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Escape from Berlin
Hardback
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- Book Synopsis
- An hour after midnight, on 27 April 1945, 850 men of the Latvian 15th SS Division surrendered to American troops at Güterglück. They reached the River Elbe south of Berlin a week after abandoning their positions south-east of the city. To defend Hitler's capital meant almost certain death: to desert was deadly dangerous, and to survive they needed to dodge German patrols and Red Army tanks. The river meant survival. Remarkable film of the Latvians that day was discovered during the writing of this book. The still images reproduced here show the relief etched on their faces. Now for the first time in English, their exhilarating story can be told through the diary of the regiment's adjutant, First Lieutenant Edvins Bušmanis. The Bušmanis diary is a tense, gripping and wonderfully eloquent account revealing the drama and detail of their incredible escape - and their will to survive. Eighty years later, the author follows their journey to the banks of the river through the fields of sunflowers and tiny countryside villages of Brandenburg. His new research in a modern landscape brings to life this virtually unknown story of daring, determination and a desire for life.
- About The Author
- Vincent Hunt is a documentary journalist and award-winning BBC producer. Crossing Latvia interviewing people who suffered at the hands of the KGB or fought against their system of totalitarian control he sets the political and social context of what Communism actually meant in this Baltic state: interrogation, surveillance, deportation and often death. This is his second book about Latvia's recent history, following on from Blood in the Forest - the end of the Second World War in the Courland Pocket (Helion 2017) which detailed the six desperate battles by German and Latvian forces to halt the Red Army advance into Latvia. His work explores pan-generational trauma, forgiveness and legacy, with the journey to see the landscape now an important part of understanding sorrow, loss and memorial for those left behind. His first book Fire and Ice (The History Press, 2014) was a journey across Arctic Norway meeting people affected by the Nazi scorched earth retreat of 1944 and the forced evacuation of the region. Along the way he discovered the shocking stories of 13,700 Soviet prisoners worked to death in sub-zero conditions or murdered by their Nazi captors.
- Product Details
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- ISBN
- 9781804516294
- Format
- Hardback
- Publisher
- Helion & Company, (15 April 2025)
- Number of Pages
- 240
- Language
- English
- Dimensions
- 234 x 156 mm
- Categories: