Hitler's Legions

The Nazis' dream of a world dominated by legions of Aryan 'supermen', forged in battle and absolutely loyal to Hitler, was epitomised by the Waffen-SS. Created as a supreme military élite, it grew to become Nazi Germany's 'second army', an immense force totalling almost one million men by the end of the War. An astonishing fact about the SS is that thousands of its members were not German. Men stepped forward from almost every nation in Europe - for many, sometimes complex reasons - that included hatred of Bolshevism and nationalist sentiment or even straightforward anti-Semitism. Foremost amongst them were Scandinavians from Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland. Thousands were recruited from 1940 onwards and fought with distinction on the Russian Front. They served at first in national legions but were then brought together in the Wiking Panzer Division and the Nordland Panzer-grenadier Division. In Hitler's Vikings, Jonathan Trigg details the battles these men fought and what inspired them to join the Waffen-SS, based wherever possible on interviews with surviving veterans. Many of the photographs reproduced here have never before been published. Hitler's 'Vikings' were amongst the last men still fighting in the ruins of Berlin in 1945 - their story is truly remarkable.

As the West finds itself embroiled in conflict with radical Islam at home and abroad it is fascinating to hear the echoes of militant Islam from the Second World War, and the Nazis attempt to preach 'Jihad' against the British Empire and Stalin.Hitler's Jihadis tells the story of the tens of thousands of Muslims, from as far away as India who volunteered to wear the SS double lightning flashes and serve alongside their erstwhile conquerors. Jonathan Trigg gives insight into the pre-war politics that inspired these Islamic volunteers, who for the most part did not survive. Those who did survive the war and the bloody retribution that followed saw the reputation of the units in which they served in berated as militarily inept and castigated for atrocities against unarmed civilians. Using first hand accounts and official records Hitler's Jihadis peels away the propaganda to reveal the complexity that lies at the heart of the story of Hitler's most unlikely 'Aryans'.

By the end of the Second World War there were soldiers of more than 30 nationalities fighting in the 38 combat division of the Waffen SS; Reich Germans were in the minority. How did a regime founded upon notions of its own racial superiority come to welcome hundreds of thousands of foreigners into its military elite – and what motivated these men? Following the sell-out success of his first volume in this series, Hitler's Gauls, the author examines in depth the Langemarck division, composed entirely of fighters drawn from the Flemish lands of Northern Belgium. Motivated by a powerful anti-communist zeal and a desire to escape forever the interference of their traditional enemy, France, these men fought at Stalingrad and in the encircling battles of the Volkhov pocket. They fought the bitter campaign in the Ukraine in 1943-44, then in Estonia at the Narva. The Division was destroyed by the Russian juggernaut in1945. Illustrated with rare photographs, many previously unpublished, and with close analysis of the key figures such as Flemish Knight's Cross winner Remy Schrijnen, this is a fascinating study of fanatical courage.