Wiking: A Dutch SS-er on the Eastern front (Eyewitness 1939 - 1945)

The translation of this book appears to have been done using Google. Grammar is poor, words are incorrect, and lousy punctuation combine to make it a struggle to read. The content bounces from one topic to another without any real sense of time or place. I understand this book is the product of an old man writing down various memories 50 years after they happened, but for me, it wanders too much.

Though Henk was Dutch, his father was an enthusiastic admirer of the Nazis. He encourages Henk to join the SS and he ends up in the Germania Regt of the 5th SS Division. He is in a machine-gun section to start but manages to get a transfer to the division’s Panther battalion in 1943.Henk’s account of infantry battle is quite exciting. He is wounded several times and sees a lot of comrades die – which decreases his excitement considerably. The winters are bitter but he writes they are supplied quite well. There is even more excitement when he becomes a radio-operator in a Panther. There are some brutal slugging matches from which the Panthers invariably emerge triumphant. It is pretty visceral stuff at times, with one of Henk’s duties to machine-gun any Russian tank crew trying to escape their knocked out vehicles. He does write quite a bit about the interior and operations of a Panther. This was particularly interesting to me.Oddly, Henk seems to call any artillery or Pak shell a grenade? There are also mix ups regarding sub-unit designations, including seemingly calling everything a division. Perhaps these are translation issues. Despite seeming to have been involved he writes nothing of the Cherkovsky pocket? Though it is mentioned by the editor (Henk’s son) that his father generally refused to discuss aspects of the war that were too emotional.Despite its Wiking name, the unit was predominately German, though Henk mentions a smattering of other nationalities. It’s not a long book but it is reasonably detailed. It includes pictures of Henk and various shots of their tanks. Henk writes of being in battle and what he did. There are only a few accounts by panzer men and I think this is a very relevant read if that is your interest.

Not a bad read. I would have preferred a little more "detail", but not bad. Not nearly enough good biographies on the German perspective. Not the best out there but worth reading.

I ordered the book because i have the Dutch version aswell and was curious about the English version.A Dutch young man volunteering to join one of the most talked about and feared organization of the 20th century: The Waffen SS.In the book the man describes why he volunteered, basically nothing elevated. For the most part, it was a desire for adventure, fueld by a domestic background (his father) that made him take this step.The book takes you in a chronological order through all his fighting years spent on the russian front.First in the infantry and later as a radio operator/machinegunner in a Panthertank. You see the war through his eyes, what he is going through and believe me thats quit a lot. Then how he deals with it mentally, the quick lessons of life he had to learn in order to survive.The style is very catching because you get sucked in the story and you can't stop reading the book. You have to read because you want to know how and what.For those who hope to find political reflections in this book? There are none.The writer devotes himself purely to what happened to him and his comrades during his 4 years at the front.Both fascinating and staggering. Sometimes comments are provided with a black sense of humor in perspective at moments.For me refreshing book which gives the reader a good idea about the life of a Waffen SS soldier. Their organization was reviled, damned and convicted, as not many soldiers had a opportunity too tell their story.Highly recommended

I generally like first hand accounts of a veterans experiences and this one rings as deeply personal, almost like reading his daily diary. That fact also is its one flaw. The translation is full of grammatical errors and misspellings. It doesn’t detract from the story being told, the book just could have been well served by an editor or proofreader.The one thing that was really annoying and unnecessary was the publishers statement at the beginning essentially calling the author a unrepentant, irredeemable nazi. They shouldn’t pretend to put themselves in the heart and head of the author without first hand knowledge of his life.Otherwise, a fine first person account of one soldiers experiences in combat during WWII.

This book gives the impression of an old soldier sitting with his family and reminiscing about the war--which it is. A note by his son says that it is told without emotion. I can understand this because he had to depress his emotions considering all the death around him.

I have been reading military history for most of my life, mainly memoirs from American Soldiers, Sailors and Marines but also a variety of different military types. Recently, I started to read memoirs from other sides, mainly from German Soldiers, Waffen-SS, and civilians and their experiences during World War II. Not ALL German soldiers took part in the Holocaust and there is no mention of it within the book. This is a cut and dry "This is MY experience and no one else." I would recommend this book, especially in the end that lists the soldiers whereabouts during his time with the 6e Waffen-SS Wiking from 1944-'45 and their fighting to the west to surrender to the Americans (I would have done the same if I was in his shoes also).

A compelling and at times brutal story of a young Dutch volunteer of the Waffen SS. His words are laced with great earnest and wit, and this certainly adds to the authority of this title, in short it is a very fine read! Of most interest to the historian are his days has a radio operator in the legendary Panther tank, in which the author exudes his confidence of the tank in all battle situations. I would suggest it is worth purchasing because of the qualities i mention above, and it is a rare example of the motivation behind a European volunteer in the fight against Communism.

I found this a compulsive and fascinating read as my late father was also in a similar position and at some of the same places. It was uncanny reading the occasional anecdote which I had already heard from my father during his past reminiscences. My father and the writer were completely unknown to each other, but reading this memoir brought his voice back to me again.This is history related first-hand, as experienced by a young man motivated to fight communism, who did so through one of the toughest campaigns ever undertaken. The historiography may not be professional, but I don’t think that is the aim of this book. The recollections are vivid and the chronology complied from the memory of a veteran many years after the event is more than ample to support the narrative. There are numerous historical references already out there should you wish to put the many battles, offensives and operations which HK took part in into historical context. The remarkable fact remains not that Henk Kistemaker recollected so many events, but that he actually survived such a number – from day one of Barbarossa to the war’s end.If you want a genuine ground level insight into what young men in their late teens and early twenties did during one of the most vicious struggles in history – read this memoir.

What I enjoyed reading this book, is not the details of battalion movements and strategies, but the pure detail of the everyday life of what this Dutchman experienced while serving on the Wiking SS.I liked the narrative style which made reading this book, like I was the one in a corner inside the Panther tank.The book tells the first-hand story of Henk Kistenmaker, as dictated to his son Peter in clear sharpness of mind. It follows Henk from enrolling to the Waffen SS as an infantry man to making the jump over to the tank corp and being a radioman in a Panther tank on the Eastern front. I highly recommend it.

This was a fascinating account of a young Dutchman's military service, in what he saw as a crusade against communist Russia. It is an honest first hand narrative of his experiences, while on active service in what was, effectively, the German foreign legion. It is very matter of fact and he doesn't dwell on weighty political issues. For him, as an unemployed young man, it was a pragmatic decision to join up. There were a few occasions when reading the book, that I puzzled over the odd bit of quirky translation from the original Dutch, but this was not a problem.

Whilst not as well written as some recently published war memoirs, such as the superlative 'Until the Eyes Shut', the author of 'Wiking: A Dutch SS-er on the Eastern Front' does write with a frankness which can even raise a smile at times. More significantly though is his documentation of his wartime experiences as a Panther tank crewman who served on the Eastern Front with the Wiking Division. This is the first and only genuine memoir written by a Panther tank crewman that I am aware of and that alone makes this a must read for anyone interested in the subject.