Sven Hassel: Difference between revisions

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The novels are ostensibly told from the point-of-view of the author, though some chapters are in third-person and cover other characters. Sven Hassel claims to have based them on his service in the Wehrmacht, during which he served on every front except North Africa. A journalist however claimed Hassel spent the war entirely in Denmark as a member of a collaborationist police unit, and his stories are based on conversations with ex-Dutch SS soldiers thrown into prison with him afterwards. Certainly his novels are not taken seriously by historians, containing many inconsistencies and exaggerations. Nevertheless with their unstinting mix of action, horror and [[Black Comedy]] they have proved quite popular, being translated into eighteen languages.

* Sven Hassel -- A Dane of German descent, he joined the German army before the war as there was no work in his native country. Sentenced to a concentration camp for desertion, he is then 'pardoned' and sent to a penal regiment. With the exception of ''The Legion of the Damned'' Hassel tends to take the background in his novels, seldom portraying himself as remarkable or heroic.

 

 

* [[Angry Guard Dog]]: Wolf's pair of wolfhounds which he uses for protection, and to eat those who annoy him.

* [[Anyone Can Die]]: Particularly in {{spoiler|the first book, ''Legion of the Damned''}}.

* [[Those Wacky Nazis]]: The horror and stupidity of the Nazi regime is shown in full force.

* [[Trapped Behind Enemy Lines]]: Happens often -- either because they're sent on a <s>suicide</s> commando mission, overrun by the enemy during a <s>retreat</s> strategic withdrawal, or just get lost.

* [[War Is Hell]]: This is taken [[Up to Eleven]]; the Geneva Conventions and laws of warfare are treated as dead letters by both sides, and torture and murder of prisoners happens repeatedly.

* [[World War II]]: The setting. At various times, the heroes are on nearly every front on which the Germans fought, save only North Africa. (And they would have got there too, had their ship not been torpedoed). Sometimes they're on two different fronts hundreds of miles apart. [[Did Not Do the Research|At the same time]].