ReichsleiterDe Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libreSaltar a navegación, búsqueda

Banderín con el rango de Reichsleiter para su vehículo oficial.

Reichsleiter (literalmente, Líder del Reich), fue el más alto rango político jerárquico del Partido Nacionalsocialista Alemán de los Trabajadores (NSDAP), por debajo de Adolf Hitler y sólo respondían ante él. Los 18 cargos fueron asignados por el mismo Hitler personalmente, con el objetivo de dirigir tareas específicas que iban desde la propaganda hasta el desarrollo agrícola. La mayor parte de los Reichsleiter fueron nombrados el 2 de junio de 1933 y duraron hasta el final de la Segunda Guerra Mundial.

Todos los Reichsleiter formaban la Dirección General del Partido llamada Reichsleitung, hecho que les daba el privilegio de sentarse en la primera fila durante las reuniones celebradas en la Casa Marrón, sede del NSDAP de Múnich. El rango de Reichsleiter también representaba al más alto nivel militar asignado a los miembros del Consejo Nacional del Partido, por encima de los Gauleiter.

GauleiterDe Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libreSaltar a navegación, búsqueda

Banderín con el rango de Gauleiter para su vehículo oficial.

Gauleiter fue el término en alemán utilizado en el Partido Nazi (NSDAP) para los "líderes de Zona" (Gau), que era la forma organizativa más grande del partido a nivel nacional.

Este cargo fue creado en 1922 por el mismo Hitler y definía a los Jefes Políticos del Partido en cada estado o región alemana. Sólo respondían ante Hitler y eran parte del llamado Cuerpo de Líderes del NSDAP. Así, Joseph Goebbels fue Gauleiter de Berlín desde 1929 hasta 1945.

Posteriormente a 1939, también se designó un Gauleiter en cada región ocupada por los alemanes.

GestapoDe Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libreSaltar a navegación, búsqueda

Cuarteles generales de la Gestapo en Prinz-Albrecht-Straße 8 (actual Niederkirchnerstraße), Berlín (1933).

La Gestapo ▶ ? /i (contracción de Geheime Staatspolizei: 'Policía Secreta del Estado') fue la policía secreta oficial de la Alemania nazi. Bajo la total administración de la Schutzstaffel (SS), fue administrada por la Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA) (Servicio oficial de la oficina central del Reich) y considerada como una organización dual del Sicherheitsdienst (SD) (Servicio de seguridad) y también una Suboficina de la Sicherheitspolizei (SIPO) (Policía de seguridad). Establecida por decreto el 28 de abril de 1933 y disuelta el 7 de mayo de 1945 por orden del General Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Contenido

[ocultar]

1 Historia 2 Funcionamiento 3 Grados jerárquicos 4 Estructura 5 El fin 6 Véase también 7 Referencias 8 Enlaces externos

[editar] Historia

La Gestapo fue creada por decreto el 26 de abril de 1933, en Prusia, partiendo de la organización de la Policía Secreta Prusiana. La Gestapo fue simplemente la primera rama de la Policía Prusiana, conocida como «Departamento 1A de la Policía Estatal Prusiana».

La Policía Secreta del Estado (Geheime Staats Polizei) respondía directamente al Führer y Canciller del Reich Adolf Hitler y su primer Director fue Rudolf Diels, quien reclutó miembros desde los departamentos de policía profesional y convirtió la Gestapo en una agencia policial con jurisdicción nacional, comparable con muchos ejemplos modernos, tales como la FBI en los Estados Unidos. El rol de la Gestapo como fuerza policial política no resultó evidente hasta que Hermann Göring fue nombrado sucesor de Diels como comandante de la Gestapo en Prusia. Göring recomendó al gobierno nazi extender el poder de la Gestapo más allá de Prusia hasta abarcar toda Alemania. Esto lo consiguió Göring excepto en Baviera, donde el Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler desempeñó el papel de Presidente de la Policía de Baviera y usó las unidades locales de la SS como fuerza policial política.

En abril de 1934, Göring y Himmler acordaron poner a un lado sus diferencias (debido en gran medida al odio que ambos sentían por las Sturmabteilung (SA) de Ernst Röhm) y Göring transfirió toda la autoridad de la Gestapo a las SS. En tal punto, la Gestapo fue incorporada dentro de la Sicherheitspolizei y considerada una organización hermana del Servicio de Información Sicherheitsdienst o SD.

La sede central de la Gestapo en Berlín se encontraba en la Prinz Albrechtrasse, número 8, un edificio que había sido un teatro y actualmente alberga una exhibición sobre la «Topografía del terror». Desde 1934, los berlineses conocían comúnmente al edificio como la «casa de los horrores» por las leyendas sobre el maltrato a los detenidos que eran esposados por cortas cadenas a las paredes de manera horizontal.

En Múnich, la Gestapo tuvo como sede el Wittelsbacher Palais, Brienner Straße 50, siendo hoy día el correspondiente a la casa número 20.

[editar] Funcionamiento

Formada por oficiales de policía de carrera y profesionales del Derecho, su organización y funciones fueron rápidamente fijados por Hermann Göring después de que Hitler accediera al poder en enero de 1933. Rudolf Diels fue el primer jefe de la organización.

La función de la Gestapo era la de investigar y combatir «todas las tendencias peligrosas para el Estado». Tenía autoridad para investigar los casos de traición, espionaje y sabotaje, además de los casos de ataques criminales al Partido Nazi y al Estado.

La ley había sido modificada de forma que las acciones de la Gestapo no estaban sometidas a revisión judicial. El jurista nazi Dr. Werner Best declaró: «Mientras la [Gestapo]... lleve adelante el deseo de los líderes, está actuando legalmente». La Gestapo fue específicamente excluida de poder ser juzgada por cortes administrativas, en las cuales los ciudadanos normalmente podían demandar al Estado para que cumpliese las leyes.

El poder de la Gestapo que más le permitía abusar era la Schutzhaft o 'custodia preventiva', un eufemismo para designar los encarcelamientos sin procedimientos legales, típicamente en campos de concentración. La persona encarcelada incluso tenía que firmar su propio Schutzhaftbefehl (documento donde declaraba su deseo de ser encarcelada). Normalmente esto se lograba sometiéndola a tortura.[cita requerida]

[editar] Grados jerárquicos

Pasillo principal de la sede central, en Berlín, de la Gestapo, en el año 1934.

Los funcionarios de la Schutzstaffel que formaban parte de la Gestapo mantenían su rango habitual. Sin embargo los funcionarios de carrera civil, además de ser abogados o universitarios graduados en materias afines a los requisitos de la institución, tenían una escala de grados particular, con los siguientes rangos:

KriminalDirektor. Kriminalrat. KriminalKommissar KriminalInspektor. Kriminalobersekretär. KriminalSekretär KriminalObersAssistent. KriminalAssistent.

[editar] Estructura

OFICINA IV. INVESTIGACIÓN DE OPONENTES — Heinrich Müller

Grupo IV A — Friedrich Panzinger

Sección IVA1: Comunismo, marxismo y organizaciones relacionadas, crímenes de guerra, propaganda enemiga e ilegal — VogtSección IVA2: Contra-sabotaje, combate al sabotaje, comisionado político para la Policía, falsificación política — KopkowSección IVA3: Reacción, oposición, liberales, emigrantes, traición a la Patria — LitzenbergSección IVA4: Protección, reportes de asesinatos, misiones especiales, supervivencia, investigación criminal — Schulz

Grupo IV B — Albert Hartl

Sección IVB1: Catolicismo político — RothSección IVB2: Protestantismo político, sectas — RothSección IVB3: Otras iglesias, Masonería — (vacante)Sección IVB4: Asuntos judíos, asuntos relacionados a la evacuación — Adolf Eichmann

Grupo IV C — Rang

Sección IVC1: Evaluación, archivo principal fichas, administración de personal, información, estadía de extranjeros, oficina central de visados — MatzkeSección IVC2: Asuntos de custodia preventiva — BerndorffSección IVC3: Asuntos de literatura y prensa — JahrSección IVC4: Asuntos del Partido y sus organizaciones — Stage

Grupo IV D — Weinmann

Sección IVD1: Asuntos del Protectorado, checos dentro del Reich — JonakSección IVD2: Asuntos del Gobierno General, polacos dentro del Reich — ThiemannSección IVD3: Informantes, enemigos del extranjero y del Estado — SchröderSección IVD4: Áreas Ocupadas: Francia, Luxemburgo, Alsacia y Lorena, Bélgica, Países Bajos, Noruega, Dinamarca — Baatz

Grupo IV E — Walter Schellenberg

Sección IVE1: Asuntos generales de defensa, entrega de reportes acerca de alta traición, seguridad de las fábricas y guardia aduanera — LindowSección IVE2: Asuntos generales de la economía, defensa espionaje económicoSección IVE3: Abwehr Oeste — FischerSección IVE4: Abwehr Norte — SchambacherSección IVE5: Abwehr Este — KubitzkySección IVE6: Abwehr Sur — Schmitz

[editar] El fin

Cuartel de Berlín, tras los bombardeos de 1945.

A medida que los aliados se acercaban por todos los frentes hacia el interior de Alemania, la institución iba desapareciendo. La mañana del 3 de febrero de 1945, aviones norteamericanos realizaron un feroz bombardeo sobre toda Berlín, concentrándose en la zona gubernamental y provocando la muerte de unos tres mil berlineses. Tanto la Cancillería del Reich, la del Partido Nazi, el Cuartel General de la Gestapo en Prinz-Albrech-Strasse y el Tribunal del Pueblo se vieron afectados. A partir de los primeros días del mes de abril, funcionarios de la Gestapo empezaron a quemar archivos y documentos en las instalaciones y patios centrales del edificio, siendo visible las columnas de humo desde la Wilhelmstrasse o avenida principal de los Ministerios.

Al amanecer del 29 de abril de 1945, la 301º División de fusileros pertenecientes al coronel soviético Antonov, lanzaron un asalto con dos regimientos y lograron colocar una bandera roja en la sede de la Gestapo pero tuvieron que replegarse esa misma tarde por un fuerte y nutrido contraataque de la Waffen SS que los hizo retroceder sin poder liberar a los últimos siete detenidos políticos que habían sobrevivido a una masacre de detenidos el 23 de abril. En las ruinas del edificio se instaló una unidad de hombres de la SS franceses al mando del SS Hauptsturmführer Henri Fenet, quienes defendieron el sitio hasta el momento de la llegada de las tropas soviéticas.

El 1 de mayo durante la noche, hombres de la SS sacaron a los siete prisioneros de la celda principal y los trasladaron a otra celda en un sótano, dando muerte a uno de los detenidos, un suboficial de la Wehrmacht. En la madrugada del 2 de mayo, el edificio fue tomado por el Ejército ruso, que liberó a los detenidos y les dio alimentos; sin embargo a un soldado ruso se le escapó un disparo y mató accidentalmente al ex Gauleiter Joseph Wagner quien

había caído en desgracia con el régimen nazi por sus creencias católicas y era uno de los seis detenidos.

La organización fue disuelta por decreto del General Dwight Eisenhower, Comandante de las Fuerzas Expedicionarias Aliadas, el 7 de mayo de 1945. En el Juicio de Nuremberg, la Gestapo fue considerada una organización criminal y quedó prohibida en toda Alemania, a pesar de haber sido una institución estatal y no partidista

NazismoDe Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre(Redirigido desde Nacionalsocialista)Saltar a navegación, búsqueda

Serie Nazismo

Organizaciones NazisNSDAP ·

SturmabteilungSchutzstaffelWaffen-SS

Juventudes HitlerianasLebensbornVolkssturm.

LibrosMein Kampf·Zweites Buch

Temas relacionadosAntisemitismo

Racismo

Nazi es la contracción de la palabra alemanaNationalsozialistische, que significa 'nacionalsocialista', y hace referencia a todo lo relacionado con el régimen que gobernó Alemania de 1933 a 1945 con la llegada al poder del Partido Nacionalsocialista Alemán de los Trabajadores (NSDAP, Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei), el autoproclamado Tercer Reich y Austria a partir de la Anschluss, así como los demás territorios que lo conformaron (Sudetes, Memel, Danzig y otras tierras en Polonia, Francia,

Checoslovaquia, Hungría, Holanda, Dinamarca y Noruega). La Alemania de este período se conoce como la Alemania nazi.

