Description
By Léon Degrelle. Translated and introduced by Alexander Jacob. The sensational semi-autobiographical work from the Waffen-SS’s most famous foreign volunteer, translated into English for the very first time. With 15 ultra-rare photographs.
First published in French as Hitler pour 1000 ans in 1969, this suppressed work was Degrelle’s personal account of his pre-war political career, his personal interactions with Hitler, the formation of what became the Walloon SS, the war on the Eastern Front against the Soviet Union, his dramatic escape to Spain in 1945, and his life in exile.
Along the way, Degrelle provides insight into some of the most pressing questions of World War II: why Hitler invaded the Soviet Union when he did; how Mussolini’s invasion of Greece wrecked Hitler’s plans; how lower-ranking German military commanders deliberately disobeyed Hitler’s orders on industrial production which directly affected the war’s outcome; how the defeat at Stalingrad occurred because the Sixth Army’s commander refused to follow Hitler’s orders to break out to the west; the turning point battle of Kursk, and much more.
Degrelle also provides a fascinating insider view of Hitler, gained from their close personal friendship. This includes topics such as Hitler’s relationship with women and his ability as a military leader.
Finally, Degrelle describes the vision of a united Europe, which, he says, was Hitler’s ultimate vision. This belief in a strong united Europe gave rise to the saying of Hitler for a thousand years, the title of this book.
“If objective historians still existed, I could be for them a very valuable witness with regard to their documents. Who, among the survivors of 1945, knew Hitler or Mussolini more directly than I? Who could explain with more precision than me, explain what type of men they were, men as they really were?
“This ‘essential thing’ in the great tragedy of the Second World War, what was it for us? How did the ‘fascisms’ — which have been the essential thing of our lives — arise? How were they deployed? How did they collapse? And, above all, after a quarter century: what balance sheet can one draw up of this whole gigantic affair?”
Contents
Preface — Alexander Jacob
Chapter I — The Muzzling of the Vanquished
Chapter II — When Europe was Fascist
Chapter III — Towards Power at the Age of Twenty Five
Chapter IV — Europe Explodes
Chapter V — Hitler, for a Thousand Years
Chapter VI — Alongside the Germans
Chapter VII — The Tramways of Moscow
Chapter VIII — The Russian inferno
Chapter IX — Who was Hitler?
Chapter X — From Stalingrad to San Sebastian
Chapter XI — The Exiled
Chapter XII — And if Hitler Had Won?
Select Bibliography — Degrelle’s Post-War Writings
186 pages. Softcover. #986
