SS Leibstandarte, Ace of the Waffen SS: Werner Herman Gustav Pötschke

“The enemy tanks broke out on the right from the acacia grove and on the left from the Othr wood. They had us in a pincer. We had fallen into a trap and defended ourselves desperately. Pötschke ordered over radio: 'turn right-withdraw to the rear!' During the slow movement to the rear we screened ourselves with smoke. It was our only chance since the distance to the enemy was about 200 meters. On the meadow land we lost several more panzers among which were that of the 'Flievo'. The Oberleutnant flew out of his Panzer IV like a blazing torch... Finally we reached the western edge of Liter. We had taken heavy losses, seven panzers, several SPW’s, killed and wounded with severe burns..."
Untersturmfuhrer Reiser.
"It was not until Sturmbannführer Poetschke, commander of I/SS Pz Rgt 1, personally joined in that the attack was resumed."
Jochen Peiper.
This book covers the life and times of an SS officer we have previously known little about, but through his units actions we can trace a timeline of events, and thus his place in history. It also covers the question of his personal involvement in the Malmédy massacre at the Baugnez crossroads. These are difficult subjects to approach and some would ask why bother now? However, unless we do start looking at these subjects more subjectively and lay them open for debate, all we will be left with is the victors peace, the victors justice and the victors history, and that will only lead to the same mistakes happening again. Saying that they did what they did because they were all Nazi’s is not enough, many war crimes were committed by allied soldiers too, and they were not Nazi’s, and they had not grown up under the Nazi regime, thus there has to be a better answer. As Putin re-enacts the 1950’s cold war in front of our eyes we have to ask ourselves, have we learned nothing from the past, will we ever? Putin has rewritten his countries past history to suit his personal ambitions, and we in the west rightly criticize this. But have we done any better? There are those who will never accept any other point of view than the official line, a line drawn in the sand in 1945. This book will not be for those that have limited their view of history to that line.
This book is not an expose of a Nazi organisation, it will not come to some jaw dropping conclusion that Werner Pötschke was or was not a Nazi, he was a committed Nazi, he was also an officer in the Waffen SS, he was a ferocious warrior and combat leader, and he was also quite possibly a mass murderer. He may just have simply been a product of his time, he may also have been mentally ill. All these subjects and more are covered in this book. Some of its conclusions may be unpalatable to some, palatable to others, I have presented the facts as I have found them , it is up to you to make up your own mind how you see and interpret them. This is the first book on this subject, but I hope not the last, I hope it will start a new debate and shine a light on a dark subject, but one must always remember that shining lights always cast shadows.