El término "Nazi" deriva de las primeras dos sílabas del nombre oficial del partido: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei o "NSDAP".1 Los miembros del partido se identificaban a sí mismos generalmente como "Nationalsozialisten" (Nacional socialistas) y solo raramente como "nazis". El origen y uso de "nazi" es similar al de "Sozi", palabra del lenguaje diario para designar a los miembros del Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (Partido Socialdemócrata de Alemania).2 En 1933, cuando Hitler asumió poder en el gobierno alemán, el uso del termino disminuyó en Alemania, aunque en Austria sus oponentes lo continuaron usando con una connotación despectiva.2 A partir de eso, el término ha adquirido una connotación crecientemente peyorativa.3

Contenido

[ocultar]

1 Contexto histórico 2 Nazismo y Hitler 3 Acceso al poder del nazismo

o 3.1 De canciller alemán a Führer del Reich de los mil años o 3.2 Persecución y represión

4 Economía política de los nazis 5 Propaganda

o 5.1 Uso de la economía como propaganda política 6 Política de higiene racial

o 6.1 Antisemitismo Nazi 7 Política exterior 8 Claves de la ideología nacionalsocialista temprana 9 El nazismo en la actualidad 10 Notas y referencias 11 Véase también 12 Enlaces externos

Contexto histórico

El nazismo es una ideología alemana gestada en los años 20 pero que no alcanzará importancia hasta los años 30, momento en que las duras condiciones de paz impuestas en el Tratado de Versalles (1919) se juntan con la grave crisis mundial del Jueves Negro en 1929 (ver Gran Depresión). En Alemania la situación es más acuciante aún, ya que a los devastadores efectos económicos se sumaba la obligación de pagar el tributo de la derrota en la Primera Guerra Mundial, y el descontento popular ante la injusta situación que hacía que las calles se llenaran de manifestaciones extremistas de toda índole, tanto de izquierda como de derecha.4

Esta situación culmina con el fuerte descrédito de las democracias liberales, dado que las dictaduras que surgieron demostraron ser capaces de controlar y resolver las crisis más efectivamente que las democracias.5 Tanto la URSS, como la Italia de Mussolini (quien fue elogiado por "hacer que los trenes corrieran a tiempo", es decir, por poner fin a las huelgas y caos económico que había dominado a ese país) y el Japón Imperial, países todos en los que se impusieron "gobiernos fuertes", no solo resolvieron la crisis a mediados de los 30 sino que fueron percibidas como restaurando el "orden social" aun con anterioridad a esa solución a problemas económicos.6

Intento de demostración de la separación de las razas humanas (ver Poligenismo y Craneometría)

A esa crisis político económica hay que agregar una crisis ideológica aun anterior que se ha sugerido se extiende desde 1890 a 19307 y que ha sido caracterizado como una “revolución contra el positivismo” (Hughes, op. cit). Tanto los valores como las aproximaciones a la sociedad y la política que formaban la base de la civilización occidental fueron percibidas como superadas reliquias del racionalismo proveniente de la ilustración. Específicamente tanto el fascismo como los desarrollos intelectuales que lo antecedieron buscaron transcender lo que se percibía como la decadencia del occidente.8 (ver, por ejemplo: La decadencia de Occidente)

Consecuentemente el Zeitgeist de esa época puede ser descrito como una amalgama o mezcla de ideas caracterizado por un rechazo al racionalismo, proceso que es generalmente percibido como iniciándose con Nietzsche, junto a tentativas de incorporar "explicaciones científicas" a preconcepciones o incluso prejuicios explicativos del mundo, por ejemplo, un racismo latente, que dieron origen a propuestas tales como las de la eugenesia, etc, y en lo

político, bajo la influencia de pensadores tales como Georges Sorel, Vilfredo Pareto,9 10 Martin Heidegger (supuestamente11 ), Gaetano Mosca, y, especialmente, Robert Michels; a percepciones político elitistas basadas en un culto del héroe y la fuerza que culminan en una versión del darwinismo social.12 Percepciones que adquieren connotaciones más extremas en su divulgación y vulgarización. (Hughes, op. cit).

En Alemania específicamente esa rebelión contra el racionalismo dio origen, entre otras cosas, a una variedad de asociaciones que promovían un retorno a visiones romantizadas del pasado alemán (ver Völkisch) en lo cual Richard Wagner tuvo alguna influencia13 - y una sociedad ocultista y semi secreta, la Thule-Gesellschaft (Sociedad Thule) -basada en la ariosofía y primeros en usar la esvástica en el contexto de la época- que patrocinó al Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (DAP), más tarde transformado por Adolf Hitler en el Partido Nacionalsocialista Alemán de los Trabajadores.14

Como de influencia importante en ese Zeitgeist se puede mencionar la obra de Arthur de Gobineau, quien propuso que en cada nación hay una diferencia racial entre los comunes y las clases dirigentes. Estos últimos serían todos miembros de la raza aria, quienes son no solo la raza dominante pero también la creativa.15 Posteriormente Houston Stewart Chamberlain identifica «los arios» con los teutones. En adición a tratar de demostrar que todos los grandes personajes de la historia (incluido Jesús, Julio César, Voltaire, etc) fueron realmente arios agrega: «Los teutones son el alma de nuestra civilización. La importancia de cualquier nación, en la medida que es un poder actual, está en relación directa a la genuina sangre teutona presente en su población».16

También de importancia en esos desarrollos fueron percepciones que se pueden ver ejemplificadas en la obra de, por ejemplo Benjamin Kidd, quien propuso: «Nuestra civilización ha sido dada a luz como resultado de un proceso de fuerza sin paralelos en la historia de la raza.. Por épocas incontables el combativo macho europeo se ha desbordado a través de Europa en sucesivas olas de avance y conquista, venciendo, exterminando, aplastando, dominando, tomando posesión. Los más aptos, que han sobrevivido esas sucesivas olas de conquista, son los más aptos por el derecho de la fuerza y en virtud de un proceso de selección militar, probablemente el más largo en la historia, el más duro, probablemente el más elevante al que la raza ha sido sometida» (p 4-5). Para Kidd el combativo macho europeo es un pagano -que a rinde homenaje pero no entiende ni acepta en su corazón la validez de «una religión que es la total negación de la fuerza». Ese macho europeo ha introducido el «espíritu de la guerra» en «todas las instituciones que ha creado» y «la creencia que la fuerza es el principio último del mundo». Ese «macho de la civilización occidental ha llegado a ser por la fuerza de las circunstancias el supremo animal de combate de la creación. La Historia y la Selección Natural lo han hecho lo que es» ( p 7). «por la fuerza ha conquistado el mundo y por la fuerza lo controla».17

Otros visiones de influencia en esa percepción son los de Oswald Spengler, para quien Benito Mussolini era el parangón del nuevo César, que se levantará del occidente en ruinas para reinar en la "era de la civilización avanzada", por analogía a los cesares de la Antigüedad.

Ilustración en una postal austríaca (1919).

El nazismo transforma, sin mucha dificultad, ese culto a la fuerza del más fuerte que es el ario en un antisemitismo puro y simple, utilizando la preexistente leyenda de una conspiración judía para hacerse con el control mundial (ver Nuevo Orden Mundial (conspiración) y Los protocolos de los sabios de Sión) para explicar la derrota alemana en la Primera Guerra Mundial: el ejército de ese país fue traicionado y "apuñalado en la espalda" -ver Dolchstosslegende 18 - por los bolcheviques y judíos. Esa traición se extiende al gobierno (social demócrata) de la República de Weimar que permite ahora que esos mismos judíos y otros financieros profiten de la inflación, y otros problemas que afectan a los alemanes.19 (ver hiperinflación en la República de Weimar). Aduciendo además que muchos de los principales líderes comunistas son también judíos asimilan ambos conceptos en una gran «conspiración judeo-marxista»20

A lo anterior se ha sugerido que hay que agregar factores específicamente alemanes. A pesar que Maurice Duverger considera tales consideraciones pocos convincentes a fin de explicar el desarrollo del nazismo21 se ha afirmado que no se puede explicar el nazismo sin considerar su origen22 y que entre los factores que explican ese origen se debe mencionar una tradición cultural ("volkgeist" o espíritu alemán)23 -que se remonta a personajes tales Lorenz von Stein y Bismarck (ver Estado Social)- en la cual el Estado adquiría poderes dictatoriales, demandando orden, disciplina y control social estricto a fin de de garantizar crecimiento y el bienestar económico de la población.24

Esa tradición se transforma, bajo la influencia de personajes tales como Ernst Forsthoff (jurista conservador de gran influencia), quien, a partir del periodo de la República de Weimar, postula que los individuos están subordinados ya sea al «Estado absoluto» o al «Volk», bajo la dirección de un Líder o Führer.25

"Cuidado que no se repita" (1920) .- " Caballero teuton" amenazado por soldado polaco y traicionado por socialista (gorra frigia roja).

El nazismo se concreta como una ideología totalitario de tipo fascista en la medida en que se caracteriza por dar una importancia central y absoluta al estado -a partir del cual se debe organizar toda actividad nacional26 (ver Gleichschaltung- representado o encarnado y bajo la dirección o liderazgo de un caudillo supremo, en este caso Hitler, y por proponer un racismo, nacionalismo e imperialismo visceral que debe llevar a conquistar los pueblos que se consideren inferiores. (verLebensraum). A partir de 1926, Hitler centralizo incrementalmente la capacidad de decisiones en el partido. Los dirigentes locales y regionales, etc, no eran electos, sino nombrados, de acuerdo al Führerprinzip (principio del Líder) y a ese líder respondían, demandando obediencia absoluta de sus subordinados. El poder y autoridad emanaba del líder, no de la base.272829

Nazismo y Hitler

Se ha sugerido que Hitler "es uno de esos pocos individuos de los cuales se puede decir con absoluta certeza que: sin él, el curso de la historia habría sido diferente",30 o, que sin él, las cosas habrían sido muy diferentes.31

Hay poca duda que Hitler poseía un carisma y capacidad oratoria, pero también una ambición, excepcional. Alguien quien -con una falta de escrúpulos absoluta- estaba dispuesto a sacrificar lo que fuera considerara necesario en aras de sus objetivos. Pero tampoco hay duda que tanto los objetivos como los medios eran avalados por el zeitgeist, y que Hitler encapsulo -voluntaria o accidentalmente- lo peor de ese espíritu de su época.32 Si bien es posiblemente correcto que sin Hitler el nazismo no habría sido lo que fue, no es menos cierto que sin ese zeitgeist Hitler no habría sido lo que fue.

Retrato a lápiz de Adolf Hitler, 1923

Hitler conoció ese zeitgeist cuando vivió en Viena, entre 1908 y 1913, tratando de ganarse la vida como pintor. La Viena que Hitler conoció no solo era la ciudad culta y cosmopolita de la visión general sino también la que ha sido descrita como un cloaca de antisemitismo, racismo y políticas corruptas, con un parlamento -que Hitler visito numerosas veces- paralizado por disensiones raciales y sectoriales intransigentes. Es ahí -se ha aducido- que Hitler adquirió su desprecio por la democracia, ahí donde vio por primera vez el saludo "Heil" -entre los seguidores del pan germanista y antisemita radical Georg von Schönerer- y ahí adonde aprendió acerca de la propuesta de la eugenesia.33

Después de la Gran Guerra Hitler permaneció en el ejército donde fue alocado a una unidad especial -el "Departamento de Educación y Propaganda" - del Ejército de Bavaria, bajo el comando del capitán Karl Mayr. Una función importante de ese departamento era dar a los soldados una razón aceptable -desde el punto de vista del ejército- de su derrota en la guerra. Esa razón se encontró fácilmente, dado el "espíritu de la época" y el del ejército, en "la traición de los judíos y comunistas".

En julio de 1919, Hitler fue asignado a un "Comando de Inteligencia" y ordenado espiar un pequeño grupo -autodenominado "Partido de los Obreros Alemanes" (DAP por sus siglas en alemán)- bajo sospecha de ser marxista o, por lo menos, socialista.34 - Hitler se impresiono con la visión nacionalista y de solidaridad entre todos los miembros de la sociedad -pero anticomunista y antisemítica- de Anton Drexler -fundador del grupo - quien a su vez, fue impresionado por la oratoria de Hitler: cuando uno de los miembros sugirió separar Baviera de Alemania y unificarla con Austria, Hitler pronunció un discurso oponiéndose y llamando en su lugar a "engrandecer a Alemania". Consecuentemente Dressler le ofreció al espía que se hiciera miembro de la organización, lo que Hitler hizo el 12 de Diciembre de 1919,35 convirtiéndose en el 55 individuo a ingresar36 Al mismo tiempo se integro al Comité Ejecutivo del Partido, como séptimo integrante.37 -Años después Hitler

proclamo haber sido el séptimo en unirse al partido, afirmación que se ha demostrado ser falsa.38

Copia (falsificada) del Carnet de Afiliación al Partido de los Trabajadores de Hitler. El número real de su membresía era el 550 (55, el 500 era agregado para dar la impresión de un grupo más grande) pero con posterioridad el número de Hitler fue reducido para dar la impresión que Hitler fue uno de los fundadores del "partido". .39

Hitler llegó a ser el protegido de Dietrich Eckart, otro de los fundadores y miembro de la Sociedad Thule, quien -junto con el resto de esa sociedad- creían en la llegada inminente de un "Mesías alemán".40 Eckart -con ambiciones de poeta- había escrito acerca del "El Sin nombre", "El que todos sienten pero ninguno ha visto" y en Hitler creyó encontrarlo,41 lo que se vio reforzado por su éxito como orador, pero el resto de los directores "del partido" lo encontraban prepotente y egoísta. Hitler reacciono -julio de 1921- ofreciendo dimitir o ser nombrado jefe del partido (reemplazando a Drexler) con poderes ilimitados. El asunto fue finalmente puesto a una reunión general. La propuesta de Hitler fue aprobada por 543 votos a favor y uno en contra. En la reunión siguiente ( 29 julio de 1921) del recientemente renombrado Partido Nacional Socialista de los Trabajadores Alemanes, Hitler fue introducido -por primera vez- como Führer.

