Voices Of The Flemish Waffen Ss

What motivated men to fight for an enemy that had invaded their own country? These are last voices of the Flemish Waffen-SS; there are very few left and they tell their story with absolute candour. After 70 years, why would they not?

The Waffen SS were Hitler's elite forces during WWII. They were the forces that were feared by the enemy and praised by their allies. During the Nuremberg Trials, the Waffen SS was condemned as part of a criminal organization, however, the Nuremberg Trials exempted conscripts from that condemnation. On several occasions, the Waffen SS was criticized by Heer commanders for their reckless disregard for casualties while taking or holding objectives, however, the Waffen SS divisions eventually proved themselves as capable soldiers. The poor initial performance was mainly due to the emphasis on political indoctrination rather than proper military training before the war. Despite this, the experience gained from the Polish, French, and Balkan campaigns and the peculiarly egalitarian form of training soon turned Waffen SS units into elite formations. These are the stories of the men that once were part of this elite force, not to glorify the Nazi regime or crimes committed by them, but to give them a voice too.

They called themselves Legionnaires of the Waffen SS, the new European Army. They came from all nations of Europe, and they were wearing the same uniform to fight for the same cause: fighting the strong Russian Armed Forces. Almost one million of these young men fought next to the Wehrmacht during WWII. It was during this era that the ideal of a united Europe was born. There is no other period in history that has been documented like the 6 years that ranged from the invasion of Poland in 1939 to the capitulation in Berlin in 1945. They left their homes, families, and friends with their heart full of joy and pride. They had to endure extreme weather from +40 to -50 while fighting on several fronts. They were battle hardened because of this. They became good soldiers because they knew how to survive in any situation. These young men were prepared to give their lives for Germany and, in their eyes, for a better Europe.

'After what happened to Finland we had to fight communism. It was a terrible threat.' The interviews and images gathered by Jonathan Trigg are vital historical documents.

For all too many people the "Eastern Front 1941-45" is synonymous with a struggle between Germans and Russians, ignoring the thousands of non-German Europeans who volunteered to take up arms against the most enduring despotic regime of the twentieth century, risking their lives on the most terrible of its battlefronts. Favored as a "Germanic" people over their Walloon (French-speaking) compatriots in the hybrid Belgian state, the Flemings were permitted to field a volunteer legion, a battalion sized infantry unit, under Waffen-SS auspices for service from early as November 1941 in the Northern section between Leningrad and Novgorod; integrated into the 2nd SS-Infantry Brigade and often fighting alongside the Spaniards of the Blue Division and other Western European volunteers, the Flemings proved themselves in defensive fighting in the first winter, in the final reduction of the Volkhov pocket in June 1942 and in Feb.-March 1943 at the battle of Krasnyi Bor

This is an important book on one of the most controversial campaigns of the Second World War. 'When we came out above ground there was rubble everywhere, asphalt on the roads had melted in the heat. My only thought was to get out of this hellhole.’ Ivar Corneliussen, Waffen-SS trooper

The story of the world’s largest ever invasion through the voices of the men – and women – who witnessed it first-hand.

Jonathan Trigg reveals the human agony behind such statistics through the words of the Germans who were there: ‘You’ll regret this insulting, provocative and thoroughly predatory attack on the Soviet Union! You’ll pay dearly for it!’ (Dekanazov, Soviet Ambassador in Berlin). The Germans did. But the butcher’s bill was huge for both sides.