Twilight of the Gods

A Swedish Waffen-SS Volunteer's Experiences with the 11th SS-Panzergrenadier Division Nordland, Eastern Front 1944-45

By: Thorolf Hillblad - editor

Narrated by: Bruce Mann

Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

Twilight of the Gods was originally written in Swedish, and published in Buenos Aires shortly after the end of WWII. Erik Wallin, a Swedish soldier who volunteered for service with the Waffen-SS, participated in the climactic battles on the Eastern Front during late 1944 and 1945, later telling his story to this book's editor, Thorolf Hillblad.

Wallin served with the Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion, 11th SS-Panzergrenadier Division Nordland, a unit composed mainly of non-German volunteers, including Danes, Norwegians, and Swedes. The division enjoyed a high reputation for its combat capability, and was always at the focal points of the fighting on the Eastern Front in the last year of the war. During this period it saw combat in the Baltic, in Pomerania, on the Oder, and finally in defense of Berlin, where it was destroyed.

Erik Wallin served with his unit in all of these locations, and provides the listener with a fascinating glimpse into these final battles. The book is written with a "no holds barred" approach which will captivate, excite, and maybe even shock the listener - his recollections do not evade the brutality of fighting against the advancing Red Army. Twilight of the Gods is destined to become a classic memoir of the Second World War.

©2002 Thorolf Hillblad (P)2019 Tantor

Post-war Nazi propaganda in part but also history

This is a first-hand report of the last days of Berlin. and in part post war Nazi propaganda. after the war in 1953 he moves to Argentina with the rest of the Nazis and makes the life there.

Propaganda piece

This book provides good history if you can look past the Nazi propaganda it contains.

Great Story Average Narration

Nice to listen to a viewpoint from the “other” side. Good book. The narrator is ok as it is a biography, still kind of dry. I’m also gonna assume all the “nazi propaganda” comments are Russians.

Intriguing Account of the Battle of Berlin

The story of an anti-Soviet fighter who first fought the Soviets in Finland, and then joined the Waffen Schutzstaffel so he could fight the Soviets in the wider war against communism. As a non-German fighting for Germany his point of view is an almost unique perspective among war memoirs, far more ideological than the average German account as well as far less afraid of postwar backlash by occupation or collaborationist governments. Hillblad's account of the Battle of Berlin alone makes this book a valuable read for anyone who wishes to study what is perhaps the most symbolic battle of the last century.

Great for what it is.

Great view from the other side of history we so often get left in the dark about. Those who are coming from a certain viewpoint will call it propaganda, but I do not believe it is anymore propaganda ridden than any of the American, British, or Soviet accounts that portray their own side favorably. Had they lost and wrote similar accounts of their experiences, those would also be called “propaganda”. Throw aside your biases and knee jerk reactions from years of being told the same old lines by text books written by the victors and history teachers who have never been there and listen to what a man on the ground who was actually there has to say about the war. My only complaint is that it is not longer.

I always love the detailed memoirs

Great pice to listen to personaly one of my favorite memoirs in my library I highly recommend it my not be long to still good

Great book

I wish it were longer. Ignore the close minded people calling it propaganda. Captures a point of view we are rarely allowed to see.

Great experience detail

Great first person, down to Earth experiences. Not a fan of British professional speaker naration though.

Good hearing another viewpoint, but hard to follow

Hearing about the war from the vantage point of the Germans, and in this case the Swedish Panzergrenadier, is always interesting. You know what happened in the war, and you know that the German's ideology was the most atrocious and diabolical the world has almost ever seen throughout history. Interestingly, those fighting on the Eastern front were fighting to rid the world of the communist scourge that was Russia or "Ivan." That is the gist of this book. However, this book is hard to follow. It's not ordered in any particular way, so it makes it difficult to know what is going on and when. Also, the narrator is a bit shrill in this work.

Interesting

Was an interesting perspective from the German (foreign fighter) side. would recommend to anyone interested in WWII history.