Esa posición fue conveniente para Hitler y su personalidad o estilo, librándolo de la obligación de tener que seguir cualquier programa o compromiso que no fuera conveniente en el momento, incluyendo las propuestas por él mismo. Pero de nuevo, no vemos la acción de un genio político, sino el resultado de, por un lado, el de la ilusión de personajes tales como Eckart y, por el otro, de la propuesta de sectores conservadores y nacionalista -tales como la de Forsthoff - que fueron utilizadas para producir una situación tal que le permiten proclamar: "Yo soy el partido".42

Así, los principales ideólogos del partido cuando éste llega al poder - Walter Darré, Dietrich Eckart,Hans Frank,Rudolf Hess, Heinrich Himmler, Robert Ley, Julius Streicher, Alfred Rosenberg, etc- muestran, entre los elementos que los caracterizan, una fe ciega en un líder, Hitler, quien es concebido como encarnando todas las calidades y Voluntad de poder o vida de "la nación" y -como tal, el único que puede determinar que es y no correcto, aceptable o incluso ético. En las palabras de un jerarca nazi: "Si el pueblo tiene confianza, y si la verdadera dirección popular esta presente, el Führer será capaz de hacer lo que desee con la nación... la gente le obedecerá ciegamente y ciegamente lo seguirán. El Führer siempre tiene la razón. Cada uno y hasta el último ciudadano debe decirlo....(...)... Si, Uds. que nos llamaban sin dios, hemos encontrado nuestra fe en Adolf Hitler y a través

de el hemos encontrado a dios una vez más. Esa es la grandeza de nuestro día. Y esa es nuestra buena fortuna"43

El libro Mein Kampf.

Poseen también un enemigo mortal, responsable de todos los problemas que han afectado a los arios a través de la historia: las razas inferiores o Untermensch - (tales como los eslavos, los gitanos, y, especialmente, los judíos, responsables de la Conspiración judeo-masónico-comunista-internacional). Enemigos no solo mortales pero ineludibles, no solo porque así lo determina las leyes biológicas mismas, sino porque así lo determina el único que puede determinar esas cosas: Hitler, el Führer que nunca se equivoca, en su Mein Kampf. Los arios, como Raza superior es de donde viene el hombre creador, viril y guerrero. De esa raza proceden todos los triunfos de la especie humana. Sin embargo, también creen, como Spengler, que las civilizaciones creadas por los arios decaían y morían una vez sus elementos representativos se mezclaban racialmente con miembros de esas otras razas: "El resultado de todo cruce racial es, brevemente, siempre el siguiente: (a) descenso de la raza más alta. (b) regresión física e intelectual y consecuentemente el comienzo de una lenta pero inevitable enfermedad. Causar tal desarrollo es, entonces, nada pero un pecado contra el creador eterno. Y como pecado será tratado".-44

Una de las primeras medidas de Hitler como 'Führer' de los nazis fue organizar un grupo selecto, las Grupos de Asalto o SA -bajo control de uno de sus incondicionales, el ex oficial de ejército Ernst Röhm - y ordenarles "confrontar" socialistas en las calles. Esto llevó a un incremento en la popularidad del partido nazi entre sectores más extremos en los bares y cantinas en los que los nazis organizaban sus reuniones y de ahí, entre los "nacionalistas extremos" de la población general.45 Entre las figuras que se unieron a los nazis se puede destacar a Heinrich Himmler; Hermann Göring y Joseph Goebbels. Las SA crecieron rápidamente, atrayendo miles de reclutas46 al punto que -en 1922- se hizo posible y necesario crear una división para "novatos" de 14 a 18 años - la Jugendbund o Hermandad de los jóvenes- que eventualmente se transformó en las Juventudes Hitlerianas.

Tras encabezar un fallido intento de golpe de Estado en 1923, contra la República de Weimar, Hitler es condenado a prisión y recluido en un castillo. Una condena de 5 años, de la que finalmente solo cumplió once meses, le permitió escribir el libro semiautobiográfico Mein Kampf '(Mi lucha)' que pronto se convierte en el elemento que le faltaba al colectivo, un libro casi sagrado. En él declara firmemente su antisemitismo y su anticomunismo y deja claro que los arios son una raza superior a todas las demás.

En febrero de 1926 Hitler -en un discurso frente alrededor de sesenta de sus seguidores más selectos, incluyendo los gauleiteres- repudió las posiciones "socialistas" anteriores del partido, enfatizando que "el verdadero enemigo son los judíos", y que tanto el socialismo como la URSS -como creaciones judías- debían ser destruidas y que la propiedad privada debía ser respetada por los nazis.47 Esto horrorizó a algunos de sus seguidores más cercanos y llevó al comienzo de una ruptura con la facción de Gregor Strasser, pero posibilitaba un acuerdo con sectores derechistas en el gobierno. Uno de los resultados inmediatos de ese vuelco a la derecha fue que en 1927 Wilhelm Keppler -un empresario- se unió al partido nazi. Y a través de él algunos otros -tales como Hjalmar Schacht (mas tarde, ministro de economía de los nazis), Fritz Thyssen y el banquero Kurt von Schroeder- aceptaron financiar al partido.4849 -lo que permitió que para 1932 el partido nazi tuviera 120 publicaciones diarias o semanales, leídas por sobre un millón de personas.[cita requerida] Esto se vio facilitado por la llegada de la crisis de 1929, lo que aumentó el caudal electoral nazi, llegando éste a obtener el 37% del voto popular (abril 1932), con un aumento en la membresía de 27.000 en 1925 a más de 800.000 en 1931.

Acceso al poder del nazismo

El gobierno de la República de Weimar fue un gobierno en crisis constante,50 con frecuentes divisiones de alianzas faccionales formadas alrededor de personalidades. Desgraciadamente ni la mayoría de los políticos -con la excepción de los social demócratas- ni los industrialistas, ni el ejército, ni el pequeño sector de clases medias ni la aristocracia ni muchos sectores populares tenían interés en la democracia.51 En las palabras de una declaración del Partido Conservador Alemán: "Odiamos con todo nuestro corazón la presente forma del Estado Alemán porque nos niega la esperanza de rescatar nuestra esclavizada patria, de purificar del pueblo alemán la mentira de la guerra y de ganar el necesario Lebensraum en el Este".52

Una de los principales personalidades de la época -Franz von Papen- perdió posición frente a la facción de Kurt von Schleicher, quien, nuevamente fue incapaz de obtener apoyo mayoritario. Von Papen concibió reemplazarlo con "una cara nueva", la de Hitler, que sería -en la opinión de Papen- fácil de manipular: el partido nazi comenzaba a mostrar desgaste electoral, perdiendo -julio de 1932- 34 escaños, reduciendo a 196 "diputados" sobre un total de 608. Adicionalmente, el partido estaba quedando sin fondos. Aparentemente el plan de von Papen era promover una dictadura mediante de un golpe de estado que -en su opinión53 - sería inevitable siguiendo el caos que el gobierno de Hitler produciría (dado que no solo una vez más el gobierno sería incapaz de funcionar sino que el uso de confrontación y violencia por "el incapaz" Hitler produciría una demanda popular por la restauración del orden).5455 Como se ha observado "Estupideces de ese tamaño son raras en cualquier país o

época".56 Von Papen arreglo una reunión con Hitler a través de los buenos oficios del banquero von Schroeder, lo que se concreto -el 4 de enero de 1933 en la casa de este último, llegando a un acuerdo.57 Hitler fue nombrado Canciller de Alemania el 30 de enero de 1933. (la fecha es conocida como Machtergreifung). Sin embargo, la coalición que "apoyaba" al nuevo canciller era minoritaria, contando con solo 247 escaños.

Con posterioridad a su nombramiento Hitler pidió al anciano presidente Paul von Hindenburg que disolviera el Reichstag, lo que fue aceptado y se fijaron elecciones para el 5 de marzo de 1933. El 27 de febrero ocurrió el Incendio del Reichstag -posiblemente bajo órdenes de Hitler.58 Al día siguiente Hitler declaró el estado de emergencia 59 y demando que Hindenburg firmara el Decreto del Incendio del Reichstag, aboliendo la mayoría de las disposiciones de derechos fundamentales de la constitución de 1919 de la República de Weimar.

Siguiendo lo anterior las elecciones de marzo dieron a los nazis y sus aliados el 44% del voto. Todavía no una mayoría. La respuesta de Hitler fue demandar que el Reichtag le concediera poderes plenos, en la forma de la Ley habilitante de 1933 -situación permitida por la Constitución de Weimar para darle al Canciller el poder de pasar leyes a decretos, sin la intervención del Reichstag en casos excepcionales- Los cálculos de von Papen parecía estar concretándose. Sin embargo, si bien Hitler estaba a favor de una dictadura, no estaba dispuesto a implementarla a favor de algún otro. El 23 de marzo de 1933 el parlamento se reunió a discutir la cuestión. En una atmósfera de creciente intimidación los parlamentarios tuvieron que ingresar cruzando un anillo de SA que gritaban" "Los poderes totales... o fuego y muerte". Solo los social demócratas se opusieron (los comunistas habían sido arrestados o asesinados en su totalidad). Otto Wels -presidente de los socialdemócratas- proclamo: Nosotros los socialdemócratas nos comprometemos en esta hora histórica a los principios de humanidad y justicia, de libertad y socialismo. Ninguna acta habilitante lo habilita a Ud a destruir ideas que son eternas e indestructible". Mirando directamente a Hitler, agrego: "Uds. pueden quitarnos la libertad y la vida, pero no pueden privarnos de nuestro honor. Estamos indefensos, pero no desgraciados".60 - Hitler se enfureció y respondió gritando:

Memorial en Berlín. Cada pizarra recuerda a uno de los 96 miembros del Reichstag asesinados por los nazis después que asumieron el poder

"Uds. ya no son necesarios..la estrella de Alemania se alzara y la de Uds. se hundirá. La hora de su muerte ha sonado"61

Esa fue la última sesión de un Reichtag con oposición. Poco después, el partido social demócrata fue prohibido y el resto (aparte de los nazis) se disolvieron. Von Papen tuvo que contentarse con el puesto de vicecanciller, desde el cual había esperado poder manipular a Hitler, pero con resultados de tan poca importancia que fue encontrado inocente en los Juicios de Núremberg.62

De canciller alemán a Führer del Reich de los mil años

El proceso empezó a culminar en la noche de los cuchillos largos (entre el 30 de junio y el 2 de julio de 1934) cuando los últimos elementos que osaban dudar de la infalibilidad de Hitler -aun implícitamente- fueron eliminados políticamente o asesinados, incluyendo Kurt von Schleicher -a quien Hitler había reemplazado como canciller- y asociados de von Papen -quien fue arrestado. También lo fueron asesinado antiguos camaradas de Hitler, como Gregor Strasser; Gustav Ritter von Kahr y Ernst Röhm (este último bajo sospecha de deslealtad y, en todo caso, ya no conveniente para un Hitler en el poder).

Horas tras la muerte del presidente Hindenburg( 2 de agosto de 1934), Hitler publicó una ley (fechada el 1ro de agosto) que establece: `La posición de Presidente del Reich será combinada con la del Canciller. La autoridad del presidente será por lo tanto transferida al presente canciller y Führer, Adolf Hitler. El seleccionara su diputado. Esta ley es efectiva a partir de la muerte del Presidente von Hindenburg".63 Comenzaba así el Tercer Reich, que la propaganda afirmaba duraría mil años.

A continuación se anunció que tendría lugar un plebiscito, para dar la oportunidad al pueblo alemán de expresar su aprobación. Éste tomó lugar el 19 de agosto del mismo, y Hitler obtuvo un 90% de aprobación -38 millones de votos-. Al día siguiente se introdujeron a través del Reich juramentos obligatorios de lealtad personal no al estado o Alemania sino a Hitler, especialmente en las escuelas, fabricas, servicio público y ejército. Así, la voluntad del Führer se transformaba en la ley. La aplicación de este principio resultó en formas totalitarias de control y represión, ya que cualquier oposición a los designios del Führer era, por definición, antinacional.

Judíos forzados a limpiar la calle- Austria - Marzo de 1938

El 12 de marzo de 1938 Austria fue anexada al Reich. (verAnschluss

El programa original del partido nazi64 - que existía desde su creación como Partido Obrero Alemán fue mantenido en principio, pero en realidad la percepción era que "Hitler es el partido", lo que creó una situación más bien confusa en la práctica65 (ver especialmente Economía política de los nazis, más abajo). Ese programa incluía: Abolición del Tratado de Versalles. Unificación en un territorio y bajo un gobierno común a todos los alemanes con tierras y territorios (colonias) suficientes como para mantener a los ciudadanos (La Gran Alemania). Solo los miembros de "la raza" pueden ser ciudadanos. Expulsar de los territorios alemanes a todos lo no alemanes que hayan llegado desde 1914 y mantención del resto solo con permiso del gobierno y como huéspedes. Obligación del Estado de proveer la oportunidad de buena vida para todos los ciudadanos. Obligación de los ciudadanos de trabajar física y espiritualmente. Abolición de ingresos que no sean del trabajo. Establecimiento y defensa de un "cristianismo positivo",66 gobierno en beneficio del interés nacional sobre el particular, imponer el orden, etc.

