German Forces

Grossdeutschland

Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-Soldaten.jpg 748-0090-03A

Interesting photo of General Walter "Papa" Hörnlein commander of Panzer-Grenadier-Division Großdeutschland. The general is inspecting members of the division. Although the caption does not mention the locality, I believe it is Akhtyrka, the divisional base at that time. The unit became known in the West through the book The Forgotten Soldier, by the Alsatian veteran, Guy Sajer (a pseudonym), who served as a volunteer. The book was first published in 1967 in France as Le Soldat Oublié. While the historical accuracy of Sajer's autobiographical work has been questioned, it nevertheless offers a vivid and moving account of the horrors of war on the Eastern Front. A more recent account was written by Alfred Nowotny, entitled The Good Soldier, which focuses on both his experiences in Panzerfüsilier Regiment Grossdeutschland from 1944, but also his captivity in the Soviet Union after the German surrender. Jurgen Herbst, emeritus professor of history at the University of Wisconsin, recounts his experience as a young volunteer who joined the Division in 1945 in his book Requiem for a German Past.