Leo Wilms Memories of the Waffen-SS: An SS-Heimwehr Danzig, SS-Totenkopf-Division, and 9. SS-Panzer-Division Hohenstaufen Veteran Remembers

This book is a rare memoir from a Waffen-SS soldier who fought for six years in some of the most savage fighting on the Russian front during WWII. A volunteer, initially in the SS-Heimwehr Danzig, which became part of the SS-Totenkopf-Division in 1939, he took part in the campaign against Poland as a motorcycle messenger, and was wounded for the first time during the France campaign of 1940. In 1943, he took command of a group of young recruits on the Mius Front in Russia. By the time he was wounded for the third time in the summer of 1944, he had been decorated with both Iron Cross grades and two Tank Destruction Badges. In February 1945, he saw action in Hungary with the 9.SS Panzer-Division Hohenstaufen, and later ended the war as an American POW.