Five Years, Four Fronts: A German Officer's World War II Combat Memoir

Georg Grossjohann's account of his involvement in the conflict of WWII is one of importance, for it describes how a "normal" man served his country and people and not solely a maniacal dictator. Through many battles on multiple fronts, Grossjohann grew close to his troops and understood the situations in which he found himself, ultimately leading his men to victory as best he could. In the war's waning years, though, his focus shifted from military triumphs to saving lives, which was a shared convention among fellow officers in light of the many failures of the German armed forces on the various fronts. Even after the war, he conducted himself the way a professional soldier should, which some might consider the reason for his post-war life having been relatively peaceful and well-lived. With added historical commentary preceding each chapter, this book helps put Grossjohann's experiences into great context. Recommended for any age capable of understanding the context of war memoirs, especially for enthusiasts of German history and of WWII.

interesting read

This one is an excellent book, with lots of nice and detailed stories, data, and more. It's hard to read and not become nostalgic, and sometimes envy, of those great men, all my respects for them, a beautiful story.

I've read a ton of histories and memoirs on World War II, and I am constantly looking for more. Usually I tend to look for memoirs because they lend a new perspective that is unique to that person's experience. Grossjohann's experiences were certainly unique, although it took him a little to warm up in order to show the reader what he went through. The bit criticism I have it the lack of detail in the first half of the book. Grossjohann literally describes virtually nothing in terms of the fighting that he took part in. You may think that the fighting wasn't too bad in the beginning, but Grossjohann hinted that there was. He would describe the travel to and from a battle or fight, describe his mood, but then the battle would come and go and all he would mention was that he received the Gold Cross or the Knight's Cross. Usually those are awarded because of valor or some special circumstance, so you know that that would be extremely important to write about. Instead he would mention that a fellow soldier told him he was shot in the hand, that he received an award, and then he moved on. No description, no detail at all. It was very disheartening and I almost didn't continue read on. It wasn't until Germany's retreat from Russia that Grossjohann really started to go into detail and describe the ins and outs of the German army and his own experience in it. This was when he described his defense of south eastern France or his defense of the Vosges Mountains, his role in the organized retreat as his unit was being destroyed by the Russians. The detail in the second half of the memoir, and not just of the battles but of his experience with superior officers and his soldiers alike, of the infrastructure and way that the occupied towns interacted with the Germans that made this a worth while memoir. As it is I would recommend this memoir. It is a good look into the life of a career officer in the wehrmacht, even his attending officer school in the closing days of the war as though everything continued on, make this a worthwhile entry into WWII memoirs. The disappointing start, however, is the reason this is only a three star. If the first half were written in the detail of the second half, this would be one of the best of the genre. 3 stars.

The frank memories of an infantry man through the war years of WWII from the German side, will find resonance with those on the other side too. Here is one who rose from an enlisted man to a Regimental commander in the rank of Major with the German Gold Cross and Knights Cross. Very well translated,edited and written.

I didn't like this book. Georg Grossjohann belonged to the elite SS as an elite officer. To be fair, there are some pictures of him outside a well established bunker & other pics to give the impression that he might actually have been a soldier. In all the pics of him, he is always nicely dressed, well groomed & well nourished. There are photos of all his awards & medals so that the reader really understands how accomplished the man was. My sarcasm arises after reading so many other accounts of the ordinary German soldier & their experiences dealing with constant shelling, brutality, deprivations of decent clothing & food. I was especially moved by the fall of The 6th Army on the Russian Front. I suspect that Grossjohann wrote this book as a defense against the reputation of the SS division & to protect their own exaggerated self images of themselves. As he was drinking the best wines & cognacs from France, having multiple affairs with ladies, having access to great food & good & comfortable lodgings, how bad can a war get? (Note how many times he refers to being with a lady at dinner. Being in Spain was tough for the old guy) He was in Russia. There is a well groomed well nourished pic of him with his lovely white horses. ( I felt sorry for the horses). Major Grossjohann for awhile was a prisoner of war in the American camp where for high ranking military officials received preferred treatment. It seems that regardless of country, the Military knows how to take care of its own. The ironic twist is that this major did not think very highly of the Americans even if they were treated well. I think that this is a book that "what was left unsaid " & reading beneath the lines allows the book to have some sort of merit . I gave this book 2 stars instead of 1 star because the paperback was short with lots of maps & glossy pictures of SS officials looking nice in their uniforms. To read a book about a soldier's experience in the German Army, I recommend " The Forgotten Soldier" by Guy Sajer who was a real person in a real war.

