Campaign in Russia

"Campaign in Russia: The Waffen SS on the Eastern Front" is a memoir written by Léon Degrelle, the Belgian political figure who founded the Rexist movement in the 1930s and later became one of the most prominent non-German volunteers to serve in the Waffen-SS during the Second World War. The book recounts his experiences commanding troops within the Walloon Legion and, later, the 28th SS Volunteer Division Wallonien, as they fought alongside German forces on the Eastern Front. For readers interested in the military history of the war, particularly the often-overlooked contributions of foreign volunteer units within the German armed forces, this memoir offers a firsthand account from someone who was directly involved in the fighting.

Degrelle's narrative moves through several major campaigns and engagements on the Eastern Front, describing the brutal conditions faced by soldiers in that theater: extreme cold, supply shortages, and the relentless pressure of Soviet counteroffensives. His prose is vivid and detailed when describing troop movements, terrain, and the physical hardships endured by his men. Readers who appreciate ground-level military memoirs will find passages that convey the chaos and exhaustion of combat on a scale that dwarfed much of the fighting seen on other fronts during the war.

However, any assessment of this book must take into account Degrelle's background and the circumstances under which it was written. As the leader of a fascist political movement in occupied Belgium and a committed collaborator with Nazi Germany, Degrelle had strong ideological motivations that shape the tone and framing of his account. After the war, he was sentenced to death in absentia by Belgian courts for his collaboration but escaped to Francoist Spain, where he lived until his death in 1994 and where this memoir was later written. This context is important, because the book reads less like a neutral historical record and more like a personal justification of his choices and the cause he served. Descriptions of German and Waffen-SS conduct tend toward the flattering, while the broader political and ideological realities of the war—including the atrocities committed on the Eastern Front—receive little critical examination.

This raises a significant caution for readers approaching the book: it should not be treated as an objective historical source. Degrelle's account is a participant's memoir, filtered through decades of exile and unrepentant political conviction. Historians who have examined his writings generally treat them as valuable for understanding the self-image and motivations of foreign Waffen-SS volunteers, but not as a reliable account of the broader strategic or moral realities of the war. Readers seeking balanced military history should pair this book with more rigorously researched and independently sourced texts on the Eastern Front and on the Waffen-SS as an institution.

The English translation of this work has also circulated through publishers associated with historical revisionism, which adds another layer of context worth noting before approaching the text. Readers should be aware of the publishing history and the ideological environment in which certain editions have been distributed, as this can affect how the material is framed and marketed.

Stylistically, Degrelle writes with confidence and a clear narrative drive, which makes the book readable even for those without a deep background in military history. His descriptions of specific battles and the day-to-day experience of frontline soldiers are engaging, and he does not shy away from describing the physical toll of combat on his men. For readers specifically interested in primary-source narratives from foreign volunteers in German service, the book offers material not easily found elsewhere.

In summary, "Campaign in Russia" is best approached as a primary document reflecting one man's wartime experience and postwar self-justification rather than as a comprehensive or impartial history. Its value lies in the firsthand descriptions of combat and unit-level experience on the Eastern Front, but its reliability as historical analysis is limited by the author's political commitments and personal stake in defending his legacy. Readers should approach the text critically, ideally alongside broader scholarly works on the Eastern Front and the Waffen-SS, to place Degrelle's account within a fuller and more balanced historical context.