Frenchmen in the SS in Russia

This book was written by Robert Forbes, published by Helion, 2006.

http://www.amazon.com/EUROPE-French-Volunteers-Waffen-SS/dp/187462268X

For Europe, The French Volunteers of the Waffen SS wow, what a book it is!

Over 500 pages long, this book covers the military careers of those Frenchmen who served in the Waffen SS in World War Two. Thousands of Frenchmen served in various police and military capacities during the first part of World War Two for the the Germans and for the Vichy French. Eventually, most of them who were interested and able were drafted or volunteered into the Waffen SS. Thousands of them served together in the 33rd Waffen SS Grenadier Division, Charlemagne. They fought almost exclusively on the Eastern Front with many hundreds of them fighting in the Battle of Berlin. My wife, Patricia, and I went to Berlin on our honeymoon and it was strange for me to read about them fighting in the same street, and same subway stations where our hotel was located.

They follow many of the men from the first of their military career or their political awareness until they are killed, captured or the war ends. They do a good follow up on what happened to most of the prominent characters after the war. Most of these men served to defend Europe against Communism which they saw as a greater threat to France than Nazism. Ironically, many were put in French prisons after the war and only released if they agreed to go fight Communism in Indo-China!

This book is a slow read, it has footnotes and foreign words on nearly every page. Many French organizations are covered, particularly at the beginning of the book, to explain the politics of pre-war France. With French troops in the German army fighting in Russia it takes awhile to get used to all the often difficult to pronounce names, but it is well worth the effort. It took me several months to plow through this book, but I am glad I did. It cost about $50 so it is not cheap, it is an excellent value with many photos, tables, graphs and maps. The author explains the unit organization and all the changes at each significant turn of events; often down to naming individuals. Looks like I will have to start building that French unit for the Battle of Berlin now!