Sniper ace: from the eastern front to Siberia ; Bruno Sutkus, the autobiography of a Wehrmacht sniper

Overview: Throughout World War II, German snipers were obliged to carry a ’Scharfshützen Buch’ which recorded every kill. Each success noted had to be verified by a witness and signed by a superior officer.The journal of Sutkus is one of only a few such books to have survived the war. It records more than 200 kills, placing him as one of the war’s most successful snipers. A large part of his journal is reproduced for the first time here. WORLD HISTORY: FIRST WORLD WAR. Throughout World War II, German snipers were obliged to carry a 'Scharfshutzen Buch' which recorded every kill. Each success noted had to be verified by a witness and signed by a superior officer. The journal of Sutkus is one of only a few such books to have survived the war. It records more than 200 kills, placing him as one of the war's most successful snipers. A large part of his journal is reproduced for the first time here. When the war finished, Sutkus was forced to join the Red Army. He deserted to join the Lithuanian resistance fighters. After being captured again he was tortured by the KGB and deported to Siberia to endure forced labor. It was not until the collapse of the Soviet Union that he was able return to Germany and find his journal, still in the hands of the same nurse "Throughout the Second World War, German snipers were obliged to carry a Scharfshützenheft, or sniper log, which recorded every 'kill'. Each success noted had to be verified by a witness and signed by a superior officer. The journal of Bruno Sutkus is one of only a few such books to have survived the war. It records more than 200 kills, placing him as one of the war's most successful snipers. A large part of his journal is reproduced here."--Publisher's description

Bruno Sutkus lived a remarkable life. He cheated death numerous times, both on the battlefield and after the war, when peace was not to be found for exiles suffering unimaginable degradation in Siberian gulags. His story is not just a history of the desperate Eastern Front fighting, but also the experiences, of one of the most celebrated German snipers and his fight for survival as a hated enemy of the victorious Soviets.

A German sniper in World War II provides a first-hand account of his time on the Eastern Front, based primarily on the sniper log that he entrusted to a Red Cross nurse in 1945 and recovered from her in 1997, after intervening years of more warfare and Siberian exile. Includes 48 p. of portraits, reproductions of the author's personal documents and diary pages from World War II. Includes notes from the German publisher