Book Review: TOTENKOPF

Totenkopf by Charles Trang
Heimdal Editions
480 Pages
This book, which is more or less the Bible of the 3.SS-Division “Totenkopf” histories, packed with never before seen pictures, historical anecdotes as well as a general overall analysis of the Division during the war.
As with any history of the SS, the crimes of the Totenkopfverbände are inextricably linked to those of the Waffen-SS, and in this case it is rightfully so, as the Totenkopf started off as camp guards. I want to make a serious note here that not all of the Waffen-SS was attached to these “crimes” and point out the fact most of the Divisions were made up of various European stock who were at war with the ever invasive “Bolshevik hordes”.
Now onto the book itself. Those who are serious students of WWII history, the Waffen-SS and those wild days in the East will be indebted to Mr.Trangs work which nearly verges on the exhaustive detail as for the fighting record of Totenkopf and add to that a good summary of their tough leader the infamous Theodor “Papa” Eicke, a man whose very presence at a front would cause an almost Berserker like battle fever.
 The pictures are all nice and crisp and presented in a large format (when possible) and an inclusion of various documents makes this one for the reenactor, armchair historian and student alike. The book is not cheap, but in this day and age of countless Waffen-SS history books, one would be VERY hard pressed to top this volume.
This book is a must read to get a full and unobstructed view of this elite unit in the ranks of the Waffen-SS.
Meine Ehre heißt Treue