The Secret Archives: Eastern Front (SS: The Secret Archives)

The dreaded and powerful Nazi SS (or Schutzstaffel) began as the elite corps of bodyguards to Hitler, under the command of the infamous Heinrich Himmler. The SS soon expanded to include an intelligence arm and, from 1940 to 1945, an elite military corps, the Waffen-SS. This book is part of the two-volume The Secret Archives set that chronicles the exploits of the Waffen-SS, using information collected from old albums, as well as from newspaper and divisional archives. It includes a wealth of photographs, many of them previously unpublished, with extensive and informative captions. The author's account gives a vivid picture of what life was like for Himmler's so-called storm troopers. Each of the two volumes stands alone as an account of the Waffen-SS's notorious activities, one title concentrating on the Eastern Front; the other on the Western Front. This volume, which focuses on the Eastern Front, chronicles the founding of the Waffen-SS, then recounts its exploits during Operation Barbarossa, the Nazi invasion of Russia in 1941. Subsequent major battles of the Russian campaign are covered, including Demyansk, Kharkov, and the world's largest-ever tank battle at Kursk. Final chapters recount Red Army victories in Poland, the Baltic countries, and the invasions of Romania and Germany itself, where the SS fought to its bitter end. Approximately 250 black-and-white photos plus appendices.