War of Extermination: The German Military in World War II

by Hannes Heer (Editor), Klaus Naumann (Editor), Roy Shelton (Translator)

Among the many myths about the relationship of Nazism to the mass of the German population, few proved more powerful in postwar West Germany than the notion that the Wehrmacht had not been involved in the crimes of the Third Reich. Former generals were particularly effective in spreading, through memoirs and speeches, the legend that millions of German soldiers had fought an honest and "clean" war and that mass murder, especially in the East, was entirely the work of Himmler's SS. This volume contains the most important contributions by distinguished historians who have thoroughly demolished this Wehrmacht myth. The picture that emerges from this collection is a depressing one and raises many questions about why "ordinary men" got involved as perpetrators and bystanders in an unprecedented program of extermination of "racially inferior" men, women, and children in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union during the Second World War. Those who have seen these terrible photos of mass executions and other atrocities, currently on show in an exhibition in Germany and soon to be in the United States, will find this volume most enlightening.

Genres: History, Holocaust, World War II

504 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Marvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trotz des Alters ein hervorragendes Werk, in welchem in meherern Essays der Mythos einer "sauberen Wehrmacht" und deren Verstrickung in Kriegsverbrechen an nahezu allen Kriegsschauplätzen dokumentiert wird. Hierbei gehen die Berichte auf sämtliche Aspekte der Verbrechen ein, von der Beteiligung am Holocaust, der Erschießung von "Partisanen" und Kriegsgefangenen, bis zu der regelmäßigen Zuarbeit zu SD und SS.

Auch finden sich einige theoretische Abhandlungen, wie ein Versuch eines Psychogramms der Täter oder die Frage, warum regelmäßig und trotz Verbotes viele dieser Verbrechen/Hinrichtungen von einfachen Soldaten fotografisch festgehalten wurden.

[Geicodave · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is a collection of essays discussing and debunking the myth of the "clean" Wehrmacht and showing its deep involvement in the Holocaust. To get the most out of the book, one should have more than a casual acquaintance with the war between Germany and the Soviet Union and with the Holocaust, especially as it took place in the East.