The Black March The Black March ( ISBN 0 - 553 - 20125 - 5 ) is an autobiography of a SS man published by Bantam Books . The book is a collection of key entries in the journal of Peter Neumann , a boy inducted from the Hitler Youth into the Schutzstaffel . Synopsis . The journal of Peter Neumann is presented in chronological order : it begins in 1939 with various entries of his activities in the Hitler youth , and discussing plans with his friends to enter the SS . Peter ' s early entries are more jubilant and optimistic . He recounts his cruel training involving many life - or - death exercises , e . g . , outrunning attack dogs , having to dig a fox hole before a tank rolls over him and the other men in training . He tells of how a few men died in such exercises . Peter ' s girlfriend reveals that she is a Jew ; this , however , does not affect Peter negatively . During the middle of his entries he regards his duties with admiration and disdain for his commanding officers . Peter is , in one entry , awarded the Iron Cross second class for saving the lives of several battalions from a sniper ' s nest ( who were also armed with RPG s ) . In later entries , he tells of fierce combat in Russia , the most notable being a tale from a Russian civilian , in an occupied town , telling Peter and his fellow soldiers of the partisans of Odessa and the Russian genocide at the hands of the Nazis . Towards the end , Peter returns home on leave where he informs his friend ' s parents of the their son ' s death , and on a visit to his home Peter is informed that his girlfriend has been moved to a ghetto . On visiting her he expresses sympathy for her condition but writes that he couldn ' t care less about other Jews in the same situation . He also talks with two concentration camp technicians at a bar , who tell him of their grisly job fixing incinerators . At the end , Peter and his unit are on the retreat . Peter , at this point , has been promoted to captain and expresses extreme discontent with both the SS and with the many civilians who are blaming the SS for aggravating the Russian troops . He hears many tales of Russian cruelty . At the end , Peter is trapped , alone and wounded , and surrounded by Russian troops . He hides in a small room filled with dead German soldiers and fires a damaged gun at a Russian ' clean - up ' squad . The bullet he intends for himself does not do the job . His last words are " Why couldn ' t they have killed me ? " Additional notes . The book does not state explicitly whether Peter Neumann was captured , killed , or if he escaped . His last entry is somewhat long given the amount of time he had before the Russian troops could have reached him , and he could have disguised himself as a dead soldier . However , the final page of the book references being captured by the Soviet Army and being sent to Warsaw and working as a camp prisoner helping in the clean - up of the ruins left by the war . The final page mentions the " sneering brutality of the Soviet Guards " . Some have disputed the authenticity of Neumann ’ s journal since its publication ; some claiming it to have been the work of a ghost writer and therefore not autobiographical , and others claiming it to be a work of fiction . Peter Neumann ’ s extraordinary tale has , nevertheless , held up very well under extensive examination in terms of historical accuracy by a number of sources since its publication . It is also reported that French publisher Éditions France - Empire claimed that Peter Neumann ' s family ( from whom they received the journal ) specifically wanted the work kept intact — as he wrote it during the war — and that it was not revised or altered .