From Leningrad to Berlin / druk 1

When in June 1941 Nazi Germany invaded the SovietUnion, the SS appealed to young men in occupied areasto support the crusade against Bolshevism. At least 20.000Dutchmen came forward to put their names down forthis cause. The vast majority of them served in what wasfirst called the legion, later the brigade and later still the'Nederland' division. In From Leningrad to Berlin the historyof the largest Dutch Waffen-SS unit on the easternfront is described for the first time.The main sources drawn on when writing this bookwere documents that survived the war, such as unit diariesand Berlin-generated paperwork on Dutch volunteers preservedin archives in Moscow and Prague, which can nowbe consulted in Dutch archives. By extensively studyingthe relevant literature the author has endeavoured to placethe history of Dutch Waffen-SS volunteers in its rightfulpolitical and military context.The history of Dutch volunteers in the Waffen-SSforms a black and, until now, unwritten page in Dutchhistory.Perry Pierik is historian and author of several books.The book Hungary 1944-1945 The forgotten Tragedyhas been published in English by Aspekt Publishers