This book gives the authors reflections on his time in the German army including periods at the front and away from the front and during training. Although another reveiwer critises the fact that there is not a lot of detailed combat action I would have to defend the author by saying that this is his personal account and his veiw of his service. There are plenty of 'blood and guts ' accounts out there if thats what you want to read. As for it being no ' forgotten soldier ' I do know that there are doubts that this book is truly a genuine first hand account. The mere fact that this is written in such a modest style makes it all the more interesting and gives you confidence that the author has not taken the opportunity to 'bull up' his own military career.The only thing that spoilt it for me was the , in my opinion , intrusive narrative of the general war situation that someone has added in between the authors story. You could quite happily read the whole book and skip these parts which break up the flow of what the author has to say. I think that most students of military history would understand what happened during the war before tackling personal accounts such as this but I presume the main reason for the additional narrative is to bulk the book out otherwise it would be an even faster read than it already is.Definately worth reading.

Ich habe dieses Buch u. a. auf Grund der positiven Rezensionen auf Englisch bestellt. Neben dem typisch deutschen Problem, solche Bücher in der Übersetzung kaufen zu müssen weil das deutsche Original nicht zu bekommen ist kann ich die gute Meinung der anderen Rezensenten nicht teilen. Großjohann ist sicherlich an den verschiedenen Fronten des Krieges gewesen, seine Art der Beschreibung lässt aber die meisten Einzelheiten aus und vermittelt bei der Lektüre eher den Eindruck: Naja, da war ich auch und die Häuser waren da so schön gestrichen und da war ich auch und das Gebirge war so schön malerisch. Echtes Kriegsgeschehen wird in den seltensten Fällen dargestellt und echte Einblicke in das innere Gefüge der Wehrmacht erhält man ebenso nur wenig bis gar nicht. Drei Punkte gibt es von mir für die wenigen Momente, in denen der Autor seinen Beruf als Soldat reflektiert.

A remarkably tedious book where the author manages to be in a lot of battles and mentions nothing.

So you want to know the real German Army of WW2, this is it.

The first thing to note is that the hyperbole about being better than "All quiet on the Western Front" is simply nonsense. This is not a graphic novel about war, it is a rather down to earth and at times limited account of an infantryman's experiences in WW2. This is not all bad as it is a very honest view of what was going on around the author who served as a relatively junior officer till the last few months of the war - at which time communications had started to break down and the bigger-picture was not available to him. I agree with another reviewer's comments about the slightly intrusive nature of the background briefs between each chapter and you do get the impression that this was used to make this into a longer read. That said, the Author's account jumps around somewhat and the background info is useful. It would be interesting to know if the author intended the "diaries" to be made public or indeed whether the notes were made at the time - for the text seems to lacks some of the colour of a contemporary account. We have family diaries of the wars which were distributed to members of the family on condition that they are never to be published as they contain many comments that would have been considered highly critical of public figires and their decisions. This is hinted at in the Epilogue when the Author's son suggests his father had strong views about a lot of what happened - but frustratingly, this potentially very interesting material is not contained in the book. As a former soldier I fully acknowledge Georg Grossjohann's achievements and have the utmost respect for men such as him who saw their army crumble into a brutal chaos as the war progressed. It was certainly worth reading once but I am not sure I would want to read it again - unlike a number of other books of this type which I have picked up many times over the years.