El régimen que se implantó ejerció un fuerte control sobre cada aspecto de la sociedad, mostrando especial interés en la educación de la juventud alemana. Desde la infancia, se enseña a los niños a ser duros y a sufrir la lucha por ser el más fuerte, seleccionando poco a poco a unos escogidos que irán conformando una nueva élite de guerreros sagrados (la SS) a modo de una nueva Esparta naciente y victoriosa. La ciencia tampoco escapa a la influencia de partido que la utiliza para justificar sus ideas o para buscar nuevas armas para la guerra que se venía preparando.

"Origen de los repobladores" - Mapa mostrando planeado traslado de población polaca a ser esclavizada.

En relación a la Europa "no-occidental" o región en la cual "la raza" podría expandirse, existen documentos que sugieren la intención era establecer formas de gobierno subservientes al alemán y basadas sobre un sistema de castas, de acuerdo a las cuales la función de la población (trabajador (esclavo/campesino/obrero) -supervisor y amo (sacerdote-guerrero) se establecería de acuerdo a su “raza”, bajo la dirección de las Schutzstaffel, o SS. (ver Generalplan Ost): los eslavos, polacos, rusos, etc, serían exterminados en su mayoría, y quienes sobrevivieran serían trasladados "al este" donde, tratados como esclavos (negándoseles toda educación, tratamientos médicos, etc) eventualmente se extinguirían. Dado que no habían suficientes "arios", miembros de razas "intermedias" ( letones, estonios, checos, ucranianos, etc) continuarían existiendo como campesinos y mano de obra con algunas garantías, bajo control de amos y supervisores

alemanes, especialmente miembros de las SS, que recibirían tierras y esclavos en relación a sus "méritos".

En el caso de gitanos y judíos esos planes de largo plazo con "razas inferiores" fueron puestos en ejecución incluso durante la guerra misma, en el llamado programa de Solución Final.

Persecución y represión

Formulario de declaración de renuncia a ser Testigos de Jehová- bajo pena de re-internamiento en "Campo de concentración"

Hitler aplicó de inmediato la represión contra un amplio espectro de ciudadanos: judíos (definidos como enemigos de la nación), comunistas, testigos de Jehová, homosexuales y todo aquello que se opusiera a la estrecha definición nazi de la "nación".

La represión la llevaron adelante prioritariamente la SS, fuerzas paramilitares creadas en 1925 y fortalecidas por el régimen, y la Gestapo, policía secreta nazi que respondía a las SS, y que contaba con una densa red de espías y delatores.

El terror se ejercía de forma directa: por medio de la censura, las agresiones físicas, los arrestos y las detenciones en campos de trabajo.

Economía política de los nazis

Esta es un área compleja. Los nazis no tenían un programa económico propiamente tal, lo que creó una confusión en la práctica (ver Gottfried Feder), especialmente cuando llegaron al poder. Hitler resume la posición así: "La característica básica de nuestra teoría económica es que no tenemos ninguna teoría en absoluto.".67 Los nazis consideraban que lo realmente importante es la "pujanza" o voluntad de las naciones: si esas tienen espíritu, decisión y dirección adecuada, tendrán éxito, cualquiera sean las circunstancias,68 lo que posibilita o demanda que "el líder" tenga la capacidad de tomar las medidas adecuadas en cada situación. Para Hitler en particular, propuestas basadas en la solidaridad no son sino un complot para destruir esa pujanza entre las razas superiores, por lo cual rechazaba específicamente la concepción socialista.69 A partir de eso, la propuesta nazi acerca de la economía política era una mezcla imprecisa de la darwinismo social con el dirigismo,70 en

la cual el estado permite tanto la propiedad privada como la competencia -lo que es positivo "porque promueve los más capaces a posiciones superiores"71 - pero reserva al Estado el derecho a establecer el interés nacional.72

Cesare Santoro, un fascista que visito Alemania en la época, lo pone así: "En la declaración programática, ya citada al principio de nuestra obra, Adolf Hitler anunció que el nuevo gobierno se proponía “velar por los intereses económicos del pueblo alemán no por el camino tortuoso de una gran economía burocrática organizada por el Estado sino por el impulso más fuerte dado a la iniciativa particular sobre la base del reconocimiento de la propiedad privada”. El reconocimiento del principio de que, en contraste con lo que ocurre en la Rusia soviética, el Estado tiene por misión dirigir la economía pero no administrarla por sí mismo (función que corresponde exclusivamente a la economía misma) no puede ser más explícitamente expresado. También así ha sido establecido solemnemente el principio de la propiedad privada con lo que se estimula al patrono a ensanchar más su empresa para alcanzar los mayores resultados posibles. Estos dos principios determinan las normas directivas para la reorganización nacionalsocialista de la economía industrial; aquellas exigen una administración autónoma cuya misión consiste en asesorar y tutelar a las asociaciones industriales o a los socios que forman parte de ella. Esta administración tiene el deber de transmitir al gobierno los deseos de los patronos que toman parte en la obra de reconstrucción económica"73

Hitler parece entender el papel del estado como dirigiendo pero también apoyando la industria nacional a través de proporcionar estabilidad económica y diversos programas específicos, tales como proporcionando "mano de obra barata", como es ilustrado en la famosa película La lista de Schindler.

Sin embargo, lo anterior no produce una propuesta específica acerca de cómo resolver los problemas económicos de Alemania cuando Hitler llegó al poder. Esto fue resuelto a través del nombramiento de algunos "profesionales" en posiciones de responsabilidad. Esto dio a Hitler la oportunidad de poder elegir entre diferentes y competitivas propuestas, seleccionando la que considerara más adecuada.

Desfile de Fuerzas del Servicio del Trabajo - durante uno de los Congresos de Núremberg-Septiembre 1937- en estadio construido para el propósito

A partir de 1933 se implemento el llamado "Programa de Reinhardt",74 que era un ambicioso proyecto de fomento económico a través del desarrollo de la infraestructura -con

la construcción directa por el estado de proyectos de obras públicas - tales como autopistas (ver Autopistas de Alemania), redes de ferrocarriles, canales -tanto de riego como transporte (por ejemplo, reinicio de la construcción del Canal Rin-Meno-Danubio, estadios, etc (ver Arquitectura de la Alemania nazi)- combinados con incentivos (tales como reducción o eliminación de impuestos a la inversión) y la expansión del gasto militar, etc. En 1936, el gasto estatal en asuntos militares excedía a los gastos en asuntos civiles y llegaba al 10% del Producto Nacional Bruto, más que cualquier otra nación europea en la época.75 A nivel de los trabajadores, el "programa" significo la eliminación de los sindicatos independientes (reemplazados por un organismo sindical/patronal único, bajo control nazi- ver Frente Alemán del Trabajo), aproximación que se mantuvo durante todo el gobierno nazi.

En 1934 Hjalmar Schacht fue nombrado ministro de economía, con la intención (y bajo instrucciones secretas) de lograr el rearmamento 76 y desarrollar una política que lograra la autarquía o independencia económica de Alemania. Para lograr eso fines Schacht necesitaba tanto re industrializar Alemania como poder comprar materias primas en el extranjero, evitando al mismo tiempo una vuelta a la inflación, lo cual a su vez requería estabilizar la moneda alemana (hacerla aceptable a nivel internacional) y reducción del déficit presupuestario del Estado. Schacht propone en un Nuevo "Plan de cuatro años"77 basados en el uso de "Billetes Mefo", una especie de circulante pseudo monetario al estilo de "letras de cambio o títulos de crédito, teóricamente de una empresa independiente (MEFO) pero que permitían al estado otorgar créditos a industrias sin romper las reglas monetarias aceptada, dado que esas "letras de cambio" estaban relacionados no con un lapso de tiempo sino con un resultado económico (por ejemplo, el valor de un ferrocarril, usina, etc, a ser construida).78 - y en lograr que países extranjeros -especialmente en América Latina y sureste de Europa- vendieran sus productos a Alemania pagados ya sea por medio de un intercambio directo con productos manufacturados en Alemania o en "depósitos bancarios en Alemania", que solo podían ser gastados en ese país, específicamente, que no podían ser retirados en monedas extranjeras. En lo referente al proyecto autárquico, Schacht implemento el desarrollo de productos substitutos o ersatz79

Schacht también creó un sistema financiero que permitió al estado alemán utilizar el "dinero de extranjeros" depositado en bancos alemanes. Ese sistema constituyó las bases del utilizado para la administración, primero, de los fondos de judíos y, posteriormente, de los caudales en países conquistados.80

Göring visitando cuartel de la Reichswerke

En 1935 todo lo anterior lo anterior se combinó en la llamada "economía de guerra", lo que -a nivel práctico- significó la introducción de medidas "militarizadas" de reducción del desempleo -el llamado Reichsarbeitsdienst (o RAD: Servicio de Trabajo del Reich, introducido en julio de 1934). Esto a su vez justifico la expansión del gasto militar bajo la excusa que eran medidas de reducción de desempleo.

A partir de 1935-36, se desarrollo un debate entre los encargados de la política económica general. Schacht -junto con Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, encargado de control de precios-

encabezaron una facción "pro mercado libre" que urgía a Hitler a reducir el gasto militar, abandonar el proteccionismo implícito en el proyecto de autarquía y reducir la intervención estatal en la economía. Esa facción fue opuesta por la encabezada por Hermann Göring, quien proponía mantener esas posiciones.81 Eventualmente la posición de Göring se impuso (lo que llevó a la renuncia de Schacht). Göring tomó su cargo y en adición a la mantención en general de las políticas descritas, introdujo (julio 1937) un organismo (el Reichswerke) dedicado a la promoción y construcción de fabricas y usinas, que eventualmente llegó a ser uno de los complejos industriales más grandes del mundo, empleando medio millón de trabajadores y con un capital de 2400 millones de marcos.82

Varios economistas -empezando con Michal Kalecki- han descrito esas políticas económicas como un keynesianismo militar. Si bien es correcto que Alemania Nazi fue uno de los primeros países que -con posterioridad al abandono del patrón oro- utilizó el déficit fiscal a fin de promover crecimiento económico, conviene recordar no solo que Keynes publicó su Teoría general de la ocupación, el interés y el dinero solo en 1936 (después de la implementación de muchas de las políticas delineadas más arriba) sino también las palabras de Hitler mismo respecto a carecer de una política económica. Así, parece más correcto sugerir que las políticas económicas nazis eran eclécticas, mostrando no solo influencia "keynesiana" sino también las de otras escuelas, por ejemplo, las propuestas económicas de los fascistas italianos, que, a su vez, se basaban teóricamente en las propuestas de Pareto.83 Contrastese, por ejemplo, la descripción de las políticas nazis ofrecida por Santoro con la siguiente de las políticas de Mussolini -proveniente de Franz Borkenau: "En los primeros años de su gobierno Mussolini ejecutó literalmente las prescripciones políticas de Pareto, destruyendo el liberalismo pero al mismo tiempo reemplazando en general el manejo estatal de las empresas privadas, disminuyendo los impuestos sobre la propiedad, favoreciendo el desarrollo industrial, imponiendo un educación (basada en la aceptación ciega de) dogmas..."84

Lo anterior se ha explicado de la siguiente manera: "La razón principal por esto fue la percepción generalizada entre los nazis que la economía no era muy importante, y que, en todo caso, estaba subordinada a los intereses del Partido o de la política del Partido. En relación a los individuos y sus visiones, mientras que el régimen no fuera abiertamente criticado, había un margen considerable para la discusión de economía política y teoría económica, no habiendo una línea de partido en asuntos económicos. Segundo, en el campo de la política (económica) práctica había un profundo nivel de pragmatismo: si las “fuerzas del mercado” podían lograr objetivos políticos, tanto mejor. "85

Con posterioridad a la segunda guerra, las políticas de la "economía de guerra" influyeron tentativas de desarrollo de países del tercer mundo. Schacht -encontrado inocente en los juicios de Núremberg- creó un banco - Deutsche Außenhandelsbank Schacht & Co.- y se especializó en dar aviso económico a dirigentes de esos países,86 especialmente aquellos en los cuales el ejército llegó a ser el instrumento de "progreso" (por ejemplo: Egipto, Turquía, Paquistán, etc).

