Sven Hassel (born April 19, 1917) is a Danish-born soldier and writer who has written pseudo-autobiographical novels based on his experiences in World War II. April 19 is the 109th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (110th in leap years). ... 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... A soldier is a person who has enlisted with, or has been conscripted into, the armed forces of a sovereign country and has undergone training and received equipment (such as a uniform and weapon) to defend that country or its interests. ... The term writer can apply to anyone who creates a written work, but the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... Pseudo is a prefix of Greek origin. ... For music albums named Autobiography, see Greek eauton = self, bios = life and graphein = write) is a form of biography, the writing of a life story. ... Daniel Defoes Robinson Crusoe; title page of 1719 newspaper edition A novel (from French nouvelle, new) is an extended fictional narrative in prose. ... Combatants Allies: • Poland, • UK & Commonwealth, • France/Free France, • Soviet Union, • USA, • China, ...and others Axis: • Germany, • Italy, • Japan, ...and others Casualties Military dead: 17 million Civilian dead: 33 million Total: 50 million Full list Military dead: 8 million Civilian dead: 4 million Total: 12 million Full list World War II...

Biography

Hassel's biography is disputed (see below). He claims that he was born as Sven Pedersen at Frederiksborg, Zealand, Denmark. He later adopted his mother's maiden name Hassel. At the age of 14 he joined a merchant navy as a cabin boy and worked in ship until his military service in 1936. In 1937, to escape the Great Depression, the unemployed Hassel moved to Germany to join the army. In an interview in 1990, he said, "Germany happened to be closer than England, I went to a Wehrmacht recruiting office to enlist, but it wasn't as easy as I had thought. Only German citizens could serve. After six months of trying to join up, the Seventh Cavalry Regiment finally accepted me on the condition that I became a naturalized German." Later he served with the second Panzer Division stationed at Eisenach and in 1939 was a tank driver during the invasion of Poland. Frederiksborgs Amt (English Frederiksborg County) is a county in eastern Denmark, on the north of the island of Zealand. ... Zealand (Danish: Sjælland ) is the largest island of Denmark. ... A Cabin boy is a boy who waits on the officers and passengers of a ship. ... Military service is the period a person is serving in an army (or other military organisation), either as a chosen job, either as the result of an involuntary draft (in that case usually termed conscription). ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Dorothea Langes Migrant Mother depicts destitute pea pickers in California, centering on Florence Owens Thompson, a mother of seven children, age 32, in Nipomo, California, March 1936. ... This article is about the year. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the British Isles Languages English (de facto) Capital London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001 Census) – Density Ranked 1st... German cavalry and motorized units entering Poland from East Prussia during the Polish Defensive War of 1939 Wehrmacht (help· info) (Defence force) was the name of the armed forces of Germany from 1935 to 1945. ... Cavalry is also a common misspelling of the Biblical hill Calvary. ... PzKpfw V-D, a Panther tank   Panzer? is German for armour. ... Eisenach is a city in Thuringia, Germany. ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Combatants Poland Germany, Slovakia Soviet Union Commanders Edward Rydz-ÅšmigÅ‚y Fedor von Bock (Army Group North) Gerd von Rundstedt (Army Group South) Strength 39 divisions, 16 brigades 4,300 guns 880 tanks 400 aircraft Total: 1,000,000 56 German divisions, 4 brigades, 33+ Soviet divisions, 11+ brigades, 2...

A year later he attempted to escape. ". . .I was quite simply exhausted. I did not return to my unit after a short leave. Desertion they called it. I was transferred to a sonderabteilung, a penal unit manned by criminals and dissidents." Desertion is the act of abandoning or withdrawing support from an entity to which one has given. ... A dissident is a person who actively opposes the established order. ...

He served with the 2nd Cavalry Regiment and later the 11th and 27th Panzer Regiments (6th Panzer Division) on all fronts except North Africa and was wounded several times. Eventually he reached the rank of lieutenant and received an Iron Cross 1st and 2nd class. He surrendered to Soviet troops in Berlin in 1945 and spent following years in various POW camps. He began to write his first book, Legion of the Damned while he was interred.  Northern Africa (UN subregion)  geographic, including above North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent. ... A stylized version of the Iron Cross, the logo of the German Armed Forces The Iron Cross (German: Eisernes Kreuz) is a military decoration of the Kingdom of Prussia, and later of Germany, which was established by King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia and first awarded on 10 March 1813. ... (help· info), IPA: , is the capital city as well as a state of Germany, and also the countrys largest city. ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... Prisoner of War camps Contents // Categories: Substubs | Prisons and detention centres ...

