The legion of the damned

Sven Hassel was the pen name of the Danish-born Børge Willy Redsted Pedersen known for his novels about German soldiers fighting in World War II. In Denmark he used the pen name Sven Hazel.He is one of the bestselling Danish authors, possibly second only to Hans Christian Andersen. Hassel claimed his authorship was based on being a veteran of the German Wehrmacht who had fought in the Battle of Berlin in 1945 until he surrendered to the Soviets. However, numerous post-war investigations have proved his claims to be false and outright fabrications. In fact Hassel (as Pedersen) was a Danish criminal who did join the German Army but was incarcerated for having lied about his convictions. He was not captured in Berlin because he was in prison in Denmark. In the post-war period he gave a false testament which led to the arrest and imprisonment of innocent people.