Propaganda

Los nazis fueron unos de los primeros movimientos políticos que implementaron lo que puede ser llamado la práctica moderna de la propaganda como ingeniería social. En las palabras de Joseph Goebbels, quien llegó a estar a cargo del "Ministerio del Reich para la educación del pueblo y la propaganda" -creado en 1933-: "Hoy podemos decir sin exageración que Alemania es un modelo de propaganda para el mundo entero. Hemos compensado por las fallas del pasado y desarrollado el arte de la influencia de masas al punto que avergüenza los esfuerzos de otras naciones. La importancia que la directiva Nacional Socialista pone en la propaganda quedo clara cuando estableció un "Ministerio para la educación del pueblo y la propaganda" después que tomó el poder. Este ministerio está completamente dentro del espíritu Nacional Socialista y en el se origina. Une todo lo que hemos aprendido como un movimiento de oposición confrontando el enemigo y bajo la persecución de un sistema inimico, a veces más de la necesidad que del deseo. Recientemente algunos han tratado de imitar este Ministerio y su concentración de todos los medios de influencia sobre la opinión, pero aquí también se aplica el dicho: "a menudo imitado, pero nunca igualado".87

La teoría nazi sostenía que entre el Führer y su pueblo existía una armonía mística, una absoluta comunión -en la medida que el Führer encarna y dirige todas las aspiraciones y voluntad del pueblo- Pero en la realidad, ese pueblo -como individuos- puede fallar en entender esa “voluntad general”, así, esa comprensión y adhesión de esos individuos debían ser logradas: "No es solo un asunto de hacer lo correcto, la gente debe entender que lo correcto es lo correcto. La propaganda incluye todo aquello que ayuda a la gente a darse cuenta de esto"..la “Propaganda es un medio para un fin. Su propósito es llevar a la gente a una comprensión que les permitirá, voluntaria y sin resistencia interna, dedicarse ellos mismos a las tareas y objetivos de una dirección superior”. y "La gente debe compartir las preocupaciones y logros de su gobierno. Esas preocupaciones y logros, en consecuencia, deben ser constantemente presentados y forzados sobre la gente de tal manera que el pueblo considere que esas preocupaciones y logros son sus preocupaciones y logros. Solo un gobierno autoritario, fuertemente ligado al pueblo, puede hacer eso en el largo plazo. La propaganda política, el arte de basar las cosas del estado sobre las amplias masas de tal manera que la nación entera se sienta parte de el, no puede por lo tanto, permanecer solo un medio de ganar el poder. Debe ser un medio de construir y mantener poder".87

Desde ese punto de vista, la ‘propaganda política’ “esta dirigida a las masas, habla el lenguaje del pueblo porque desea ser entendida por el pueblo. Su tarea es el arte más creativo de poner hechos y eventos a veces complejos en una forma simple, que pueda ser entendida por el hombre en la calle.” y “La propaganda es por lo tanto, una función necesaria del estado moderno. Sin ella es simplemente imposible, en este siglo de las masas, aspirar a grandes objetivos. (La propaganda) Se sitúa al comienzo de la actividad política práctica en cada aspecto de la vida pública. Es un requisito importante y necesario”.

Contrario a lo que algunos creen, la técnica básica de la propaganda no era, para Goebbels, la mentira.,88 lo cual no quiere decir que no la empleara. - "Sólo la credibilidad debe determinar si lo que la propaganda propone debe ser cierto o falso"89 y "Si la propaganda va a ser exitosa, debe saber lo que busca. Debe mantener clara y constantemente presente su objetivo y buscar los medios y métodos apropiados para alcanzar ese objetivo. La propaganda, como tal, no es ni buena ni mala. Su valor moral es determinado por el

objetivo que busca".87 Lo anterior establece una situación más bien confusa, lo que ha llevado a algunos a sugerir que se pueden derivar cuatro principios de la "propaganda goebbeliana": 1. No hay verdad.- 2. Toda información (real) es irrelevante.- 3. La historia y los mensajes de los medios son sólo una narrativa.- 4. La verdad es lo que se escoge creer.90

Alternativamente, se proponen los siguientes principios: Principio de renovación: Hay que emitir constantemente informaciones y argumentos nuevos a un ritmo tal que, cuando el adversario responda, el público esté ya interesado en otra cosa. -Principio de la verosimilitud: Construir argumentos a partir de fuentes diversas. -Principio de la silenciación: Acallar las cuestiones sobre las que no se tienen argumentos y disimular las noticias que favorecen el adversario. -Principio de la transfusión: Por regla general, la propaganda opera siempre a partir de un sustrato preexistente, ya sea una mitología nacional o un complejo de odios y prejuicios tradicionales. -Principio de la unanimidad: Llegar a convencer a mucha gente de que piensa “como todo el mundo”, creando una falsa impresión de unanimidad.91

Goebbels establece una diferencia entre la propaganda blanca — atribuible y dedicada a promover — y la negra, dedicada a desprestigiar y no atribuible. La mayoría de las citas de Goebbels generalmente usadas — por ejemplo: “mentir, mentir, que algo queda” — se refieren a ese tipo de propaganda. Una vez que un rumor —correcto o no — es generalmente aceptado, se puede usar como “verdad” en la propaganda blanca. Un ejemplo de su tiempo es la existencia de un putativo “problema judío”. Una vez que se hizo general la percepción que los ciudadanos alemanes de religión judía no eran alemanes, la propaganda blanca puede presentar la "solución al problema": "Permitan que de algunos ejemplos recientes. Solo necesito bosquejar los detalles. Están muy frescos en nuestra memoria para requerir elaboración.... El Marxismo no podría haber sido eliminado por una decisión gubernamental. Su eliminación fue el resultado de un proceso que comenzó con el pueblo. Pero eso solo fue posible porque nuestra propaganda le había mostrado a la gente que el Marxismo era un peligro tanto para el Estado como para la Sociedad. La positiva disciplina nacional de la prensa alemana nunca habría sido posible sin la eliminación completa de la influencia de la prensa judía-liberal. Eso solo sucedió debido a nuestra propaganda de años... el hecho que fue eliminada... no es un accidente, sino más bien dependió en las fundaciones psicológicas que fueron establecidas por nuestra propaganda... Pudimos eliminar el peligro judío en nuestra cultura porque la gente lo reconoció a consecuencia de nuestra propaganda.... el prerrequisito fue y es la propaganda, que aquí también crea y mantiene la conexión con el pueblo.87

Un ejemplo contemporáneo es el uso por ciertos sectores de la mentira que Barack Obama no es nacido en EEUU92 y es musulmán.93 En la medida que el innuendo se divulga,94 personajes tales como Rand Paul, Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, etc, sugieren hay falta de patriotismo de su parte y la necesidad de defender los valores cristianos de los “padres fundadores”.959697 Encontramos un ejemplo concreto de Goebbels en su respuesta a la reacción internacional a la introducción de legislación antisemita -por ejemplo, las Leyes de Núremberg- Goebbels no busca ocultar o minimizar tal reacción al pueblo alemán, pero la presenta como “campaña de propaganda internacional por los judíos”. Y esa reacción “a la solución” del “problema judío” por “medios legales” no afecta el “derecho y determinación del pueblo alemán” a solucionar sus problemas con “su acostumbrada responsabilidad y seriedad” — “que preferirían “las democracias”... que se dejara la solución en las manos

del pueblo?” pregunta Goebbels — Y concluye: Esa campaña del judaísmo internacional solo tendrá un resultado: hacer las cosas aun más difíciles para sus “parientes raciales” en Alemania.-.98

El líder en momento de inspiración

De acuerdo a Goebbels, la planificación de cualquier y todo acto debe considerar sus implicaciones propagandísticas. Y todo debe contribuir a los objetivos políticos que la propaganda determina, no en una repetición mecánica, pero para construir una visión general.99 Consecuentemente, la propaganda se desarrolló en varias direcciones a través de la totalidad de la sociedad y vida publica alemana. Se utilizó no solo a los medios de comunicación masivos — libros, periódicos y afiches que engrandecían a Hitler como salvador y líder de la raza aria cubrieron las ciudades, prohibiéndose cualquier expresión de duda, llegando incluso a la quemas de libros considerados "perniciosos", no tanto como acto de censura sino de "expurgación pública". Adicionalmente se organizaron grandes actos públicos, manifestaciones y desfiles, que glorificaban un pasado alemán mítico, místico y heroico, junto a la grandeza de Hitler y la disciplina impecable de su ejército; se difundieron políticas de bienestar (vacaciones, pensiones, etc.), todo sugiriendo una nación de guerreros liberados por un héroe seleccionado e inspirado por el destino, envueltos en una lucha a muerte no solo por su supervivencia, pero por todo lo que es justo, bello y de valor, contra las miserables razas inferiores que, motivados por la envidia y la malevolencia, solo saben destruir.

El cine sufrió no sólo la censura, sino además la manipulación. Todas las películas debían contener algún mensaje pronazi. El propio estado se ocupó de producir películas documentales de propaganda, utilizando todos los adelantos de la técnica y arte. La radio se convirtió en un medio muy importante para el régimen, ya que permitía que la voz del Führer entrara en los hogares alemanes, del mismo modo que la propaganda nazi.

La propaganda no buscaba sólo fortalecer la fidelidad al régimen o el odio hacia los judíos, sino también -en una actitud derivada de la Kulturkampf bismarckiana- difundir formas

culturales consideradas propias o saludables para la nación, identificadas con la raza aria. De esta manera, se instaba a los jóvenes sanos a casarse, informándoles previamente de los antecedentes raciales de su pareja, y a procrear familias numerosas. Las mujeres eran alentadas a permanecer en el hogar y a dedicarse a la crianza de los niños.

“5 marcos a la semana tienes que guardar - si en coche quieres pasear!” - “información acerca de la compra y el pago de (los coches) en todas las oficinas de la Comunidad Nacional Socialista” - fuerza a través de la alegría - Gau (región/zona) München-Oberbayern

Los jóvenes fueron un blanco importante para la propaganda nazi. Se crearon instituciones destinadas a la socialización de niños y jóvenes, como las Juventudes Hitlerianas. En ellas los jóvenes recibían una cuidadosa educación física y adoctrinamiento político. La Liga de Muchachas Alemanas formaba a las niñas para sus futuras tareas en el hogar, mientras los niños aprendían destrezas militares. No obstante lo anterior, un gran número de mujeres también formó parte de las Hitlerjugend.

Uso de la economía como propaganda política

Para Hitler, su régimen había restablecido la "primacía de la política", a la cual debía someterse la economía del Tercer Reich. Sin embargo, la legitimidad del régimen dependía de su habilidad en proveer un nivel de vida aceptable a la población en general.

Así las demandas (por menores costos) de los industriales se enfrentaron con la necesidad de la legitimación del régimen, dotando de cierto bienestar a los trabajadores. Estos objetivos contrapuestos llevan a la adopción de medidas de incremento de productividad, provisión de productos populares (de bajo costo) y algunas medidas de bienestar públicas. Ejemplos de estas políticas se encuentran en las competencias nacionales de destreza en el

oficio, el lanzamiento de Volkswagen -el auto del pueblo- y el establecimiento de "centros de vacaciones populares" ('Ver Prora).

Esas medidas de “bienestar” han sido denominadas por algunos como un “estado del bienestar nazi”, financiado a través del “botín de guerra”. El régimen nazi consideraba la propiedad del fisco y los ciudadanos de los países conquistados como propiedad del estado alemán, lo que permitió mantener - para los “miembros de la raza superior”- bajos niveles de impuestos y altos niveles de consumo incluso durante la guerra misma. Por ejemplo, a pesar que al comienzo de la guerra Hitler estableció un impuesto de guerra -50% de todos los salarios- solo el 4% de los alemanes lo pagó. Para mantener esa situación, el régimen recurrió a la expoliación y al robo organizado desde el estado a nivel industrial, primero de los comunistas, gitanos y judíos alemanes, posteriormente de los países ocupados. El 70% de los ingresos del estado alemán durante la guerra vino de la expoliación, confiscaciones y robos en los países ocupados, algunas de cuyas empresas llegaron a tener que pagar un impuesto del 112% de sus ganancias para un “fondo de lucha contra el bolchevismo”.100

Política de higiene racial

Véase también:Experimentación médica nazi

Los nazis instauran también el control reproductivo de la sociedad alemana. Es imperiosa la necesidad de crear nuevos arios y de sacar de la circulación aquellos que presenten defectos en nombre de la higiene racial, promoviendo la eugenesia y recurriendo a la eutanasia si hacía falta. Así mismo, se buscó la fecundación de todas las alemanas de buena sangre por parte de la élite aria para que poco a poco la raza perdida recupere su esplendor. El resultado de esto fue el establecimiento de los campos Lebensborn en los cuales mujeres de origen ario eran inseminadas con padres seleccionados para la creación de niños racialmente puros.

Czeslawa Kwoka - Polaca- 14 años de edad. Internada en Auschwitz: 13 Diciembre 1942- Muerte: 12 de marzo de 1943 -

El nazismo está imbuido de una paranoia racial que le lleva a tejer todo un entramado científico-místico. Por una parte, pretende demostrar mediante la moderna ciencia de la biología, la selección natural de Darwin y las leyes de la herencia de Gregorio Mendel, de modo pseudocientífico la realidad de la raza pura y, por otro lado, presenta la creencia

mística de que esta debe recuperar unos poderes que se le suponen perdidos por los cruces con razas supuestamente degeneradas, como serían los judíos o, en menor medida, los eslavos. En los judíos se centra el mal de males y hacia mediados de la Segunda Guerra Mundial empezarán a ser exterminados en los campos de concentración.

Antisemitismo Nazi

Niños supervivientes del campo de exterminio de Auschwitz, tras su liberación por el Ejército Rojo en enero de 1945.

