Sven Hassel

Sven Hassel is a writer Danish, born the April 19th 1917. Fair, it corresponded to the ideal Aryen of the German National-socialisme and was enlisted of force in German divisions armor-plated at the time of the Second world war. Its autobiographical novels report in a fictionalized way (in particular some figures which is exaggerated) the engagements in which it took part. 60 million sold works, translated in a quizaine of languages.

Biography

Les biographical elements which follow comes in great part from the lui-même. author

Born Pedersen, it takes the name of his mother. At fourteen years, it pledges like cabin boy on a steamer until its military service. In 1937, it joined the Germany and engages in a regiment of cavalry. During the invasion of the Poland, it is conducting of Panzer.

The following year it deserted. Captured, it is translated into martial court and is sent to the 5th company of the 27e regiment of Panzers, a disciplinary regiment. It takes part in various campaigns, primarily in Russia, is wounded seven times, and finishes the war like lieutenant. It goes to the Russian troops to Berlin in 1945. Prisoner of war, it starts to write in the camps. He is released in 1949.

He went to engage in Foreign legion when he met Dorthe Jensen which he married, and became workman in an automobile factory. His wife encouraged it to write and the legion of damnés the appeared in 1953. Taken of a Caucasian fever (contracted in time of war), it is almost paralyzed during two years. It takes again then the writing, and is established with Barcelona.

Its novels

In his novels of fiction, the narrator is a soldier who bears the name of Sven Hassel . He describes the warlike exploits and extra-warriors of a group of soldiers far from the heroic ideal, arrived in this disciplinary regiment because common law criminal, survivors of the Court Martial or undesirable political. The héro and its comparses constitute a crew of tank in the 27 disciplinary battalion armoured tank on the Russian face. The majority of the intrigues are held in the east of Germany, but novels are held in Italy, France or in Belgium.

At the beginning of the first novel, the author meets characters colourful:

the Berlin ois Joseph Carried (Obergefreiter), terribly ugly, large, thin, a mass hirsute of russet-red hair recovers its cranium when it does not wear his yellow top hat. Equipped with an incredible base and an innate direction with distributed, the officers avoid it like the plague of fear of being definitively ridiculous in front of the troop. It can feel food with kilometers and pilot the tank as have. It has also a certain affinity for the animals, it will adopt in particular a russet-red cat which it will baptize Obergefreiter Josef Vissarionovitch Stalin , as well as a bear;

the Old or Alte in German, (Feldwebel Willie Beier), Berliner carpenter and father of two children, it was sent in a disciplinary battalion not to have hidden its opposition to the party. It is called the Old man, but it does not have more than 35 years, that is to say 10 years more than the majority of the other soldiers. It belongs to these people who generate the calm one around them, it plays the part of father for the hero;

Pluto or Pluto (Stabsgefreiter Gustav Eicken), is a strong solid and former docker, it made many flights before the war, but ended up being condemned wrongly for the flight of a truck of flour. If one wants to irritate it is enough to employ the word " camion" or " farine" in a sentence;

the Hamburg eois Small-Brother (Obergefreiter Wolfgang Kreutzfeld), engaged since 1933 at the 15 years age in the German Army, this known colossus without brain forever nothing other but reformatories and the disciplinary battalions. It is also most sensitive of the group, he does not hesitate to save the women and the children whom he regularly crosses and cries by contemplating the horrors of the war. He from time to time reminds his officers that he should be demobilized since he passed more than 10 years under the flags;

Hugo Stege, the only one of the group to have made studies (of Latin), it is often ridiculed by the others and it always washes the hands before eating;

Unteroffizier Gregor Martin, it appears in the novel Monte Casino . It was the driver of Feldmarschall von Kluge before the war;

colonel Manfried Hinka, one does not know large thing about him, if it is not that it covers Porta as soon as it has a problem, it fights with his men and is shown just with them. It lost an arm on the Russian face and in spite of its infirmity it must ensure the command of the battalion because of the lack of officers. Its wounds do not amount any more and it changes sometimes rank to become major.

the Legionary (Gefreiter Alfred Kalb), former member of the Foreign legion, it will make its appearance in the second novel at the time of a brawl where it will put K.O. Little brother;

Barcelona (Feldwebel Peter Blom), a Communist veteran of the war of Spain;

the fanatic , (Unteroffizier Julius Marius Heide) volunteer in the S, it landed in the battalion without one including/understanding neither why nor how. Heide does not support that the party is criticized, it wishes to become officer after the war and memorizes each day 15 pages of the military code.

The war described in the novels of Hassel cruel and is deprived of heroic acts. The soldiers fight to survive in a war which is not theirs. One kills in an atrocious way and without réflêchir. The author underlines the stupidity of the conflict, the arrogance of the Prussian officers who sacrifice the troops without any remord. The war seen of with dimensions of the troop is described in detail, with its good moments of friendship and its long interludes of inactivity. The civilians also die that it is in the bombardment, the offensives or simply under the balls of the military police officers.

The extremely hard discipline of the German army is not left of with dimensions.

List novels

each title is followed date of writing and described period.

the legion of damnés (1953), that which describes best the experiment of Hassel
the police chief (?) (summer 1941)
did I see them dying (?) (October 1941 - January 1942)
Battalion of walk (1962) (at the end of 1942 - April 1943)
General S (1969) (at the end of 1942 - April 1943)
the exaggerated ones of the hell (?) (winter 42 -1943)
the Council of war (1979) (winter 42 -1943)
Panzers of dead (1957) (winter 1943 - March 1944)
Comrades of face (1960) (April in August 1944)
Gestapo (1943-1944)
Assemble-Casino (1963) (January in May 1944)
Liquidate Paris! (1967) (June 1944 - February 1945)
Forgotten of God (?) (summer 1944)
Commando Reichführer Himmler (?) (August in October 1944)

Polemic

Since the beginning of the years '70, Erik Haaest, Danish journalist, claim that Sven Petersen would be an impostor and that he would have collaborated with the authorities Nazis during the Second world war. He thus wrote a book where he presents his version of the biography of the author. The book is available legally on Internet.

External bonds

'' Porta' S Kitchen the kitchen of Carried '' (a site of fans with much of information - in English)
'' site of Sven Hassel - in English ''

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