Rolf Michaelis (1) (1968–)

SS-Fallschirmjäger Bataillon 500/600 was written by Rolf Michaelis in 2008. The version I reviewed was published by Schiffer Military history of Atglen, PA in 2008 and is 118 pages. The ISBN of this particular book is 978-0-7643-2944-9.

The book covers the complete history of the SS-Fallschirmjäger battalion (the only one of its kind) from its inception in 1943 through its final days and disintegration at the end of the war in May of 1945. In between these two dates, the reader is given a history of the battles which the unit participated in and the scant details available to the author in his research of the unit. The book includes several photos of varying quality relating to the unit and maps of the locations in which they participated in the specific battles. The author does list several sources, both from the Bundesarchiv and secondary book sources.

Most of the historical information on the battles does not focus on the unit specifically, but mostly looks at the overall operation. Where information on SS-Fallschirmjäger Bataillon 500/600 is available, it is presented to the reader. My overall feeling of the book was that there was not a lot of information on this unit in which to present to the reader. If that was the case, I would have to say that Rolf Michaelis did a fine job in offering a narrative to the reader. The book does have an appendix with a chronology on the battalion. There is no order of battle information, and any war crimes that this unit may have perpetrated are not presented to the reader. I use the term “may” as I know nothing about the unit, other than what this book presents.

I have not read anything from the author before this publication, though I see he has published many works, of which quite a few are unit histories. I thought the presentation of the unit was well written, so I plan on picking up more of his books. I would say this book would be appreciated more by the hardcore World War II buff, than say someone who is just looking to get an overview of the SS or the German military structure.… (meer)

I really wanted to like this book. Michaelis is one of a handful of authors detailing the unit histories of obscure and foreign volunteer units that fought with the Germans in WW2. The book is dry and would've benefitted from more first person accounts. I would've given the book three stars, but what lowered it was the translation that brought me to tears - tears of laughter and tears of pain. A "Folk Launcher Brigade" and a SdKfz 251 Stuka zu Fuss rocket launching APC described as having "a frame mounted to deflect fog shells". The translator was also inconsistent with the translation of several words. Unfortunately, Schiffer has been cutting costs and is no longer running their recent publications through a spelling and context checker or proofreading. Perhaps this is a nit, and can be humorous at times ("the Danes" appears as "the Dames"). Schiffer has been known to be one of the few publishers to translate German WW2 histories, and they have done an excellent job in the past. I hope that they continue this practice as well as work to regain the quality that their past publications have had.… (meer)

This small book is great. It covers the formation, training and combat of the SS-Heimwehr Danzig. this small unit once saw itself as the defence troop for the "Free City of Danzig." Its formation began in 1939 as the polictical tensions between Germany and Poland increased. Their establishment and a detailed account of their deployment in the Polish Campaign. And then their absorption into the SS Totenkopf Division.

This book is written from eyewitness accounts by participants and reprints of secondary literature. The translation has not been edited in any way. A must read...… (meer)