Sven Hassel

Sven Hassel was born in 1917 in Fredensborg, a small village in Denmark, as Børge Willy Redsted Pedersen to parents Peder Oluf and Hansigne Pedersen. He later took his mothers maiden name Hassel as his own surname. He was raised in a traditional Danish working-class family, and in 1931, at the age of 14 he joined the merchant navy, working as a cabinboy. He is the author of the books this wikia is about. He has to this day written 14 novels about his time as a penal soldier in the German army during the second world war.

He joined the army for his military service in 1936, and in 1937 after 6 months of trying to get in, he joined the german army as a volunteer. At the time there were no jojbs available in Denmark, and Sven more than anything wanted to join an army. He had some trouble getting in to the German army, since only germans were allowed to enlist, but he eventually got in, on the condition that he became an naturalized german.

Upon joining the german army he served in the 2nd Cavalry Regiment until he decided not to return after a short leave, deserting to get away from the awfulness of the war. He was arrested and sentenced to 15 years in German penalcamp Lengries. Shortly upon arriving to Lengries he, along with several fellow inmates were transferred to another installment in the German penal system, the workingcamp and medical experminental facility Fagen. There Sven got the chance of pardon. Bombdisposal.

To get his pardon, he volunteered to dispose of airbombs and missiles that had failed to explode, and now were buried in the ground around Bremen, Germany.

He eventually recieved his pardon, and were sent to serve in a penal regiment. A soldier in the German army once again. But before he could join his new regiment, he was sent to undergo new military training, and eventually to the 2nd platoon, 5th campany, 27th Panzerbattalion of the 6th penal army. There he served under Lt. von Barring.

Some of his new friends in the 2nd platoon concisted of Old man, Unterofficier Willie Beier. A short, built man around 35 years old. Obergefreiter Joseph Porta, a tall, slim man with bright red hair from Berlin, Moabit. Tiny, Obergefreiter Wolfgang Creutzfeldt, a tall, heavy built man from Hamburg. Strong like an oxe, and with about the same intellect as one. Unterofficier Julius Heide, a strict militarytype man living his life by the books. In this case the regulations of the Gereman Army. Never breaking rules and obeying every order given to him without hesitation. The perfect killing machine. Pluto, Stabsgefreiter Gustav Eicken. Former dockworker from Hamburg, with the strength of a gorilla. The Leginnaire, a short, scarred man from the French foreign Legion, with a badly scarred face and constantly a cigarette hanging from his lips.

These men and several others became Svens friends during his time in the 27th Penal Panzerbattalion, during different parts of the second world war.

Sven fought with his 27th Panzers on all fronts during the war, except the North Africa front, and at the end of the war he had reached the rank of Liutenant. He was awarded with several medals and accomodations during the war, including the Iron Cross, 1st and 2nd class, Gold Medal, Italian Military Cross and a large number of other accomodations which he never wears. The only award he has been seen wearing in public is the Finnish Commander Of The Mannerheim Order.

At the end of the war he was captured by russian troops, and spent four years, between 1945 and 1949 as a prisoner of war in Russian, American, French and Danish prisoncamps. After his release he descided to join the French Foreign Legion, and was on his way to France when he met his future wife Dorthe Jensen. She convinced him not to join the army once again, but to return to Denmark, and there he began working in the automobile industry. In January of 1951 he and Dorthe was married, and in 1952 she gave birth to their son Michael.

During his enprisonment he started writing down his memories and thoughts about the war, and Dorthe asked him to keep all of his notes and fragments of manuscript that he had written down. These later became the manuscript for De Fördömtes legion (The Legion of the Damned). It took alot of work finding a publisher that would release his book, but the fourteenth publisher he visited finally accepted his manuscript, and his writingcareer was born.

Late 1957 Sven was diagnosed with Caucasian Fever, a sickness that causes total paralysis, and he was forced to stay that way until 1959 when he was finally cured. During his illness the british publishingcompany that released his first book wanted him to keep writing, and this resulted in two more books. Döden paa Larvefödder (Wheels of Terror) and Frontkammerater (Comerades of War). Another 11 novels has been released since then, and during th 1990's he was writing a 15th novel about the assasinationattempt in 1944 on Adolf Hitler, but that book has to my knowledge not yet been released, or even finished.

Sven Hassel is since 1964 living in Barcelona, Spain, where he spends hhis time traveling and reading, enjoying his life.

According to rumors and people who claim to have witnessed some of the events that Sven Hassel describes, and also claim to have met him in person during the war, Sven has made up all of his stories with the help of things he have heard from other soldiers, and never even was a soldier himself. He is rumored to have simply stolen the stories from others and taking credit for writing down things others has told him. This is yet not confirmed.

Sven Hassel never get the Finnish Commander Of The Mannerheim Order. Its easy to verify.

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