Movies and Films
This is the forum for Movie and Film discussions. Again, our topic is naval warfare in WWII for the most part.
Re: Das Boot and Merten's book
Posted by:
Peter Louw
()
Date: November 16, 2005 03:34PM
I have now done my own little bit of research. Merten's book is no longer available through the German Amazon, but a search with Altavista did yield two references. It would seem that Merten's book is linked to the controversy which arose in Germany subsequent to Buchheim's books featuring submarine life (not only Das Boot), particularly his criticism of Doenitz.
There is a reference in [kaedrin.com] which doesn't say much, but in the Spanish website www.exordio.com I found the following which sheds more light (the quotation is a machine translation which I have edited to make it meaningful):
"One of the criticisms against Buchheim was that he severely criticised the U-Boots, particularly Admiral Doenitz ... Many German veteran submariners considered that Das Boot is a fantasy, whereas others considered that it is an acceptable reflection of life in the U-boats. Merten's criticism was echoed by respectable commanders such as Otto Kretschmer and Horst Bredow, but others such as Erich Topp and Jürgen Oesten endorsed Buchheim."
If anyone could shed more light on this difference of opinion it would be interesting.
Many thanks.
There is a reference in [kaedrin.com] which doesn't say much, but in the Spanish website www.exordio.com I found the following which sheds more light (the quotation is a machine translation which I have edited to make it meaningful):
"One of the criticisms against Buchheim was that he severely criticised the U-Boots, particularly Admiral Doenitz ... Many German veteran submariners considered that Das Boot is a fantasy, whereas others considered that it is an acceptable reflection of life in the U-boats. Merten's criticism was echoed by respectable commanders such as Otto Kretschmer and Horst Bredow, but others such as Erich Topp and Jürgen Oesten endorsed Buchheim."
If anyone could shed more light on this difference of opinion it would be interesting.
Many thanks.
