Preface to the English-Language Edition by Peter Fritzsche Foreword by Manfred Messerschmidt List of Abbreviations 1. Perceptions of Russia, the Soviet Union, and Bolshevism as Enemies German Perceptions of Russia in the Twentieth Century National Socialists' Perceptions of Russia: "Jewish Bolshevism" Perceptions of Russia among the Wehrmacht Generals 2. Anti-Semitism in the German Military From Anti-Semitism to the Holocaust? Germany under the Kaiser and the First World War The Revolutionary Era of 1918-19 The Postwar Period: War Continued by Different Means The Weimar Republic The National Socialist Era up to 1939 3. The Wehrmacht and the Murder of Jews Issuing Orders and Propaganda in the Wehrmacht Some Theaters of War Anti-Semitism as a Soldier's Duty 4. Generals and Enlisted Men The Military Elites in the Grip of a War Ideology Hitler and the Generals The "Little Guy" in Uniform Soldiers of the Wehrmacht in Light of Recent Research The Will to Survive in the War's Final Phase 5. The Legend of the Wehrmacht's "Clean Hands" The Birth of a Legend The War Crimes Trials Writing History from the Wehrmacht's Point of View The Cold War Begins Wehrmacht Crimes, the Justice System, and the Statute of Limitations 6. A Taboo Shatters Historical Research Perceptions of the Wehrmacht in the Bundeswehr After Fifty Years a Taboo Is Broken 7. Conclusion Notes Index
This is a powerful book, provocative, enlightening, disturbing. Based on three decades of solid research, Wette debunks the myth, created by former Wehrmacht officers and continued by their Allied counterparts, that the German military fought a "clean" war in the East 1941-45. He strips away the layers of obfuscation and cover-up to set the record straight: Wehrmacht and SS hand-in hand conducted a campaign of racial extermination in the USSR. The book is a must read. -- Holger H. Herwig, University of Calgary A badly needed analysis of how the German World War II military came to descend into mass murder, how this descent originated, how it was systematically obscured by a legend of "clean" warfare, and how that legend is finally being demolished. A fine piece of important research presented in very clear -- and well translated -- prose." -- Gerhard L. Weinberg, University of North Carolina
Wolfram Wette is Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Freiburg, Germany.
This is a powerful book, provocative, enlightening, disturbing.
Based on three decades of solid research, Wette debunks the myth,
created by former Wehrmacht officers and continued by their Allied
counterparts, that the German military fought a "clean" war in the
East 1941-45. He strips away the layers of obfuscation and cover-up
to set the record straight: Wehrmacht and SS hand-in hand conducted
a campaign of racial extermination in the USSR. The book is a must
read.
*Holger H. Herwig, University of Calgary*
A badly needed analysis of how the German World War II military
came to descend into mass murder, how this descent originated, how
it was systematically obscured by a legend of "clean" warfare, and
how that legend is finally being demolished. A fine piece of
important research presented in very clear -- and well translated
-- prose."
*Gerhard L. Weinberg, University of North Carolina*
The conventional wisdom that the German army in WWII fought a
relatively clean fight, unsullied by the atrocities committed by
the Nazi SS, has recently been challenged and largely demolished.
This probing study explores the rise and fall of that myth in the
light of scholarship debunking it...Wette's hard-hitting indictment
also emphasizes the broad culpability of German society for the
crimes of the Third Reich.
*Publisher's Weekly*
This is one of those modestly sized books on a large subject that
succeeds in being definitive...The Wehrmacht is an important
contribution to current German historiography. It seeks an answer
to the question that rages in German intellectual circles: Was
Nazism an aberration in German history, a sickness that came upon a
formerly healthy and civilized nation, or was it a natural
outgrowth of traits well-entrenched in the national psyche? It is
clear from the outset which side of this controversy Professor
Wolfram Wette is on, but it is equally apparent what a thoughtful,
well-informed historian he is...The Wehrmacht is as filled with all
manner of details--surprising as well as predictable--as it is with
passion and insight. Perhaps this is what makes it such a pleasure
to read, for Wette never simply asserts, he always proves. Facts,
statistics, instances are plentiful, but they never simply lie
there on the page; you feel the author's outrage, sometimes his
incredulity, even as you trust his veracity and integrity.
*San Francisco Chronicle*
In the history of WWII, the German army too often has been regarded
as an unwilling tool of Adolf Hitler. Wette destroys that myth in
his book, an indictment of the German army for its involvement in
atrocities against Jews and people in eastern Europe.
*Choice*
Over the last twenty years various scholars, from the pioneering
work of Omer Bartov to the more recent work of Ben Shepherd and a
host of American and German scholars, have demonstrated that the
view of a Wehrmacht with "clean hands" is entirely mistaken. These
studies have shown that "average" German soldiers were completely
capable of and willing to commit the worst atrocities imaginable.
This book is another contribution to that corpus. Thus far the
focus has been on explaining how and why the typical Landser became
capable of mass murder, but this book is not about the average
soldier's descent into barbarism. It is rather a study of the path
trod by the commanding officers: the field marshals, generals, and
colonels who formulate policy and created an environment in which
mass murder could occur. As such, this book complements earlier
studies by focusing on the highest levels of the Wehrmacht. Wette
demonstrates that this level of command not only knew about and
approved of mass murder but, after the war, successfully created
the myth that the Wehrmacht had played no role in the crimes
committed during the war.
