The book by two modern German historians is an amazing, unparalleled publication that allows, on the basis of unique sources, for the first time to recreate a convincing picture of the mentality of Wehrmacht soldiers during the Second World War. At the end of the war, in specially equipped British and American camps, people were secretly wiretapped and recorded. tape and then the conversations of German prisoners of war of all ranks and branches of the military were transcribed. Unvarnished, amazing stories and frank confessions of German soldiers and officers were kept in archives for decades. The prisoners talked about the battles, shared their views on their opponents, on the war, on life in Germany, on the SS, on the extermination of the Jews... Having analyzed more than 150 thousand pages of records, the authors did a huge job, undermining the foundations of the popular myth about the Wehrmacht that had existed for decades, based on simple postulates, the essence of which boils down to the following: “We are simple German soldiers. We followed orders and did our duty, and the SS and the Fuhrer are responsible for all atrocities.” But, fighting in the name of the criminal Nazi regime, one cannot stay away from the crimes committed by this regime, which is once again convincingly proven by this brilliantly written book. The book of two modern German historians is an amazing, unparalleled publication that allows, based on unique sources for the first time to recreate a convincing picture of the mentality of Wehrmacht soldiers during the Second World War. At the end of the war, in specially equipped British and American camps, conversations of German prisoners of war of all ranks and branches of the military were secretly wiretapped, recorded and then transcribed. Unvarnished, amazing stories and frank confessions of German soldiers and officers were kept in archives for decades. The prisoners talked about the battles, shared their views on their opponents, on the war, on life in Germany, on the SS, on the extermination of the Jews... Having analyzed more than 150 thousand pages of records, the authors did a huge job, undermining the foundations of the popular myth about the Wehrmacht that had existed for decades, based on simple postulates, the essence of which boils down to the following: “We are simple German soldiers. We followed orders and did our duty, and the SS and the Fuhrer are responsible for all atrocities.” But, fighting in the name of the criminal Nazi regime, one cannot stay away from the crimes committed by this regime, as this brilliantly written book once again convincingly proves.