He was released in 1949, and was planning to join the French Foreign Legion when he met Dorthe Jensen, whom he married in 1951. He went to work in a car factory, but his wife encouraged him to write about his experiences. De Fordømtes Legion (Legion of the Damned) was published in 1953. 1949 (MCMXLIX) is a common year starting on Saturday. ... Légionnaires in dress uniform. ... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... 1953 (MCMLIII) is a common year starting on Thursday. ...

In 1957 Sven Hassel suffered from an attack of a sickness caught during the war and was paralyzed for almost two years. After recovery, he began to write more books. In 1964 he moved to Barcelona, Spain, where, as of 2004, he still lives. In total he has published fourteen novels which have been translated into eighteen languages. In 1987 his book Døden på larveføtter (Wheels of Terror) was made into a film with the title The Misfit Brigade [1] 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Paralysis is the complete loss of muscle function for one or more muscle groups. ... For the Nintendo 64 emulator, see 1964 (Emulator). ... Barcelona is the capital city of Catalonia (Spain). ... It has been designated the: International Year of Rice (by the United Nations) International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO) 2004 World Health Day topic was Road Safety (by World Health Organization) Year of the Monkey (by the Chinese calendar) See the world in... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Hassel's books

In his books, Hassel describes the war through a first-person narrator with the same name. The books describe the exploits of a 27th (Penal) Panzer Regiment composed of expendable soldiers - sentenced criminals, court-martialed soldiers and political undesirables. In addition to Sven, they include Legionnaire (ex-member of French Foreign Legion); a giant of a man ironically named Tiny; barracks fixer and shrewd thief Joseph Porta; older sergeant Old One; Julius Heide, a nazi fanatic; and Barcelona Blom, a veteran of both sides of the Spanish Civil War. They serve on most fronts from Northern Finland to the Russian Front (more than once), Italy, Greece and the Balkans, and to Normandy during the Normandy Invasion. A quick chronological analysis of the activities described in the books appears to show that the regiment depicted in the books fought in several places, hundreds of miles apart, at the same time. Hassel states that the characters are based on real people and events are related to historical events. A court-martial (plural courts-martial) is a military court that determines punishments for members of the military subject to military law. ... Légionnaires in dress uniform. ... The Spanish Civil War (July 1936–April 1939) was a conflict in which the incumbent Second Spanish Republic and political left-wing groups fought against a right-wing nationalist insurrection led by General Francisco Franco, who eventually succeeded in ousting the Republican government and establishing a personal dictatorship. ... Flag of Normandy Mont Saint Michel is a historic pilgrimage site and a symbol of Normandy Normandy is a geographical region in northern France. ... The Battle of Normandy was fought in 1944 between the German forces occupying Western Europe and the invading Allies. ...

Hassel's view of war is brutal. In his books soldiers fight only to survive, the Geneva Convention being a dead letter to all sides. People are killed by chance or with very little reason. Occasional pleasant events and peaceful meetings are brutally cut short. Unsympathetic Prussian officers constantly threaten their men with courts-martial and execute them with little provocation. Disgruntled soldiers occasionally kill their own officers to get rid of them. The Geneva Conventions consist of treaties formulated in Geneva, Switzerland that set the standards for international law for humanitarian concerns. ... The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Prussia, 1701-1918 The word Prussia (Old Prussian: Prūsa, German: Preußen, Polish: Prusy, Lithuanian: Prūsai, Latin: Borussia) has had various (often contradictory) meanings: The land of the Baltic Prussians (in what is now parts of southern Lithuania, the Kaliningrad... A court-martial (plural courts-martial) is a military court that determines punishments for members of the military subject to military law. ...

Even though Hassel's books are not taken seriously by historians or military professionals, many of the stories in them are well told, and - like much of fictional writing - some of their background material appears to be derived from authentic accounts.

