Soldaten: On Fighting, Killing, and Dying (60 page)

  
65.
Neitzel,
Abgehört,
p. 462.

  
66.
Cited in Förster, “Geistige Kriegführung im Deutschland 1919 bis 1945,” in
Das Deutsche Reich,
Vol. 9/1, p. 554. On Dönitz, see Dieter Hartwig,
Großadmiral Karl Dönitz: Legende und Wirklichkeit
(Paderborn: Schoeningh, 2010).

  
67.
Report of Activity, Schmundt, 24–25 June 1943, p. 75.

  
68.
See also the evaluations of Generals Friedrich von Broich and Walter Bruns in Neitzel,
Abgehört,
pp. 432, 434.

  
69.
Heribert van Haupt, “Der Heldenkampf der deutschen Infanterie vor Moskau,”
Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung,
Berlin afternoon edition No. 28 (16 January 1942), p. 2.

  
70.
Hubert Hohlweck, “Soldat und Politik,”
Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung,
Berlin edition No. 543 (13 November 1943), p. 1ff.

  
71.
Erich Murawski,
Der deutsche Wehrmachtbericht
(Boppard: Boldt, 1962): 21 July 1944, p. 202; 3 August 1944, p. 219; 4 August 1944, p. 222; 19 August 1944, p. 241, 2 November 1944, p. 349; 3 November 1944, p. 351. On sacrifice, see 3 November 1944, p. 350; on the fanaticism of the Waffen SS, see 27 February 1945, p. 495; 30 March 1945, p. 544.

  
72.
For example, Order No. 52 of 28 January 1944. See Walter Hubatsch, ed.,
Hitlers Weisungen für die Kriegsführung, 1939–1945: Dokumente des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht
(Uttingen: Doerfler im Nebel-Verlag, 2000), p. 242.

  
73.
Johannes Hürter,
Hitlers Heerführer: Die deutschen Oberbefehlshaber im Krieg gegen die Sowjetunion 1941/42
(Munich: Oldenbourg Verlag, 2006), p. 71.

  
74.
In contrast to World War I, the Grand Cross was not used as a decoration for bravery. Although it was mentioned in a statute of decorations as an acknowledgment for decisive actions that changed the course of battles, Hermann Göring was the only person ever to receive one. That was to underscore his position as the Führer’s designated successor. There apparently were plans to award Heinrich Himmler one as well for his role as the commander of the Army Group Weichsel. But since he failed in that task, he was not decorated. Therefore, in World War II, the Grand Cross was a decoration for Nazi leaders who carried out military functions.

  
75.
For exact statistics, see
http://www.ritterkreuztraeger-1939–45.de/Sonstiges/Statistiken/Statistiken-Startseite.htm
.

  
76.
Manfred Dörr,
Die Träger der Nahkampfspange in Gold. Heer: Luftwaffe. Waffen-SS
(Osnabruck: Biblio Verlag, 1996), p. xviii.

  
77.
Christoph Rass,
“Menschenmaterial”: Deutsche Soldaten an der Ostfront: Innenansichten einer Infanteriedivision, 1939–1945
(Paderborn: Schoeningh Verlag, 2003), p. 259ff. See also Christian Hartmann,
Wehrmacht im Ostkrieg: Front und militärisches Hinterland, 1941/42
(Munich: Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 2009), pp. 189–201.

  
78.
For more information on cases that led to convictions, see Rass,
“Menschenmaterial,”
pp. 256–58.

  
79.
René Schilling,
“Kriegshelden”: Deutungsmuster heroischer Männlichkeit in Deutschland, 1813–1945
(Paderborn: Schoeningh Verlag 2002), pp. 316–72.

  
80.
Hartmann,
Wehrmacht im Ostkrieg,
p. 198.

  
81.
See Ralph Winkle,
Der Dank des Vaterlandes: Eine Symbolgeschichte des Eisernen Kreuzes, 1914 bis 1936
(Essen: Klartext, 2007), p. 345ff.

  
82.
SRA 177, 17 July 1940, TNA, WO 208/4118.

  
83.
This became especially clear in the discussions surrounding the ordinances. Felix Römer, “Im alten Deutschland wäre ein solcher Befehl nicht möglich gewesen: Rezeption, Adaption und Umsetzung des Kriegsgerichtsbarkeitserlasses im Ostheer, 1941/42,”
VfZG
56 (2008), pp. 53–99.

  
84.
James Waller,
Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Genocide and Mass Killing
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002).

  
85.
SRA 75, 30 April 1940, TNA, WO 208/4117. All subsequent quotations from this file.

  
86.
See Jochen Böhler,
Auftakt zum Vernichtungskrieg: Die Wehrmacht in Polen, 1939
(Frankfurt/Main: Fischer, 2006).

  
87.
Jan Philipp Reemtsma,
Vertrauen und Gewalt: Versuch über eine besondere Konstellation der Moderne
(Hamburg: Hamburger Edition, 2008).

  
88.
Harald Welzer,
Verweilen beim Grauen
(Tübingen: Edition Diskord, 1998).

  
89.
Mary Kaldor,
New and Old Wars: Organised Violence in a Global Era
(Cambridge: Polity Press, 2006); Herfried Münkler,
Über den Krieg: Stationen der Kriegsgeschichte im Spiegel ihrer theoretischen Reflexion
(Weilerswist: Velbrück, 2003).

  
90.
One of the most prominent and frequently read works of this sort is Johanna Haarer’s
Die deutsche Mutter und ihr erstes Kind
(The German Mother and Her First Child). It was first published in 1934 and was reprinted after the war without the word “German” in the title.

  
91.
SRA 3616, 31 January 1943, TNA, WO 208/4129.

  
92.
Böhler,
Auftakt,
p. 181ff.

  
93.
Ibid., p. 185

  
94.
See Kehrt,
Moderne Krieger,
pp. 403–7.

  
95.
Donald E. Polkinghorne, “Narrative Psychologie und Geschichtsbewußtsein: Beziehungen und Perspektiven,” in
Erzählung, Identität und historisches Bewußtsein: Die psychologische Konstruktion von Zeit und Geschichte: Erinnerung, Geschichte, Identität,
Jürgen Straub, ed. (Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp, 1998), pp. 12–45. See also the excellent study by Stefanie Schüler-Springorum,
Krieg und Fliegen: Die Legion Condor im Spanischen Bürgerkrieg
(Paderborn: Schoeningh Verlag, 2010), pp. 159–70, 176–80.

  
96.
Svenja Goltermann,
Die Gesellschaft der Überlebenden: Deutsche Kriegsheimkehrer und ihre Gewalterfahrungen im Zweiten Weltkrieg
(Stuttgart: Dt. Verlag, 2009).

  
97.
SRA 2642, 15 June 1942, TNA, WO 208/4126.

  
98.
SRA 3536, 9 January 1943, TNA, WO 208/4129.

  
99.
SRA 5538, 30 July 1944, TNA, WO 208/4134. The description refers to the “Vercors” mission from 21 July to early August 1944; cf. Peter Lieb,
Konventioneller Krieg oder NS-Weltanschauungskrieg? Kriegführung und Partisanenbekämpfung in Frankreich, 1943/44
(Munich: Oldenbourg Verlag, 2007), pp. 339–50.

100.
SRA 1473, 1 April 1941, TNA, WO 208/4123.

101.
SRA 180, 18 July 1940, TNA, WO 208/4118. This story refers to a false report made by a Stuka pilot, who claimed to have sunk a British battleship with a 250-kilogram bomb. It was common for soldiers to exaggerate their own successes. See Sönke Neitzel,
Der Einsatz der deutschen Luftwaffe über dem Atlantik und der Nordsee, 1939–1945
(Bonn: Bernard & Graefe, 1995), p. 40.

102.
SRA 620, 26 September 1940, TNA, WO 208/4119.

103.
SRA 3849, 18 March 1943, TNA, WO 208/4129.

104.
SRA 623, 26 September 1940, TNA, WO 208/4119.

105.
SRA 2600, 8 June 1942, TNA, WO 208/4126.

106.
Klaus A. Maier et al.,
Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg,
Vol. 2 (Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlag, 1979), p. 408.

107.
SRA 2600, 8 June 1942, TNA, WO 208/4126.

108.
Paul,
Bilder des Krieges, Krieg der Bilder,
p. 238.

109.
SRA 2636, 15 June 1942, TNA, WO 208/4126.

110.
Ibid.

111.
SRA 2678, 19 June 1942, TNA, WO 208/4126.

112.
SRA 3774, 6 March 1943, TNA, WO 208/4129.

113.
Ibid.

114.
SRA 3983, 6 May 1944, TNA, WO 208/4130.

115.
SRA 828, 26 October 1940, TNA, WO 208/4120.

116.
There were in fact cases on all war fronts of pilots being killed while parachuting to the ground. They were particularly frequent in the last phase of aerial warfare over Germany. American fighter pilots killed at least one hundred of their German counterparts in this fashion. Klaus Schmider, “The Last of the First: Veterans of the Jagdwaffe Tell Their Story,”
Journal of Military History
73 (2009), pp. 246–50. See also SRA 450, 4 September 1940, TNA, WO 208/4119; SRA 5460, 16 July 1944, TNA, WO 208/4134.

117.
SRX 1657, 17 March 1943, TNA, WO 208/4162.

118.
Ernst Jünger,
Kriegstagebuch, 1914–1918,
Helmuth Kiesel, ed. (Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta, 2010), p. 222.

119.
SRA 4212, 17 July 1943, TNA, WO 208/4130.

120.
For background on the activities of German destroyers in the Bay of Biscay, which led to the death of Leslie Howard on 1 June 1943, see Neitzel,
Einsatz der deutschen Luftwaffe,
pp. 193–203.

