D DAY Through German Eyes MP3 CD – MP3 Audio, October 25, 2016

What an absolutely fascinating book. I was born in 1950, and grew up in a world where people with German sounding names or who were of obvious Japanese descent were held in suspicion. I even remember when I was maybe seven, when a friend and I were playing with a toy metal tank. The turret came off and my friend's dad picked it up, saw that it was made from and inverted Maxwell House Coffee can and it said, "Made in Japan," and he threw it out! My friend's dad was a U.S. Marine who saw action at Guadalcanal during the war. We, my friend and I, had no idea what his dad was so upset about. I remember dating, later marrying a woman whose maiden name, which I won't disclose here, was discussed by my parents when I first met her. Her family had said they were Swiss, but my parents were sure they just didn't want it known that they were probably of German descent. Crazy!But it served to create in me a fascination with WWII and how it happened and how did this one diminutive man almost achieve world domination? I read so many books on WWII but never had the chance to read things from the German side. This book is the first of two volumes of interviews with soldiers who were on the German front during D Day. The actual interviewer was the father of the man who edited these books.He did an excellent job. If you are a student of history, this is a must. They say the history books are written by the victors, but this book and its companion volume present a compelling view of what it was like to suddenly see this enormous armada coming onto the beach, to hear of the terror that offshore shelling by Allied battleships and cruisers unleashed for hours before and during the assault. Many of the interviewees are quite honest in how frightened and confused they were. In volume one, some even speak of what happened when they were captured and taken as prisoners. It turns out that many were sent to England and/or the United States, were treated very well, and some even stayed!No bones about it, this is not a book for the squeamish. There are very graphic descriptions of the damage done to humans and even animals as a result of the assault. There is also, from some, a begrudging admiration for the creativity and tenacity of the Allied forces. I read this book and its companion volume very quickly. It is well organized and is not edited down to make it a "nice" read. This book is about the horror of combat, the confusion of war and the bravery of men on both sides The reader can almost hear the explosions, smell the cordite and sweat in the bunkers. Highest recommendation, but not for the squeamish.

This is a good book for those interested in WWII. The vast majority of D-Day accounts are written by the Allies and this book is interesting because it gives you the German perspective on the events. You get a feeling for the horror that the Germans lived through during the opening hours of the invasion. The German soldiers didn’t realize the scope of the Allied attack. They didn’t know if they were facing a raid or a large invasion. They defended their positions with courage and skill, despite a lack of naval or air support.The one thing that surprised me was the mentality of the German soldiers at the time. It was obvious that they did not think that their country had done anything wrong by invading most of Europe and Northern Africa. By June 1944, the Germans had caused destruction and death on an unprecedented scale. Their brutal occupation of previously free nations had led to mass slavery and many crimes against humanity.Yet the soldiers interviewed talked about how they were “defending a unified Europe” against invasion by the Allies. One went so far as to express how he couldn’t understand the anger of the English soldiers that they faced when he said: “Why would men, who were the same race as us, who were physically similar to us, why would they hate us in this way? Why would they want to burn us alive, when we were protecting Europe? What was the origin of this hatred? “ Did he not know about the Blitz or the thousands of English merchant ships that had been sunk by U-boats?That these soldiers felt their country was entitled to rule Europe in such a brutal manner is a testament to the power of the propaganda that they had been subjected to under the Nazi regime. Years of indoctrination in the Hitler Youth and living in history’s worst dictatorship had affected their ability to understand the suffering that their country and government was causing around the world. To them, they were just protecting Europe and their homeland. Of all of the things about this book, this was the one aspect that I will remember the most.

I found the book well written and informative, finally from the German view and honest. Outstanding book for all. Great.

Fascinating read to see what WWII defending the Normandy beaches was like. Said to be based on interviews done for German magazine during WWII but not finished for many years after. Note there are only a half-dozen chapters (each an interview of a single soldier) so this is not a deep book. The reader learns: the lives of many defenders (also attackers) was nasty, brutish and short ... there may have been atrocities committed by both sides ... the SS troops treated war less gentlemanly than non-SS ... who lived, who was injured, who died was a matter of luck and chance.One critic (Amazon reviewer) says there needs be more proof that these were real. specific soliders and not just composites created to make the book work. Hard to determine the validity. (A similar book about Panzer warfare in Russia seemed to be even more open to criticism that so much could be seen and experienced (and survived) by an unnamed tank driver's firsthand experience.)My criticism is this book is more of a Kindle Single than a real book.

This book is a great review of the D-day landing. Told from the German point of view. It's thorough and detailed. A must read.

A good book to undestand the german soldiers perspective of war, and how they saw the events of june 6th as a "European defenders" and ordinary soldiers.This also shows how effective was the propaganda to elevate the soldiers morale to fight a enemy who had a lot more resources and advantages at this point of war.

Very interesting to hear how the things happened but viewed by "the other side". I enjoyed the book big time and I found it too short...maybe because the reading was so engaging. Yes, I recommend it.

Gripping real life stories with real heroes.

Please be aware that there are TWO books called "D DAY Through German Eyes" (book one & book two) by this author.There were several times in these books that I had never considered. I had almost always heard and seen the "Alliedversion of WW2". One thing Holger Eckhertz tells of his astonishment when taken prisoner on D-Day and taken down onto the landing beach ... he looked around and could not believe that there was not one horse pulling wagons, guns anywhere, everything was on trucks.One of the myths is that the German Army was a mechanised Army. Far from the illusion is the truth that much of the German Military was reliant on Horses to move Guns, Ammunition, Food, Fuel and all the other war materiel.Read this book to find another side of what you thought you knew.Macca 1066