Sven Hassel - Everything is true? Pls discuss?

Question

I am a big fan of Sven hassel but I have found in some of his books things that are(were) not quite real.
For example in the book "The bloody road to death" ( I think), he said that , when on a mission to capture an ex-german( now soviet) comisar his group encountered 4 tanks, or so he says.2 of them were BA-64 and one a Humber MK 2.
He said they are tanks when in fact all these 3 were by no means tanks, but armored cars.
Also he said in some of his books that the Sd.Kfz. 234/2 "Puma" was a tank when, in fact was one of the most powerful armored cars in WW2.
He says his regiment was a penal regiment, yet there was a 27th regiment in the German Army, but it was not penal.
He also says they were equiped with Tigers, when these heavy tanks were scarce and were organized in special batalions, directly under Corps command and is impossible to think that they were given to any penal formation.
Now I have read all his books, and I know many of his books are more fiction that reallity.

Answer 1

Hassels books are not seen as a reliable source by historians,
I find it very difficult to believe that a member of a penal unit who left school at age 14 becomes a lieutenant (becoming an officer in the german military has always required Abitur, a school degree which can be obtained at age 18/19, not 14. A deserter usually would never have gotten a promotion again. Penal units were generally not equipped with tanks, but did thinks such as disarming mines etc.

Answer 2

Service in a Penal Battalion was exactly that-punishment for transgressions. While in service the "convict" was denied rank and medals and was cannon fodder of the worst kind. Stick out your leg, you are now a mine detector. At the end of his service (assuming you lived) you would be reinstated at the rank you held before being arrested and allowed to wear the medals previously won. The NCOs and officers in a penal battalion were not convicts but more like "jailors" because someone had to be in charge. I enjoyed the books, but if you want historical fact these won t be for you. Stop nitpicking and just enjoy them.

Answer 3

No. There are always exceptions. Some so-called great minds I've been around love to gossip and put others down just as much as the lowest trash does.

Answer 4

Have you ever read "The Great Controversy" by Ellen White? This is a powerful book from beginning to end.

Answer 5

2 things:

1) Never heard of him
2) This is probably the wrong category for this post

Answer 6

never heard of it