*Journal of Military History*
[Wette’s] arguments will provide a powerful corrective to the
outdated view that Wehrmacht leaders were dragged unwillingly into
complicity in Nazi-mandated crimes...Attacking the myth of the
“clean” Wehrmacht, as Wette reminds us, has been neither easy nor
particularly successful in changing popular perceptions. Only
through continued research and the writing of critical histories
will the complex reality emerge. Wette’s monograph constitutes a
key contribution to this effort.
*Holocaust and Genocide Studies*
Wolfram Wette has synthesized a large body of scholarly studies
written by critical military historians in the past thirty years
and makes them accessible to a nonspecialist audience...This book
is an important contribution to the recent historical literature
that reveals the much resisted and painful process by which Germans
learned to deal honestly with the unmasterable past.
*The Historian*
This is a powerful book, provocative, enlightening, disturbing.
Based on three decades of solid research, Wette debunks the myth,
created by former Wehrmacht officers and continued by their Allied
counterparts, that the German military fought a "clean" war in the
East 1941-45. He strips away the layers of obfuscation and cover-up
to set the record straight: Wehrmacht and SS hand-in hand conducted
a campaign of racial extermination in the USSR. The book is a must
read. -- Holger H. Herwig, University of Calgary
A badly needed analysis of how the German World War II military
came to descend into mass murder, how this descent originated, how
it was systematically obscured by a legend of "clean" warfare, and
how that legend is finally being demolished. A fine piece of
important research presented in very clear -- and well translated
-- prose." -- Gerhard L. Weinberg, University of North Carolina
The conventional wisdom that the German army in WWII fought a
relatively clean fight, unsullied by the atrocities committed by
the Nazi SS, has recently been challenged and largely demolished.
This probing study explores the rise and fall of that myth in the
light of scholarship debunking it...Wette's hard-hitting indictment
also emphasizes the broad culpability of German society for the
crimes of the Third Reich. * Publisher's Weekly *
This is one of those modestly sized books on a large subject that
succeeds in being definitive...The Wehrmacht is an important
contribution to current German historiography. It seeks an answer
to the question that rages in German intellectual circles: Was
Nazism an aberration in German history, a sickness that came upon a
formerly healthy and civilized nation, or was it a natural
outgrowth of traits well-entrenched in the national psyche? It is
clear from the outset which side of this controversy Professor
Wolfram Wette is on, but it is equally apparent what a thoughtful,
well-informed historian he is...The Wehrmacht is as filled
with all manner of details--surprising as well as predictable--as
it is with passion and insight. Perhaps this is what makes it such
a pleasure to read, for Wette never simply asserts, he always
proves. Facts, statistics, instances are plentiful, but they never
simply lie there on the page; you feel the author's outrage,
sometimes his incredulity, even as you trust his veracity and
integrity. -- Martin Rubin * San Francisco Chronicle *
In the history of WWII, the German army too often has been regarded
as an unwilling tool of Adolf Hitler. Wette destroys that myth in
his book, an indictment of the German army for its involvement in
atrocities against Jews and people in eastern Europe. -- K. Eubank
* Choice *
Over the last twenty years various scholars, from the pioneering
work of Omer Bartov to the more recent work of Ben Shepherd and a
host of American and German scholars, have demonstrated that the
view of a Wehrmacht with "clean hands" is entirely mistaken.
These studies have shown that "average" German soldiers were
completely capable of and willing to commit the worst atrocities
imaginable. This book is another contribution to that corpus. Thus
far the focus has been on explaining how and why the typical
Landser became capable of mass murder, but this book is not
about the average soldier's descent into barbarism. It is rather a
study of the path trod by the commanding officers: the field
marshals, generals, and colonels who formulate policy and created
an environment in which mass murder could occur. As such, this book
complements earlier studies by focusing on the highest levels of
the Wehrmacht. Wette demonstrates that this level of command
not only knew about and approved of mass murder but, after the war,
successfully created the myth that the Wehrmacht had played
no role in the crimes committed during the war. -- Lee Baker *
Journal of Military History *
[Wette's] arguments will provide a powerful corrective to the
outdated view that Wehrmacht leaders were dragged unwillingly into
complicity in Nazi-mandated crimes...Attacking the myth of the
"clean" Wehrmacht, as Wette reminds us, has been neither easy nor
particularly successful in changing popular perceptions. Only
through continued research and the writing of critical histories
will the complex reality emerge. Wette's monograph constitutes a
key contribution to this effort. -- Stephen G. Fritz * Holocaust
and Genocide Studies *
Wolfram Wette has synthesized a large body of scholarly studies
written by critical military historians in the past thirty years
and makes them accessible to a nonspecialist audience...This book
is an important contribution to the recent historical literature
that reveals the much resisted and painful process by which Germans
learned to deal honestly with the unmasterable past. -- Derek S.
Linton * The Historian *
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