Product Review

The second volume of this set on the Polizei-Division takes up the divisional history at the beginning of 1943, and the story of 2 battalions that were sent to the Don Front at the end of 1942. Friedrich Husemann, a former member of the division provides a fascinating description of the many varied battles fought by the 4.SS-Polizei-Panzer-Grenadier-Division. From the merciless forests and swamps of northern Russia, to the partisan-filled mountainous terrain of Greece, through Serbia and Romania to Hungary, in desperate defensive battles in Hungary, Poland and Germany, to the final hopeless battles near Berlin and the bitter surrender, the reader witnesses the life and death of a division. The author weaves information from unit diaries and after-action reports with many first-hand accounts from former soldiers of the division, making the 2-volume set a living history, not just a dry account. The various accounts add more fascinating and crucial detail to some of the better-known battles of WW II. 600 pages, 32 photographs, 40 maps and 24 appendices.