At Leningrad's Gates: The Combat Memoirs of a Soldier with Army Group North

Of the many accounts of German soldiers' experiences of combat on the Eastern Front published in recent years, "At Leningrad's Gates" is by far the best to date. Not only is this an extremely interesting and well written memoir of combat experience with Army Group North in the campaigns around Leningrad and the retreat back into Germany, "At Leningrad's Gates" also details the difficulties Lubbecke's family faced living in Nazi Germany and after the war under Soviet domination in East Germany. Wilhelm Lubbecke emigrated with his wife and young son first to Canada and then to the United States after the war. Because of this his memoir is unique in that it not only views World War II from the perspective of a German citizen and soldier, but also from the point of view of an American who spent half of his life living, working and raising his children here in America.

Highly recommended. The author served in the 13th Company (Infantry Gun Company) in a German regiment in France 1940 and on the northern sector of the Eastern Front from 1941-45. This book contains detailed information on the organization, training, equipment, and operations of his unit. The author attained the rank of sergeant before being assigned in late 1943 to officer training in Germany. He returned to the Eastern Front and was assigned as the company commander of his old unit just before the massive Soviet summer offensives commenced in 1944. My only regret is the book contains few details of the fighting during this period. Details of combat from 1944-45 are few, but the ones he provides will hold your interest. All in all; 5 Stars. Great book, great history, fascinating read.

It's well known that World War II combat on the Eastern Front was brutal on both sides by any standards, and this book doesn't refute that a bit. What it does is portray the transformation of a rural German boy bent on doing what he felt he should for his country into a seasoned and finally defeated soldier of those awful clashes. Lubbeck entered the Wehrmacht as an enlisted man, and through bravery, good fortune and force of will became a captain heading an artillery company. As such, he was simply an instrument of the Wehrmacht, and hardly a proponent of the Nazi gospel that propelled it into that war. His family, in fact, suffered at the hands of the Nazis throughout the war for mildly questioning its ways and means. The most poignant sections of this book have to do with the siege of Leningrad, Lubbeck's portion of Army Group North so near the city that the streetcar lines running from the city to the suburbs were almost in view. Lubbeck, in typical Germanic fashion understates triumph and defeat, heroism and poorly conceived strategy, as well as the forbidding conditions in which that campaign was fought. He writes of pouring cold water on his toes to thaw them from frostbite, and of the agony that minuscule bit of heat caused. And he speaks of fleas mites and other infestations that made a deplorable situation even worse. Throughout this time, Lubbeck waged another war, that for the love of his future wife Anneliese. She was plagued by her mother's adopted maiden name, which bore Jewish connotations, but the couple persevered, married and lived the ideal happy ending.

I should say up front that perhaps I'm a bit biased regarding this book. It is my pleasure and honor to know Captain Lubbeck. I teach a college level course on WWII and Captain Lubbeck has been a guest speaker a number of times for my class. He hesitated to do so at first, protesting that he is first and foremost an American, and his WWII experience was part of a different life. When he finally did speak he held his audience spell bound. More than a few of his "former enemies" were in that room, American and British veterans and yet, when he was done speaking, they were on their feet, ready to shake his hand and close friendships have now formed on both sides. But on to the book review. I watched this book take shape over several years as Captain Lubbeck, with the aid of a rising historian and author, David Hurt, worked tirelessly on their effort. Believe me, from someone who knows him, every word in this book comes from the heart. When I received a copy of the book last night and started to read, I was spell bound and could not get to sleep. The writing style is superb, you truly get inside "his head" and all but need an extra blanket to ward off the cold of Russia. From an historian's perspective I believe that Lubbeck's story is an important one for all of us to read. He is an honest, good, devout man. The question that is so difficult then is this. . .how could such men fight to prop up a regime of such evil? He confronts this head on, the confrontation made heart breaking by the memory of so many of his comrades, honorable young men, who died as a result, believing they were fighting for their homeland, while being deluded by a force that was evil incarnate. For any with an interest in WWII this book must be on your shelf, it is an excellent narrative, of a tactical view of the siege of Leningrad from the German side, a rare perspective that few have written about. Another strength of this book is that it does not just confine itself to the war. Lubbeck shares his entire life and that of his family and his beloved wife, thus giving us great insight into pre-war Germany and why, at first, it did follow Hitler, a perspective well worth studying. . .and then afterwards how one man picked up the shattered pieces of his life and became an American. For me, what was most touching was his mention of a dinner several years back honoring a mutual friend for his service on Omaha Beach which I attended. After the dinner the manager of the restaurant thought Lubbeck was also an American vet and presented him with a cake thanking him for his "service to our country." There was a pause and we all broke into wild laughter. And then, in a heart warming gesture, Lubbeck and the D-Day vet shook hands and embraced. It was, for me, a statement about what is best about America. We were lucky to gain Lubbeck as a patriotic citizen, and we are lucky that he has finally put his remarkable life into a narrative that all can rea

This is a welcome addition to WW2 German soldier memoirs. It does start out a bit slow, as the author has included a lot of material on his pre-war youth, but in the end is a good comparison to farm life in Germany under Soviet rule. My only real complaint about this book is I do wish it were longer. There's a lot of interesting material in here from an average infantry division, and as far as I know perhaps the only such book in which the author served in the heavy weapons support company. And in Army Group North by Lenningrad which we have not had much to read about. Of particular interest is his lucky escape from East Prussia aboard one of the German ships. All in all, a good solid book by a former landser abut life in the German Army.