Para Hitler, los comunistas eran enemigos de la nación alemana. Pero había un enemigo mayor aún que se fusionaba con ese y con los otros posibles: los judíos. Partiendo de una concepción racista, desde principios de los años veinte Hitler fue reconstruyendo un estereotipo racial del judío, a partir de las teorías de Walter Darré, Alfred Rosenberg, Spengler (Siglo XX), Houston Stewart Chamberlain y el conde de Gobineau (Siglo XIX).

Los judíos encarnaban, para Hitler, todos los males que aquejaban a la nación alemana (no judía): eran los proletariados agitadores, los financistas avaros y los grandes industriales que exprimían al pueblo alemán; eran la prensa que difamaba a la nación, y también los débiles y corruptos parlamentarios cómplices de los humillantes tratados de paz y de la debilidad de la nación. Eran, en síntesis, el enemigo racial, que desde el interior corrompía y contaminaba a la nación, debilitándola.

El judío era el enemigo absoluto que tanto necesitaba el sistema totalitario para la movilización política y social, así como para distraer la opinión pública de los propios problemas.

En 1935, las leyes de Núremberg privaron a los judíos de la ciudadanía alemana y de todo derecho. Se les prohibió el contacto con los arios y se les obligó a portar una identificación. Las leyes afectaban a todos aquellos a quienes el Estado definía racialmente como judíos. Continuaron la violencia y el acoso de las SS y de la policía a los judíos, produciéndose masivas emigraciones.

Luego siguió una segunda fase de expropiación, caracterizada por la "arianización" de bienes, los despidos y los impuestos especiales.

En 1938 se les prohibió a los abogados y médicos judíos el libre ejercicio de sus profesiones y se obligó a que los que tenían nombres de pila no judíos que antepusieran los de "Sara" o "Israel" a los propios, para la identificación en los campos de trabajo y en los mismos ghettos). El resultado, distinguirlos.

Página 3 de "Telegrama urgente (secreto)" ( 1:20 a.m, 10 de Noviembre,1938),.firmado por Reinhard Heydrich, acerca de "medidas contra los judíos esta noche" e instruyendo que los “ judíos arrestados” sean trasladados a "campos de concentración"

En noviembre, esgrimiendo como excusa el asesinato de un diplomático alemán en París a manos de un joven judío, fueron atacados por miembros de las SS, en lo que se llamó la "noche de los cristales rotos". El resultado fue de tal magnitud que el mismo Estado hubo de restaurar el orden que el mismo había perturbado.

Los judíos fueron considerados globalmente responsables del ataque y obligados a reparar los daños, a indemnizar al Estado alemán por los destrozos y a entregar el dinero recibido a compañías de seguros. Se los excluyó de la vida económica, se les prohibió el acceso a las universidades, el uso de transportes públicos y el frecuentar lugares públicos como teatros o jardines. Adicionalmente ese momento marcó el comienzo de un programa organizado de internamiento de los judíos en campos de concentración: en un telegrama de instrucciones firmada por Reinhard Heydrich — marcado “Urgente y secreto” — en preparación a la Kristalnacht se establece (punto 5): "Tan pronto como el curso de los eventos durante esta noche permita el uso de los oficiales de policía asignados para este propósito, serán arrestados tantos judíos como sea posible acomodar en los lugares de detención de cada distrito. —especialmente judíos ricos. Por el momento solo serán arrestados judíos varones en buen estado de salud, de edad no muy avanzada. Inmediatamente que el arresto tenga lugar, se contactara el campo de concentración adecuado para ubicar a los judíos tan

rápidamente como sea posible en esos campos....".101 — esos campos en realidad eran “campos de trabajo forzado” en los cuales se explotaba a los internados hasta la muerte.102

Finalmente, los judíos fueron concentrados en ghettos (barrios especiales donde vivían hacinados) o en campos. A esto seguiría la esclavización y el exterminio durante la guerra. Los campos de concentración, inicialmente destinados a la prisión preventiva de "enemigos del estado" (por ejemplo: comunistas y social demócratas), se convirtieron en lugares de trabajo forzoso, para experimentos médicos y para la eliminación física de judíos, gitanos, homosexuales y discapacitados.

Escena en Buchenwald, el 16 de abril de 1945 - día de su liberación

Sobre este último punto, hay quienes sostienen la inexistencia del holocausto judío, ya sea en su totalidad o en las proporciones que son comúnmente aceptadas, lo que ha dado lugar a algunos juicios.103 Los principales expositores de esta visión son Robert Faurisson, Paul Rassinier y David Irving, Los casos más conocido son A) el del Commonwealth de Canadá contra Ernst Zundel, ciudadano alemán que vivió en Canadá entre 1958 y el 2000 y quien publicó varios panfletos cuestionando el holocausto, por lo que fue procesado por "publicar literatura capaz de incitar odio contra un grupo identificable".104 En dicho proceso, Alfred Leuchter, quien falsamente proclamó ser ingeniero, el "máximo experto mundial en" y "constructor" de cámaras de gas para las prisiones de los Estados Unidos105 evacuó el Informe Leuchter, en el que concluyó que "no hubo cámaras de gas para la ejecución en ninguno de esos lugares" y B) el de Irving contra Lipstadt y otros, en el cual Irving fue encontrado "un activo negador del Holocausto... un antisemita y un racista".

Política exterior

El objetivo final de la política exterior nazi era la conquista del Lebensraum o espacio vital alemán. Su imperialismo era a la vez económico y racial. Hitler sostenía que el pueblo elegido (la raza superior) debía disponer de suficiente espacio, definido como una relación entre los recursos (tierras, alimentos) y la población. Su objetivo inmediato eran las tierras de Europa Oriental, pobladas por razas consideradas inferiores.

La política interior totalitaria del Tercer Reich estaba al servicio de su política exterior expansionista. El totalitarismo creaba las bases materiales y psíquicas para la conquista exterior y, al mismo tiempo, los grandes éxitos y la conciencia de la "misión" de la raza distraerían a la población de la represión interna.

Hitler expresó desde un principio su voluntad de rearme a Alemania. Realizado primero en secreto, se hizo público después de 1935 y fue tolerado por las naciones europeas que estaban más preocupadas por el avance del comunismo que el nazismo. La política inglesa y francesa fue la del "apaciguamiento", que consistía en conceder a Hitler aquello que reclamaba y firmar nuevos pactos, apostando con esto a mantener a los nazis bajo control.

Ejércitos mayores y mejores entrenados, producción de barcos de guerra, aviones, tanques y municiones, e investigación de nuevos tipos de armamento, absorbieron crecientes recursos estatales. Por otro lado, el rearme permitió llegar al pleno empleo y dejar atrás la crisis de 1929. Esto reactivó la economía alemana y trajo un nuevo prestigio al reich.

En 1936, las fuerzas militares alemanas reocuparon sorpresivamente Renania. Desde ese momento y hasta 1939, la táctica consistió en ataques justificados por el derecho alemán al Lebensraum, seguido por nuevas promesas de paz.

Al episodio de Renania le siguió la intervención en la guerra civil española y la anexión de Austria en 1938. La semidictadura austríaca intentó en vano impedir la campaña de anexión de los nacionalistas austríacos y dejó finalmente el poder a los alemanes en 1938. Un plebiscito a favor de la "Gran Alemania" confirmó luego la Unión.

El siguiente objetivo fue Checoslovaquia, donde un conflicto con la minoría alemana de los Sudetes le sirvió de excusa para la anexión de la región en 1938. Inglaterra y Francia accedieron a estas pretensiones alemanas por medio de los Acuerdos de Múnich y Chescolovaquia debió ceder. Pero Hitler invadió el resto de Checoslovaquia en 1939. Esto puso de manifiesto su verdadera intención y el fracaso de la política de "apaciguamiento" de Inglaterra y Francia. Cuando, tras firmar un pacto de no agresión con la Unión de Repúblicas Socialistas Soviéticas (URSS), Hitler se lanzó en septiembre de 1939 a invadir Polonia, Francia e Inglaterra le declararon la guerra. Así comenzaba la Segunda Guerra Mundial.

Ver: Cronología de la Segunda Guerra Mundial

Claves de la ideología nacionalsocialista temprana

Anticomunismo y, en general, oposición a toda forma de ideología marxista. Racismo

o Especialmente el antisemitismo.o Creación de la Herrenrasse por el Lebensborn (un departamento del Tercer

Reich)o Antieslavismo (al menos hasta la II Guerra Mundial).o Creencia de algunos ideólogos en la superioridad de la raza aria, alemana y

nórdica, aunque también de la raza blanca europea. Eutanasia y eugenesia buscando la supuesta "higiene racial" Negación de la democracia, con la consiguiente prohibición de la existencia de

partidos políticos, sindicatos.

Führerprinzip /creencia en el líder (Responsibilidad ascendente y autoridad descendente).

Fuerte exhibición de la cultura local. Regeneración del arte. Amor a la Naturaleza y creación de reservas naturales y leyes de protección de la

Naturaleza. Darwinismo social Defensa de Sangre y Tierra (en alemán: "Blut und Boden" - idea representada por

los colores rojo y negro de la bandera nazi) "Lebensraumpolitik", "Lebensraum im Osten" (Creación de más espacio vital para

los alemanes en el Este de Europa). Relación con el fascismo italiano de Benito Mussolini y el español de Francisco

Franco. Creación del Frente de Trabajo, que aglutinaba a los trabajadores de Alemania para

un mejor entendimiento de los problemas de estos. Proyecto "Belleza en el trabajo" para mejorar las condiciones laborales de los

obreros. Creación de la "Ayuda de Invierno" para acabar con el hambre y la penosa situación

de muchos alemanes antes del Reich. Grandes actos de masas para fomentar el espíritu colectivo. Era voluntario, a partir de los 10 y hasta los 17, ser miembro de las Juventudes

Hitlerianas donde se realizaban proyectos juveniles y lucrativos.

El nazismo en la actualidad

Tras la Segunda Guerra Mundial, continuó inspirando a los movimientos neonazis.

En muchos países, entre ellos la Alemania actual, está prohibido hacer apología del nazismo y hay leyes estrictas en contra del nazismo, que es considerado un delito; también está prohibido hacer apología del Holocausto o negar su existencia, práctica conocida como negacionismo.

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Großdeutsches ReichGreater German Reich

↓ 1933–1945 ↓

Flag National Insignia

MottoEin Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer

"One People, one Reich, one Leader"

AnthemDas Lied der Deutschen(official)

First stanza ofDas Lied der Deutschen

followed byHorst-Wessel-Lied

Großdeutsches Reich

Capital Berlin

Language(s) German

Government Totalitarian dictatorship , Single-party fascist republic

President

 - 1933–1934 Paul von Hindenburg

 - 1934–1945 Adolf Hitler1

 - 1945 Karl Dönitz

Chancellor

 - 1933–1945 Adolf Hitler

 - 1945 Joseph Goebbels

 - 1945 Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk2

Legislature Reichstag

 - State council Reichsrat

Historical era Interwar period/WWII

 - Machtergreifung [1]

30 January 1933

 - Gleichschaltung 27 February 1933

 - Anschluss 13 March 1938

 - World War II 1 September 1939

 - Death of Adolf Hitler

30 April 1945

 - German Instrument of Surrender

7/8 May 1945

Area

 - 1941 (Großdeutschland) [2]

696,265 km2 (268,829 sq mi)

Population

 - 1941 (Großdeutschland) est.

90,030,775 

     Density 129.3 /km2  (334.9 /sq mi)

Currency Reichsmark (ℛℳ)

Preceded by Succeeded byWeimar RepublicSaar (League of Nations)First Austrian RepublicCzechoslovak RepublicKlaipėda RegionFree City of DanzigSecond Polish RepublicKingdom of ItalyEupen-

Flensburg Government

Allied-occupied Germany

Allied-occupied Austria

Third Republic of

CzechoslovakiaRepublic of

PolandAlsace-Lorraine

Eupen-Malmedy

LuxembourgItalian Social

Republic

MalmedyLuxembourgAlsace-LorraineDrava Banovina

Kaliningrad Oblast

Saar protectorateDemocratic

Federal Yugoslavia

Elten and Selfkant

Today part of  Austria Belarus Belgium Czech Republic France Germany Italy Lithuania Luxembourg Netherlands Poland Russia Slovenia Ukraine

1: Adolf Hitler styled himself Führer und Reichskanzler.[3]

2: Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk used the title of Leading Minister.

Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, is the common name for the country of Germany while governed by Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) from 1933 to 1945. Third Reich (German: Drittes Reich) denotes the Nazi state as a historical successor to the medieval Holy Roman Empire (962–1806) and to the modern German Empire (1871–1918). Nazi Germany had two official names, the Deutsches Reich (German Reich), from 1933 to 1943, when it became Großdeutsches Reich (Greater German Reich).

On 30 January 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany. Although he initially headed a coalition government, he quickly eliminated his government partners. At this time the German national borders still were those established in the peace Treaty of Versailles (1919), between Germany and the Allied Powers (United Kingdom, France, the United States, Italy, Japanet alii.) at the end of the First World War (1914–18); to the north, Germany was bounded by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east, it was divided into two and bordered Lithuania, the Free City of Danzig, Poland, and Czechoslovakia; to the south, it bordered Austria and Switzerland, and to the west, it touched France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, the Rhineland, and the Saarland.