They have brought a remarkable reading experience to many a reader, and are perhaps responsible for introducing readers to the subject of the Second World War from an unfamiliar viewpoint. Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ...

Critics

Erik Haaest, a self-styled Danish journalist, has spent many years trying to debunk Hassel's claims.

Haaest's father was an active member of the Danish resistance. After the war, his father refused to accept any awards from Denmark's post-war government, because many officials who had collaborated with the Germans, were still unpunished, in positions of power and were now posing as anti-Nazis. Haaest is intimately familiar with the subjects of Danish resistance, and Danish pro-Nazi collaborators.

Haaest writes that Sven Hassel is actually Børge Villy Redsted Pedersen, a Danish Nazi who never served on the Russian front. According to Haaest, the author spent the majority of World War II in occupied Denmark and his knowledge of warfare comes second-hand from Danish Waffen SS veterans whom he met after the end of the war. Haaest also alleges that Hassel's first novel was ghostwritten and when it became a success, he employed his wife to write the rest of his books. The term National Socialism has been used in self-description by a number of different political groups and ideologies, some of which have no connection with the Nazis; see National socialism (disambiguation). ... Waffen-SS recruitment poster: Volunteer for the Waffen-SS The Waffen-SS (Arms SS) was the combat arm of the Schutzstaffel (SS,Protective Squadron of the NSDAP ). Headed by Heinrich Himmler who was ranked Reichsführer-SS (Imperial Leader-SS), the Waffen-SS saw action throughout the Second World War. ... A ghostwriter is a writer who writes under someone elses name, with their consent. ...

He also used to claim that Sven Hassel's wife was behind a huge ring of sleazy pornography.

He has interviewed many Danish Waffen SS veterans, and in typical journalist fashion, takes pains to document his claims and name his sources. Perhaps as a result, attempts to discredit Haaest have consisted mostly of inuendo and denial, rather than discussing what - if anything - is wrong with the evidence he provides. Although Haaest's allegations are not generally accepted by Sven Hassel fans, they have focused attention on Hassel's description of his own past and provoked much discussion, particularly on Internet newsgroups and discussion forums, on the validity of Hassel's claims. Waffen-SS recruitment poster: Volunteer for the Waffen-SS The Waffen-SS (Arms SS) was the combat arm of the Schutzstaffel (SS,Protective Squadron of the NSDAP ). Headed by Heinrich Himmler who was ranked Reichsführer-SS (Imperial Leader-SS), the Waffen-SS saw action throughout the Second World War. ... A newsgroup is a repository, usually within the Usenet system, for messages posted from many users at different locations. ...

Far from being a mere debunking of Hassel's books, Haaest's charges amount to charges of treason against Sven Hassel. Eric Haaest supplies information that focuses on Sven Hassel's real activities during the period - information that seems to show that Pedersen aka Hassel, was in fact a member of the HIPO or Hilfspolizei, an auxiliary police force created by the Germans, consisting of collaborators.

The charges are all the more serious for Hassel, since Hassel writes from an anti-Nazi perspective.

According to Haaest, Pedersen aka Hassel was actually put on trial in Denmark. However, due to his abilities as a story teller, he was able to avoid a death sentence - a fate that many HIPO members faced.

