War, Genocide and Cultural Memory

The infamy of the Waffen-SS stands in contrast to the lackluster state of its academic investigation. Three leading specialists in the field are describing here Hitler’s praetorian troop in all its facets. This state-of-the-art monograph is certain to be a standard work on the Waffen-SS for years to come’ —Jochen Böhler, Director of the Vienna Wiesenthal Institute for Holocaust Studies, Austria

‘This is by far the most comprehensive history of the Waffen-SS published to date. Drawing on a rich body of sources from across Europe, the authors have produced an excellent account of Himmler’s armed forces that included soldiers from virtually every European country. By focusing on the Waffen-SS’ origins and legacies, the book also goes well beyond the more familiar events of 1939–1945’ —Professor Robert Gerwarth, University College Dublin, Ireland.

This is a book on the Waffen-SS that was so far missing in English. Based on unprecedented multi-archival and multi-lingual research across Europe, it provides the fascinating yet unsettling transnational European story of the armed branch of Heinrich Himmler’s SS’ —Dr Marco Wyss, Reader in International History and Security, Lancaster University, UK.

“The Waffen-SS – War, Genocide and Cultural Memory” provides a comprehensive and updated presentation of the Waffen-SS as a transnational phenomenon. Drawing on 25 years of experience in the field, the authors synthesizes decades of Waffen-SS-research from all corners of German-occupied Europe. The book’s thematic breadth, spanning from organisational development, international recruitment, to war crimes and post-war veterans networks, makes it unique and a much needed supplement to the literature in this field” —Dr Terje Emberland, The Norwegian Center for Holocaust and Minority Studies, Norway.

“In these present and uncertain times, such a study is needed now more than ever. Claus Bundgård Christensen, Niels Bo Poulsen and Peter Scharff Smith offer an innovative and rich overview of the Waffen SS, its mechanics and its aftermath up to the present day. The authors have succeeded in presenting the Waffen-SS’ complex and contradictory history in a skilled and impressive manner.” — Dr. Franziska Zaugg, University of Fribourg and University of Bern, Switzerland. 

This is a welcome overview of the history and scholarly literature regarding the Waffen SS, from its inception to the postwar era— CHOICE