From Lemberg to Bordeaux

From Lemberg to Bordeaux is Viennese war reporter Leo Leixner’s account of his front line experiences, from Poland in 1939 to France in 1940. From Lemberg to Bordeaux went through four editions and sold in the hundreds of thousands of copies by 1942. Leixner was assigned to various infantry companies and documents his moves from one to the next. During attacks he was often at the front. Leixner is an engaging writer. He had a doctorate in German literature from the University of Graz, with a thesis entitled Mohammed in German Poetry, and was himself a poet; indeed, his battle accounts are almost blank verse. Leixner died while crossing the Kuban River in Russia, 14 August 1942, part of a flotilla. At 5 a.m. he was standing upright in a boat when he was killed with a single shot through the head.