Hassel's book Wheels of Terror contains some detailed accounts about the German breakout from the Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket. The fighting at Novaya Buda (which Hassel calls "Nova Buda"), as well as the breakout at Lysyanka, are dealt with from a survivor's point of view. Wheels of Terror also involves a battle for a railroad junction like that of Kovel. It so happens that the fighting in all of the above mentioned areas, involved Danish Waffen SS volunteers from the 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking. Later scenes of fighting in Wheels of Terror resemble the Battle of Narva, which included Danish Waffen SS volunteers from the Nordland. Combatants Germany Soviet Union Commanders Erich von Manstein , Wilhelm Stemmerman (Gruppe Stemmerman), Hermann Breith, III Panzerkorps Georgi Zhukov, Nikolai Vatutin (1st Ukrainian Front), Ivan Konev (2nd Ukrainian Front), Strength 56,000 tanks 200,000 2,500 tanks Casualties 18,500 KIA, 2,800 WIA, 1,000 captured ? tanks  ? KIA, ?WIA... Coat of Arms, circa 1993 Kovel (In Ukrainian and in Russian: Ковель, in Polish: Kowel) is a town now situated in western Ukraine in the Volyn oblast. ... Waffen-SS recruitment poster: Volunteer for the Waffen-SS The Waffen-SS (Arms SS) was the combat arm of the Schutzstaffel (SS,Protective Squadron of the NSDAP ). Headed by Heinrich Himmler who was ranked Reichsführer-SS (Imperial Leader-SS), the Waffen-SS saw action throughout the Second World War. ... SS Division Germania SS Division Wiking SS Panzergrenadier Division Wiking 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking Logo of the SS Wiking Formed around SS Regiment Germania as SS Division Germania in late 1940, and renamed SS Division Wiking in early 1941. ... Battle of Narva Conflict {{{conflict}}} Date {{{date}}} Place {{{place}}} Result {{{result}}} The Battle of Narva took place in the first half of 1944. ... Waffen-SS recruitment poster: Volunteer for the Waffen-SS The Waffen-SS (Arms SS) was the combat arm of the Schutzstaffel (SS,Protective Squadron of the NSDAP ). Headed by Heinrich Himmler who was ranked Reichsführer-SS (Imperial Leader-SS), the Waffen-SS saw action throughout the Second World War. ... Kampfverband Waräger Germanische-Freiwilligen-Division SS-Panzergrenadier-Division 11 (Germanische) 11. ...

Finland was the only nation that was not occupied with foreign soldiers when it comes to losing side of ww2!!!!

This lends further credence to Haaest's assertion that Pedersen aka Hassel, gleaned some of the material in his books from cellmates who were Danish Waffen SS volunteers. Waffen-SS recruitment poster: Volunteer for the Waffen-SS The Waffen-SS (Arms SS) was the combat arm of the Schutzstaffel (SS,Protective Squadron of the NSDAP ). Headed by Heinrich Himmler who was ranked Reichsführer-SS (Imperial Leader-SS), the Waffen-SS saw action throughout the Second World War. ...

While Haaest has proved instrumental in casting doubt on Sven Hassel's stories, they were never taken seriously by military or history professionals to begin with.

For example, there was a 27th regiment in the German Army, but it wasn't penal. Tiger I tanks were in short supply, and were organized in special battalions, directly under Corps command, but attached to a few elite divisions; they certainly weren't given to any penal formation. The Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf. ...

For this reason, serious historical and military forums on the internet, such as Feldgrau.com and AxisHistory.com, do not treat any of Sven Hassel's works as authentic.

Hassel also used to claim that he served in Finland during the Winter War, and received a Mannerheim Cross, but Finnish military archives and the list of Mannerheim Cross recipients do not support either claim. The claim has since disappeared from his official biography. Combatants Finland Soviet Union Commanders Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim Kliment Voroshilov, later Semyon Timoshenko Strength 180,000 450,000 Casualties 22,830 dead 43,600 wounded 1,000 captured 127,000+ dead or missing 265,000 wounded 3,100 captured, 2000+ tanks {{{notes}}} The Winter War (also known as the... The Mannerheim Cross of the Cross of Liberty (Mannerheim-risti / Mannerheimkorset) is a Finnish military decoration introduced after the Winter War and named after Marshal Mannerheim. ...

Sven Hassel's Fans

The readership for Sven Hassel has spread to many countries. Although the popularity of his novels peaked several decades ago, the advent of the internet has sparked a new interest - and an opportunity for older fans to exchange viewpoints.

It is significant that some Hassel fans believe Eric Haaest's version of who Sven Hassel really is, while continuing to enjoy Hassel's books.

Works

(English names)

• The Legion Of The Damned (1953)
• Wheels Of Terror (1958)
• Comrades of War (1960)
• Assignment Gestapo (1963)
• Monte Cassino (The Beast Regiment) (1963)
• Liquidate Paris (1967)
• March Battalion (1962)
• SS-General (1969)
• Reign of Hell (1971)
• Blitzfreeze (1976)
• The Bloody Road to Death
• Court Martial
• GPU Prison (1981)
• The Commissar

External links

• Porta’s Kitchen (a fan site with a large amount of information)
• Sven Hassel web site (Author's site)
• Erik Haaest's site (opposition site challenging Hassel's claims)