Sniper Ace: From the Eastern Front to Siberia

Bruno Sutkus provides us a well documented autobiography of his World War II experiences and most important his years of confinement to the Soviet Union. The summary of the war's end as seen by Sutkus is simply that there were more of them than of us. He writes that normal front lines had one Ivan for every fifteen meters while the Germans had one soldier for every fifty to seventy-five meters. Losses meant nothing to the Soviets so with numbers in their favor the war was a forgone conclusion.Now for the interesting part. Sutkus tells of his, let's call it confinement, in the Soviet Union until 1971. He was part of the Lithuanian resistance, drafted into the Soviet army, mined coal and cut wood in Siberia, was offered high rank in the Soviet military if he would spy in West Germany, found friendly Russians in Siberia, and tells of corruption in Siberian coal mines. But there's more. Sutkus tells of his years trying to get back to Germany, near death by firing squad, Soviet bureaucracy, and eventual return to Germany.Sutkus reward for his war record, loyalty to Germany, and unwillingness to spy for the communists? The German government denied his application for a pension.Good quality paper and readable print. Highly recommened.

Mr. Sutkus writes a nice two part book, the first being his childhood and career as a farmer and then soldier. The latter half are his adventures in post war Soviet Russia, ending up with his life in the Baltics and then Germany.I'm reminded a lot of the "The White Sniper: Simo Haayaa". If you liked it you will like this book.There is a lot of attention to fieldcraft and sniping. This alone makes the book worthwhile. In addition, there is a lot of focus on the business of overcoming odds imposed by a foolish government that was wounded by Nazis and then held by by ideologues and bureaucrats.

The book can be divided into two halves. The first being Sutkus' struggles on the Eastern Front. The additional of excerpts from his sniper book adds to the accuracy of his claims. The second half of the book describes his life avoiding capture in his homeland of East Prussia which was now occupied by the Soviets. He is eventually arrested and charged with crimes against the state but is released. The bad: I wish he had gone more into technical aspects of being a sniper, but he did show the mental makeup the army was searching for. The good: Sutkus' life in Siberia is a fascinating story of survival of both the elements and politics of post-war Russia.

The first section of the book dealt with his making each shot of his 200 plus kills. It brought to light the care a sniper must have in order to not expose himself or position. The second section dealt with his labor on the farm, in the woods, and finally in the coal mines in Siberia. A time when there was never a possibility of being free, and living in the country of your birth.

The first and last parts are the more interesting narrative than the middle part, which is most of the book. The middle part is mostly rote descriptions of shots fired and soldiers killed. The first and last parts are an interesting description of life in Germany before the war and life in the USSR after the war. It’s hard to decide whether the war was worse than the gulag. This guy went through some terrible things, but survived.

I was looking for books about capable German snipers and this one, and Sepp Allerberger's, stood out. (I would say that Sepp's read has more actual combat to relate as he fought longer and the writer of Sepp's had a style that provided a better read). And if you have to choose between the two I would go with Sepp's read. However, both have merits.Sutkus was a sniper for the Wehrmacht for the last portion of the war and was outstanding as a sniper and soldier (being so fearless at one point he recounted letting an opposing sniper shoot him in the chest, knowing his layers of clothes would stop the bullet at the ranges involved. He then targeted the opposing sniper who had revealed his location by the shot). One can only wonder how much greater Sutkus's reputation and accomplishments would have been had he been fighting longer in the war.I liked his personal info prior to the war, about his growing up on a farm. My concern about such information is that it will be unnecessarily boring. However it was short and interesting.One fact that I was not eager to read was of his post war period in a Soviet Gulag as my main interest was his war experience. So, I began to read this after-war-recollection without enthusiasm, assuming it would be merely misery-upon-misery. However, it was surprisingly interesting. Sutkus did explain the difficulty and challenges but he did not dwell on them, and ultimately it was memorable and showed him to be an impressive fellow. And, it had a pretty good ending.Also, Sutkus went to lengths to provide evidence of his accomplishments copying out pages of his sniper log and meritorious awards for his accomplishments. This, of course, helps de-fang those who would question his narrative.Sutkus is definitely a warrior and he provides a narrative of a strong individual dealing with difficult circumstances and doing it well.(Note: I would have given his narrative a higher rating but Sutkus's relating of his kills were sometimes very hollow, merely mentioning them without providing much detail; useful for accounting but not maintaining interest. This left the reader unable to fully appreciate the difficulties involved in particular acts. That, and only half the book was dedicated to the war, which was my primary interest. Technically, I would probably give it a 3.5.)

The book comprises two parts: the wartime experiences of the author based on his official Sniper's Log Book and his experiences following the defeat of the Wehrmacht and the author's subsequent captivity and internment by the Soviets.The first half is a little light on narrative detail but serves as a useful indight into operations during the last months of the war in the east.The second half is more revealing and reinforces the impression that perhaps the western Allies were naive in their dealings with the Soviets and should have taken a much harder line with them in the months immediately post April 1945.Many German POWs weren't returned to Germany until the late 1950s and early 1960s if they survived at all: Sutkus wasn't repatriated until the 1990s - after the final fall of communism, such was his notoriety with the Soviets. Even then the German authorities were of little help, refusing him his resettlement entitlement due to him as part of his war-pension...A sobering account, not to be missed.

A well written readable account of a German sniper on the Eastern Front. The war on the east was a slaughterhouse and it took exceptional skill, fortitude and an amazing amount of luck to survive. Bruno gives a very good description of the reality of infantry combat against the Russians. A valuable story to place next to those from the Soviet side.

I find these books generally interesting as my family is German and fought in the war.This book was in two parts, the first was boring, just basically a description of all his kills that were confirmed. That would be fine but there was no story included, no how, when,s if,s and why,s? Nothing, just stats. The second half from when Bruno was captured, was significantly more interesting.

I started this book expecting a war memoir of the eastern front from a German soldiers point of view which it is ,and describes all the horrors of war that go with it.He also describes his background growing up on the borders of pre and early war years in east Prussia living and working on a farm too.The second part of the book is about his post war life and how he got banished to Siberia and he describes in detail but without being boring his Daly life and the eye watering incompetence of the Soviet way of running a farming collective.After I finished it I realised some people did really have a tough life many years after the war ended.

A very interesting read although short in length. The horrors faced by Sutkus on the Eastern Front have been I suspect somewhat glossed over but there is no doubting his assertion that it was kill or be killed.His affection for Germany never left him and nor did his hatred of the Russians and I can only conclude he was simply of his time.As appalling as the horrors he went through in the war the years behind the Iron Curtain certainly seemed at least as brutal if not more so and that he survived into his 70's was almost miraculous.I would readily recommend this book.