These borders changed after Germany regained control of the Rhineland, Saarland and the Memelland and annexed Austria, the Sudetenland and Bohemia and Moravia. Germany expanded into Greater Germany during the Second World War, which began in 1939 after Germany invaded Poland, triggering the United Kingdom and France to declare war on Germany.

During the war, Germany conquered and occupied most of Europe and Northern Africa. The Nazis persecuted and killed millions of Jews, Romani people and others in the Holocaust Final Solution . Despite its Axis alliance with other nations, mainly Italy and Japan, by 8 May 1945 Germany had been defeated by the Allied Powers, and was occupied by the Soviet Union, US, UK and France.

Contents

[hide]

1 History o 1.1 Consolidation of power o 1.2 World War II

1.2.1 Conquest of Europe 1.2.2 Persecution and extermination campaigns 1.2.3 Allied victory 1.2.4 Capitulation of German forces

o 1.3 The Fall of the Third Reich 2 Geography

o 2.1 Administration o 2.2 Regions and protectorates o 2.3 The Greater Germanic Reich o 2.4 Post-war changes

3 Economy 4 Politics

o 4.1 Government 4.1.1 Cabinet and national authorities 4.1.2 Reich offices 4.1.3 Reich ministries

o 4.2 State ideology o 4.3 Foreign relations

5 Law 6 Military 7 Racial policy 8 Social Policy

o 8.1 Education o 8.2 Social Welfare o 8.3 Health o 8.4 Women's rights o 8.5 Environmentalism

o 8.6 Animal protection policy 9 Culture

o 9.1 Cinema and media o 9.2 Religion o 9.3 Sports

10 See also 11 References 12 Further reading 13 External links

[edit] History

Main article: History of Germany

Nazi Germany arose in the wake of the national shame, embarrassment, anger, and resentment resulting from the Treaty of Versailles (1919),[4] that dictated, to the vanquished Germans, responsibility for:

Germany's acceptance of and admission to sole responsibility for causing World War I[5]

The permanent loss of various territories and the demilitarization of other German territory[6]

The payment by Germany of heavy reparations, in money and in kind, such payments being justified in the Allied view by the War Guilt clause[7]

Unilateral German disarmament and severe military restrictions[8]

Other conditions fostering the rise of the Third Reich include nationalism and Pan-Germanism, civil unrest attributed to Marxist groups, the global Great Depression of the 1930s (consequent to the Wall Street Crash of 1929), hyperinflation, the reaction against the counter-traditionalism and liberalism of the Weimar Republic, and the rise of communism in Germany, i.e. the growth of the KPD (Communist Party of Germany). Many voters, seeking an outlet for their frustrations, and an expression for their repudiation of parliamentary democracy, which appeared incapable of keeping a government in power for more than a few months, began supporting far right-wing and far left-wing political parties, opting for political extremists such as the Nazi Party, (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, NSDAP, National Socialist German Workers' Party)[9]

Adolf Hitler, Chancellor of Germany, January 1933.

The Nazis promised strong, authoritarian government in lieu of effete parliamentary republicanism, civil peace, radical economic policy (including full employment), restored national pride (principally by repudiating the Versailles Treaty), and racial cleansing, partly implemented via the active suppression of Jews and Marxists, all in name of national unity and solidarity, rather than the partisan divisions of democracy, and the social class divisiveness of Marxism. The Nazis promised national and cultural renewal based upon Völkisch movement traditionalism , and proposed rearmament, repudiation of reparations, and reclamation of territory lost to the Treaty of Versailles.

The Nazi Party claimed that through the Treaty, the Weimar Republic’s liberal democracy, the traitorous “November criminals” had surrendered Germany's national pride, by the inspiration and conniving of the Jews, whose goal was national subversion and the poisoning of the German blood.[5] To establish that interpretation of recent German history, the Nazi propaganda effectively used the Dolchstoßlegende (“Dagger-stab in the Back Legend”) explaining the German military failure.

From 1925 to the 1930s, the German government evolved from a democracy to a de facto conservative–nationalist authoritarian state under war hero-President Paul von Hindenburg, who disliked the liberal democracy of the Weimar Republic, and wanted to make Germany into an authoritarian state.[10] The natural ally for establishing authoritarianism was the German National People's Party (Deutschnationale Volkspartei, DNVP), "the Nationalists", but, after 1929, with the German economy floundering, more radical and younger nationalists were attracted to the revolutionary nature of the National Socialist Party, to challenge the rising popular support for communism. Moreover, the middle-class political parties lost support as the voters aggregated to the left- and right- wings of the German political spectrum, thus making majority government, in a parliamentary system, even more difficult.

In the federal election of 1928, when the economy had improved after the hyperinflation of the 1922–23 period, the Nazis won only 12 seats. Two years later, in the federal election of 1930, months after the US stock market crash, the Nazi Party won 107 seats, progressing

from ninth-rated splinter group to second-largest parliamentary party in the Reichstag. After the federal election of 1932, the Nazis were the largest party in the Reichstag, holding 230 seats.[11] President Hindenburg was reluctant to confer substantial executive power to Adolf Hitler, but former chancellor Franz von Papen and Hitler concorded an NSDAP–DNVP party alliance that would allow Hitler’s chancellorship, subject to traditional-conservative control, for President Hindenburg to develop an authoritarian state. In the event, Hitler consistently demanded to be appointed chancellor, in exchange for Hindenburg’s receiving any Nazi Party support of the cabinets appointed under his authority.

On 30 January 1933, President Paul von Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Germany, after General Kurt von Schleicher’s failure to form a viable government (see Machtergreifung). Hitler pressured Hindenburg through his son Oskar von Hindenburg, and via intrigue by former Chancellor Franz von Papen, former leader of the Catholic Centre Party.[citation needed] By becoming the Vice Chancellor and keeping the Nazis a cabinet minority, von Papen expected to be able to control Hitler. Although the Nazis had won the greatest share of the popular vote in the two Reichstag general elections of 1932, they had no majority of their own, not even with the NSDAP–DNVP alliance that started governing in 1933 by Presidential Decree, per Article 48 of the 1919 Weimar Constitution.[12]

The National Socialist treatment of the Jews in the early months of 1933 marked the first step in a longer-term process of removing them from German society.[13] This plan was at the core of Adolf Hitler's "cultural revolution".[13]

[edit] Consolidation of power

The new government quickly installed a totalitarian dictatorship to Germany with legal measures establishing a co-ordinated central government, (see Gleichschaltung). On the night of 27 February 1933, the Reichstag building was set afire, and the Dutch council communist Marinus van der Lubbe was found inside; he was arrested, charged with arson, tried, and then decapitated. The fire immediately provoked the response of thousands of anarchists, socialists, and communists throughout the Reich; describing said free-speech exercises as insurrection, the Nazis imprisoned many to Dachau concentration camp. The public worried that the fire had been a signal meant to initiate communist revolution in Germany, as in 1919, so the Nazis exploited the arson with the Reichstag Fire Decree (27 February 1933), rescinding most German civil liberties, including habeas corpus, to so suppress their opponents.

In March 1933, with the Enabling Act, voted 444–94 (the remaining Social Democrats), the Reichstag conferred dictatorial (decree) powers to Chancellor Adolf Hitler; four years of political power authorizing him to deviate from the Weimar Constitution. Forthwith, throughout 1934, the Nazi Party ruthlessly eliminated all political opposition; the Enabling Act already had banned the Communists (KPD), the Social Democrats (SPD) were banned in June, despite appeasing Hitler, and, in the June–July period, the Nationalists (DNVP), the People's Party (DVP), and the German State Party (DStP) were like-wise obliged to disband. Moreover, at the urging of Franz von Papen, the remaining Catholic Centre Party,

disbanded on 5 July 1933 after obtaining Nazi guarantees for Catholic religious education and youth groups. On 14 July 1933, Germany officially became a single-party state, banning the founding of new parties.

Coat of arms of the Weimar Republic, 1919–33, and Nazi Germany, 1933-1935

Flag of the Weimar Republic, 1919–33

Flag of Nazi Germany, used jointly with the swastika flag, 1933–35

Sole national flag of Nazi Germany, 1935–45

In establishing the Dritte Reich, the Nazi régime abolished the Weimar Republic symbols, including the black-red-gold tricolour flag, and adopted new and old imperial symbolism representing the dual nature of Germany’s third empire. The previous, imperial black-white-red tricolour, mostly disused by the Weimar Republic, was restored as one of Germany's two, official, national flags; the second was the swastika flag of the Nazi party, which became the sole national German flag in 1935. The national anthem remained Deutschland über Alles (aka the Deutschlandlied, "Song of Germany"), but only the first stanza was sung, immediately followed by the Nazi anthem Horst-Wessel-Lied ("Horst Wessel Song"), accompanied by the Hitler salute.

On 30 January 1934, Reich President and Chancellor Hitler formally centralised government power to himself with the Gesetz über den Neuaufbau des Reichs (Act to rebuild the Reich), by disbanding Länder (federal state) parliaments, and transferring states’ rights and administration to the Berlin central government. The centralization began soon after the March 1933 Enabling Act promulgation, when state governments were replaced with Reichsstatthalter (Reich governors). Local government also was deposed; Reich governors appointed mayors of cities and towns with populaces of fewer than 100,000; the Interior Minister appointed the mayors of cities with populaces greater than 100,000; and, in the cases of Berlin and Hamburg (and Vienna after the Anschluss Österreichs in 1938), President and Chancellor Adolf Hitler had personal discretion to appoint their mayors.

By spring of 1934, only the Reichswehr remained independent of government control; traditionally, it was separate from the national government, a discrete political entity. The Nazi paramilitary Sturmabteilung (SA, "Storm Detachment") had expected to assume command of the German military; the Reichswehr opposed SA Leader Ernst Röhm’s ambition to subsume the Reichswehr to the SA. Moreover, Röhm also aimed to launch the "socialist revolution" to complement the "nationalist revolution" occurred with the political ascendancy of Adolf Hitler to German government. Röhm and the Sturmabteilung leaders wanted the regime to fulfill its campaign promise of enacting socialist legislation for Aryan Germans.

At the risk of appearing to talk nonsense, I tell you that the Nazi movement will go on for 1,000 years! . . . Don’t forget how people laughed at me, 15 years ago, when I declared that one day I would govern Germany. They laugh now, just as foolishly, when I declare that I shall remain in power!—Adolf Hitler to a British correspondent in Berlin, June 1934 , [14]

Possessing only virtual absolute power without the Reichswehr, and wanting to preserve good relations with them, and certain politicians and industrialists (weary of SA political violence), Hitler ordered the Schutzstaffel (SS) and the Gestapo to assassinate his political enemies both in and outside the Nazi Party with the "Night of the Long Knives". The purges of Ernst Röhm, his SA cohort, the Strasserist, left-wing Nazis, and other political enemies lasted from 30 June to 2 July 1934.

March at Reichsparteitag, Nürnberg, 1935.

Upon the death of Paul von Hindenburg, on 2 August 1934, the Nazi-controlled Reichstag consolidated the offices of Reichspräsident (Reich President) and Reichskanzler (Reich Chancellor), and reinstalled Adolf Hitler as Führer und Reichskanzler (Leader and Reich Chancellor). Until Hindenburg’s death, the Reichswehr did not follow Hitler, partly because the (multi-million-man) Sturmabteilung was larger than the German Army (limited to 100,000 soldiers by the Treaty of Versailles), and because the SA leaders sought to first subsume the Reichswehr to the SA, and then launch the Nazi socialist revolution. The assassination of Ernst Röhm and the SA leaders, fixed the Reichswehr’s position as the sole armed forces of the Reich, and the Führer’s imperial expansion promises guaranteed him military loyalty. Hindenburg’s death facilitated changing the German soldiers’ oath of allegiance from the Reich of the German Constitution to personal fealty to Adolf Hitler, the Führer of Germany.[15]

In the event, the Nazis ended the official NSDAP–DNVP government alliance, and began introducing Nazism and Nazi symbolism to public and private German life; textbooks were revised, or re-written to promote the Pan-German racist doctrine of Großdeutschland (Greater Germany) to be established by the Nazi Herrenvolk; teachers who opposed curricular Nazification were dismissed. Furthermore, to coerce popular obedience to the state, the Nazis established the Gestapo secret state police—independent of civil authority. The Gestapo controlled the German populace with some 100,000 spies and informers, thereby were aware of anti-Nazi criticism and dissent.

Happy with Nazi prosperity, most Germans remained silently obedient,[original research?]

