Twilight of the Gods cover art

Twilight of the Gods

A Swedish Waffen-SS Volunteer's Experiences with the 11th SS-Panzergrenadier Division Nordland, Eastern Front 1944-45

Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for £0.00
£8.99/mo thereafter. Renews automatically. Terms apply. Offer ends 31 July 2025 at 23:59 GMT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.

Twilight of the Gods

By: Thorolf Hillblad - editor
Narrated by: Bruce Mann
Try for £0.00

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Offer ends 31 July 2025 23:59 GMT. Cancel monthly.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Twilight of the Gods was originally written in Swedish, and published in Buenos Aires shortly after the end of WWII. Erik Wallin, a Swedish soldier who volunteered for service with the Waffen-SS, participated in the climactic battles on the Eastern Front during late 1944 and 1945, later telling his story to this book's editor, Thorolf Hillblad.

Wallin served with the Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion, 11th SS-Panzergrenadier Division Nordland, a unit composed mainly of non-German volunteers, including Danes, Norwegians, and Swedes. The division enjoyed a high reputation for its combat capability, and was always at the focal points of the fighting on the Eastern Front in the last year of the war. During this period it saw combat in the Baltic, in Pomerania, on the Oder, and finally in defense of Berlin, where it was destroyed.

Erik Wallin served with his unit in all of these locations, and provides the listener with a fascinating glimpse into these final battles. The book is written with a "no holds barred" approach which will captivate, excite, and maybe even shock the listener - his recollections do not evade the brutality of fighting against the advancing Red Army. Twilight of the Gods is destined to become a classic memoir of the Second World War.

©2002 Thorolf Hillblad (P)2019 Tantor
Military Military & War World War II War Red Army

Listeners also enjoyed...

Fur Volk and Fuhrer cover art
Blood Red Snow cover art
Halbe, 1945 cover art
Until the Eyes Shut cover art
In Deadly Combat cover art
Blood, Dust and Snow cover art
Adventures in My Youth cover art
Panzer Commander cover art
Panzers on the Eastern Front cover art
Blood and Soil cover art
Red Road from Stalingrad cover art
On a Knife’s Edge cover art
Panzer Ace cover art
The Reckoning cover art
Radio Operator on the Eastern Front cover art
War on the Eastern Front cover art
All stars
Most relevant  
I had withdrawal symptoms when I finished. Excellent inside story of the horrendous war in the East and the trauma suffered by soldiers and civilians caught up in battle.

Addictive

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Interesting story with both personal experience and the fall of Berlin. Horrendous civilian casualties and destruction.

Very interesting

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I’m not convinced this is all fact ? It may well be but the story is exciting and interesting anyway .

Fact or fiction

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

A nerve wrenching story that has you on the tip of your toes, amazed how he lived to tell the tale of surviving such brutal carnage.

Notorious war

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

The interesting thing here was the insight into what drove these zealots on. Alas very much echoed in the white supremacist movement currently, lots very selective views of history. Very much at odds with several other views from German veterans who either had nothing to do with the politics and could see the writing on the wall once America became involved.

interesting view into the mind of a fascist zealot

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Wish he elaborated in what actually drew him to SS in the first place. It seems his views are almost ignorant to the abundance of horrors the Germans caused on civilians as well.

Interesting perspective

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

It's always great to hear war stories from a personal perspective. This is one of those stories. The retreat and horrific experience, combined with some good detail of this SS soldier. If nothing else, it should serve as a reminder of the personal sacrafice that the ordinary soldier, on both sides, makes.

Fantastic

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This is a fascinating and true account of a Swedish volunteer fighting with the SS for Nazi Germany. It tells his thrilling account from the start of 1945 to end of his war service. I find it revealing to hear stories of world war 2 from the axis side as they contrast completely from that of our own, yet hold common similarities in how those suffering from war seek its end. Very few accounts exist from SS soldiers and whilst the key figure is on the Nazi side, he and his comrades have many redeeming features. Most of those involved in war did not commit atrocities.
This is easily the most exciting and interesting account I have heard so far from the Axis side.
Sadly the narration is robotic and I’m dismayed at how badly wrong audible get it when picking narrators. They’ve some superb ones but also several who sound like a machine.
Despite this, please don’t be put off as this is a fascinating wartime account which is not to be missed by anyone interested in the period.
For the story alone, I’d highly recommend it.

A fascinating war story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Easy to follow with accurate review of equipment & formations.
As a biography it's very much of its time.
I enjoyed it.

Good reading

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Fabulous book, this is the second time I've listened to it and enjoyed it thoroughly. I wish Audible would do more like it. Highly recommended!!!

Excellent!!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews