doing harm to any Russian POWs. He didn't see massacres of Jews, villages being burnt down for no reason. No war crimes at all.

Time and time again he tells of German POWs getting murdered by the Russians but he or his men never took any revenge. They always helped save injured Russians and always took POWs back to HQ.

Based on what we know the German army did in the East this story is just not true. The Germans brutally murdered millions in the East but not this guy. He spent the war being nice to everyone when he wasn't killing Russians in battle. I just don't believe it.

The narration was pretty bad as well.
Worst second world war book I have ever read.

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Grim but powerful account.

Learn your history lest you repeat it. The unvarnished experience of a young man at war.

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excellent

Good to hear the view from the other side. And this guy seems well principled and disliked the Nazi's and Hitler.

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Excellent book

very detailed account, performance was strong. left me with a much better understanding of war between Germany and Russia

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