121.
SRX 2080, 7 January 1945, TNA, WO 208/4164.

122.
SRX 179, 13 March 1941, TNA, WO 208/4158.

123.
Room Conversation, Kneipp–Kerle, 22 October 1944, NARA, RG 165, Entry 179, Box 498.

124.
SRN 2023, 28 July 1943, TNA, WO 208/4146. There is no way of reconstructing what the navy private is referring to.

125.
SRN 1758, 6 May 1943, TNA, WO 208/4145.

126.
SRN 322, 15 May 1941, TNA, WO 208/4142.

127.
SRX 120, 23 July 1940, TNA, WO 208/4158. Scheringer refers here to the attack on Convoy OA 175 on 1 July 1940. On his final mission, he hit four ships weighing some 16,000 gross tons.

128.
Michael Salewski,
Die deutsche Seekriegsleitung,
Vol. 2 (Munich: Bernard & Graefe Verlag, 1975); Werner Rahn et al.,
Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg,
Vol. 6 (Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1990).

129.
SRN 626, 9 August 1941, TNA, WO 208/4143.

130.
SRX 34, 10 February 1940, TNA, WO 208/4158.

131.
KTB SKl, Teil A, 6 January 1940, S. 37, BA-MA, RM 7/8.

132.
SRX 34, 10 February 1940, TNA, WO 208/4158.

133.
Stephen W. Roskill,
Royal Navy: Britische Seekriegsgeschichte, 1939–1945
(Hamburg: Stalling, 1961), p. 402ff.

134.
See, e.g., Roger Chickering and Stig Förster, “Are We There Yet? World War II and the Theory of Total War,” in
A World at Total War: Global Conflict and the Politics of Destruction, 1937–1945,
Roger Chickering, Stig Förster, and Bernd Greiner, eds. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), pp. 1–18.

135.
For more information and an international comparison, see Stig Förster, ed.,
An der Schwelle zum Totalen Krieg: Die militärische Debatte über den Krieg der Zukunft, 1919–1939
(Paderborn: Schoeningh Verlag, 2002).

136.
See also Adam Roberts, “Land Warfare: From Hague to Nuremberg,” in
The Laws of War: Constraints on Warfare in the Western World,
Michael Howard, George J. Andresopoulos, and Mark R. Shulman, eds. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994), pp. 116–39.

137.
Cited in Joanna Bourke,
An Intimate History of Killing
(London: Granta Books, 1999), p. 182.

138.
SRGG 560, 14 November 1943, TNA, WO 208/4167.

139.
Directly after World War II, two American international law experts acknowledged that only “political and military, rather than legal, considerations” could have held back the German occupying forces. See Lester Nurick and Roger W. Barrett, “Legality of Guerrilla Forces Under the Laws of War,”
American Journal of International Law
40 (1946), pp. 563–83. This statement is all the more telling since it came directly after the war from lawyers who were also members of the U.S. Army with little reason to sympathize with the Third Reich. We owe this reference to Klaus Schmider, Sandhurst.

140.
On this discussion, see Lieb,
Konventioneller Krieg
, pp. 253–57. See also Jörn Axel Kämmerer, “Kriegsrepressalie oder Kriegsverbrechen? Zur rechtlichen Beurteilung der Massenexekutionen von Zivilisten durch die deutsche Besatzungsmacht im Zweiten Weltkrieg,”
Archiv des Völkerrechts
37 (1999), pp. 283–317.

141.
SRA 3444, 28 December 1942, TNA, WO 208/4128.

142.
Harry Hoppe (11 February 1894–23 August 1969), commander of Infantry Regiment 424 of the 126th Infantry Division, received the Knight’s Cross on 12 September 1941 for the conquest of Schlüsselburg.

143.
Room Conversation, Kneipp–Kehrle, 23 October 1944, NARA, RG 165, Entry 179, Box 498. Franz Kneipp was apparently deployed in 1941 with the SS Police Division. Eberhard Kerle was a radio operator. We know little more about him.

144.
Ibid.

145.
SRA 818, 25 October 1940, TNA, WO 208/4120.

146.
SRA 4758, 24 December 1943, TNA, WO 208/4132.

147.
SRA 5643, 13 October 1944, TNA, WO 208/4135.

148.
Welzer,
Täter,
p. 161.

149.
Herbert Jäger,
Verbrechen unter totalitärer Herrschaft: Studien zur nationalsozialistischen Gewaltkriminalität
(Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp, 1982).

150.
SRX 2056, 14 November 1944, TNA, WO 208/4164.

151.
SRA 5628, 28 September 1944, TNA, WO 208/4135.

152.
SRA 5454, 8 July 1944, TNA, WO 208/4134.

153.
SRX 2072, 19 December 1944, TNA, WO 208/4164.

154.
Carlo Gentile,
Wehrmacht, Waffen-SS und Polizei im Kampf gegen Partisanen und Zivilbevölkerung in Italien, 1943–1945
(Paderborn: Schoeningh, 2011).

155.
Lieb,
Konventioneller Krieg,
p. 574.