[when?]while political opponents, especially the Communists, Marxists, and international socialists were imprisoned; "between 1933 and 1945, more than 3 million Germans had been in concentration camps, or prison, for political reasons".[16][17][18] "Tens of thousands of Germans were killed for one or another form of resistance. Between 1933 and 1945, Sondergerichte (Nazi "special courts") killed 12,000 Germans, courts martial killed 25,000 German soldiers, and civil justice killed 40,000 Germans. Many of these Germans were part of the government, civil, or military service, a circumstance which enabled them to

engage in subversion and conspiracy, while involved, marginally or significantly, in the government’s policies."[19]

[edit] World War II

See also: European Theatre of World War II and History of Germany during World War II

German and Axis allies' conquests (in blue) in Europe during World War II

[edit] Conquest of Europe

The "Danzig crisis" peaked in early 1939, around the time that reports of controversy in the Free City of Danzig increased, the United Kingdom "guaranteed" to defend Poland's territorial integrity and the Poles rejected a series of offers by Nazi Germany regarding both the Free City of Danzig and the Polish Corridor. Then, the Germans broke off diplomatic relations. Hitler had learned that the Soviet Union was willing to sign a non-aggression pact with Germany and would support an attack on Poland. Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939 and two days later, the United Kingdom and France declared war on Germany. World War II was underway, but Poland fell quickly, especially after the Soviets attacked Poland on 17 September. The United Kingdom proceeded to bomb Wilhelmshaven, Cuxhaven,[20] Heligoland [21] and other areas. Still, aside from battles at sea, no other activity occurred. Thus, the war became known as "the Phony War".

The year 1940 began with little more than the UK dropping propaganda leaflets over Prague and Vienna [22] but a German attack on the British High Seas fleet was followed by the British bombing the port city of Sylt.[23] After the Altmark Incident off the coast of Norway and the discovery of the United Kingdom's plans to encircle Germany, Hitler sent troops into Denmark and Norway. This safeguarded iron ore supplies from Sweden through coastal waters. Shortly thereafter, the British and French landed in Mid- and North Norway, but the Germans de facto defeated these forces in the ensuing Norwegian campaign.

British fisherman giving a hand to an Allied soldier while a Stuka's bomb explodes a few metres ahead. More than 300,000 troops were evacuated from Dunkirk and the surrounding beaches in May and June 1940.

In May 1940, the Phony War ended. Against the will of his advisors, Hitler ordered an attack on France through the Low Countries. The Battle of France ended with an overwhelming German victory. However, with the British refusing Hitler's offer of peace, the war continued.[24][25] Germany and Britain continued to fight at sea and in the air. However, on 24 August, two off-course German bombers accidentally bombed London – against Hitler's orders, changing the course of the war.[26] In response to the attack, the British bombed Berlin, which sent Hitler into a rage. The German leader ordered attacks on British cities, and the UK was bombed heavily during The Blitz.[27] This change in targeting priority interfered with the Luftwaffe's objective of achieving the air superiority over Britain necessary for an invasion and allowed British air defenses to rebuild their strength and continue the fight.

Hitler hoped to break British morale and win peace. However, the British refused to back down; eventually, Hitler called off the Battle of Britain strategic bombing campaign in favor of the long-planned invasion of the Soviet Union: Operation Barbarossa. Germany and its allies invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941. On the eve of the invasion, Hitler's former deputy, Rudolf Hess, attempted to negotiate terms of peace with the United Kingdom in an unofficial private meeting after crash-landing in Scotland. By contrast, Hitler had hoped that rapid success in the Soviet Union would bring Britain to the negotiating table.

Operation Barbarossa was supposed to begin earlier than it did; however, failed Italian ventures in North Africa and the Balkans concerned Hitler. In February 1941, the German Afrika Korps was sent to Libya to aid the Italians and hold the British Commonwealth forces from British-held Egypt. As the North African Campaign continued, in spite of orders to remain on the defensive, the Afrika Korps regained lost Italian territory, pushed the British back across the desert and advanced into Egypt. In April, the Germans launched the invasion of Yugoslavia to aid friendly forces and restore order in the midst of what was believed to be a British-supported coup. This was followed by the Battle of Greece, again to bail out the Italians, and the Battle of Crete. Because of the diversions in North Africa and the Balkans, the Germans were not able to launch Barbarossa until late in June. Moreover, men and material were diverted to create the "fortified Europe" that Hitler wanted before Germany focused its attention on the East.

Nevertheless, Barbarossa began with great success. Only Hitler worried that the German Army and its allies were not advancing into the Soviet Union fast enough. By December 1941, the Germans and their allies were at the gates of Moscow; to the north, troops had reached Leningrad and surrounded the city.[28] Meanwhile, Germany and her allies controlled almost all of mainland Europe, with the exception of neutral Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Vatican City and Monaco.

Supply trucks on their way to Leningrad on the Road of Life. In 1942 alone, the Siege of Leningrad claimed some 650,000 lives.

On 11 December 1941, four days after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Nazi Germany declared war on the United States. Not only was this a chance for Germany to strengthen its ties with Japan, but after months of anti-German hysteria in the American media and Lend-Lease aid to Britain, the leaking of Rainbow Five and the foreboding content of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Pearl Harbor speech made it clear to Hitler that the US could not be kept neutral. Moreover, Germany's policy of appeasement towards the US, designed to keep the US out of the war, was a burden to Germany's war effort. Germany had refrained from attacking American convoys, even if they were bound for the United Kingdom or the Soviet Union. By contrast, after Germany declared war on the US, the German navy began unrestricted submarine warfare, using U-Boats to attack ships without warning.

The goal of Germany's navy, the Kriegsmarine, was to cut off Britain's supply line. Under these circumstances, one of the most famous naval battles in history took place, with the German battleship   Bismarck , Germany's largest and most powerful warship, attempting to break out into the Atlantic and raid supply ships heading for Britain. Bismarck was sunk – but not before sending Britain's largest warship, the battlecruiser HMS   Hood , to the depths of the ocean. German U-Boats were more successful than surface raiders like Bismarck. However, Germany failed to make submarine production a top priority early on and by the time it did, the British and their allies were developing the technology and strategies to neutralize it. Furthermore, in spite of the submarines' early success in 1941 and 1942, material shortages in Britain failed to fall to their World War I levels. The Allied victory in the Battle of the Atlantic was achieved at a huge cost: between 1939 and 1945, 3,500 Allied ships were sunk (gross tonnage 14.5 million) at a cost of 783 German U-Boats.[29]

[edit] Persecution and extermination campaigns

The persecution of racial, ethnic, and social minorities and "undesirables" continued in Germany and the occupied countries. From 1941, Jews were required to wear a yellow badge in public; most were kept in walled ghettos, where they remained isolated from the general populace. In January 1942, the Wannsee Conference, headed by Reinhard

Heydrich(direct subordinate of SS Chief Heinrich Himmler), redacted the plans for the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question" (Endlösung der Judenfrage). From then until the end of the war some six million Jews and many others, including homosexuals, Slavs, and political prisoners, were systematically killed. In addition, more than ten million people were put into forced labour. In 1978, the term Holocaust came into general use to describe this genocide in English. It is called the Shoah in Hebrew. Thousands were shipped daily to concentration- and extermination camps.[citation needed]

Parallel to the Holocaust, the Nazis executed the Generalplan Ost (General Plan East) for the conquest, ethnic cleansing, and exploitation of the populaces of the captured Soviet and Polish territories; some 13,7 million Soviet civilians (including Jews & 2.0 million deaths in the annexed territories which are also included with Poland's war dead).[30]and 2.5 million non-Jewish Polish citizens [31] died as a result of warfare, genocide, reprisals, forced labor or famine. The Nazis' aggressive war for Lebensraum (Living space) in eastern Europe was waged “to defend Western Civilization against the Bolshevism of subhumans”. Estimates indicate that, had the Nazis won the war and established the New Order, they would have deported some 51 million Slavs from Central and Eastern Europe to western Siberia.[32] Because of the atrocities suffered under Joseph Stalin, many Ukrainians, Balts, and other oppressed nationalities, fought for the Nazis. The populaces of Nazi-occupied Soviet Russia who racially qualified as of the Aryan race, or had no immediate Jewish ancestors, were not persecuted, and often were recruited to the Waffen Schutzstaffel (Waffen-SS) divisions; eventually, the Nazi regime meant to Germanize the racially acceptable volk of occupied eastern Europe.

[edit] Allied victory

Field Marshal Rommel inspecting the Free India Legion, France, 1944

In early 1942, the Red Army counter-attacked, and, by winter’s end, the Wehrmacht were no longer immediately outside Moscow. Yet the Germans and their fascist allies held a strong line, and, in the spring, launched a major attack against the petroleum fields of the Caucasus and the Volga River in south Russia. That established the conditions for the definitive Nazi–Soviet confrontation, the Battle of Stalingrad (17 July 1942 – 2 February 1943), wherein Germany and its allies were defeated. After winning a major tank battle at Kursk-Orel in July 1943, the Red Army progressed west, to Germany; henceforth, the Wehrmacht and allies remained on the defensive.

US soldiers cross the Franco–German Siegfried Line

In Libya, the Afrika Korps failed to break through the line at First Battle of El Alamein (1–27 July 1942), having suffered repercussions from the Battle of Stalingrad. Beginning in 1942, Allied bombing of Germany increased, razing, among others, the cities of Hamburg, Cologne and Dresden, killing thousands of civilians, and causing hardship for the survivors.[33] Contemporary estimates of Nazi German military dead is 5.5 million.[34]

In November 1942, the Wehrmacht and the Italian Army retreated to Tunisia, where they fought the Americans and the British in the Tunisia Campaign (17 November 1942 – 13 May 1943). The Allies invaded Sicily and Italy next, but met fierce resistance, particularly at Anzio(22 January 1944 – 5 June 1944) and Cassino (17 January 1944 – 18 May 1944), and the campaign continued from mid-1943 to nearly the end of the war. In June 1944, US and UK forces established the western front with the D-Day (6 June 1944) landings in Normandy, France. After the successful Operation Bagration (22 June – 19 August 1944), the Red Army was in Poland; and in East Prussia, West Prussia, and Silesia the German populaces fled en masse, fearing Communist persecution, atrocity, and death.

Meanwhile, in the underground Führerbunker, Adolf Hitler, leader of Nazi Germany became psychologically isolated and detached, exhibiting the signs of mental illness;[citation

needed] in meeting with military commanders, he began considering suicide, should Germany lose the war. In the event, the Red Army surrounded Berlin, leaving it incommunicado from Greater Germany; despite the losses of armies and lands, the Führer neither relinquished power, nor surrendered. Moreover, without communications from Berlin, Hermann Göring sent Hitler an ultimatum, threatening to assume command of Nazi Germany in April if he received no reply—which he would interpret as Hitler incapacitated. Upon receiving the ultimatum, the Führer ordered Göring's immediate arrest, and despatched an aeroplane delivering the reply to Göring in Bavaria. Later, in northern Germany, Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler began communicating with the Western Allies about peace negotiations; Hitler responded violently, ordering the Reichsführer’s arrest and execution.

In spring of 1945, the Red Army was at Berlin; US and UK forces had conquered most of west Germany and met the Red Army at Torgau on the Elbe on 26 April 1945. With Berlin under siege, Hitler and key Nazi staff lived in the armoured, underground Führerbunker while aboveground, in the Battle of Berlin (16 April 1945 – 2 May 1945) the Red

Armyfought remnant German army forces, Hitler Youth, and the Waffen-SS, for control of the ruined capital city of Nazi Germany.

[edit] Capitulation of German forces

On 30 April 1945, as the Battle for Berlin raged and the city was being overrun by Soviet forces, Hitler committed suicide in his underground bunker. Two days later, on 2 May 1945, German General Helmuth Weidling unconditionally surrendered Berlin to the Soviet General Vasily Chuikov.

Hitler was succeeded by Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz as Reich's President and Dr. Joseph Goebbels as Reich Chancellor. No one was to replace Hitler as the Führer, a position Hitler abolished in his will. However, Goebbels committed suicide in the Führerbunker a day after assuming office. The caretaker government Dönitz established near the Danish border unsuccessfully sought a separate peace with the Western Allies. On 4–8 May 1945 most of the remaining German armed forces throughout Europe surrendered unconditionally (German Instrument of Surrender, 1945). This was the end of World War II in Europe.

The war was the largest and most destructive in human history, with 60 million dead across the world,[35] including approximately 6 million Jews who perished during the Holocaust,[36]

3 million Soviet prisoners of war and at least 3 million civilian non-Jewish victims of Nazi crimes.[37][38] The Soviet Union lost around 27 million people during the war,[39] about half of all World War II casualties.[40] One of every four Soviet citizens was killed or wounded in that war.[41] Since a high proportion of those killed were young men, the postwar Soviet population was 45 to 50 million smaller than post–1939 projections would have led one to expect.[42] Towards the end of the war, Europe had more than 40 million refugees,[43] the European economy had collapsed, and 70% of the European industrial infrastructure was destroyed.[44]

With the creation of the Allied Control Council on 5 July 1945, the four Allied powers "assume[d] supreme authority with respect to Germany" (Declaration Regarding the Defeat of Germany, U.S. Department of State, Treaties and Other International Acts Series, No. 1520).

[edit] The Fall of the Third Reich

Main articles: Effects of World War II, Consequences of German Nazism, Nuremberg Trials, Expulsion of Germans after World War II, and Industrial plans for Germany

The Potsdam Conference in August 1945 created arrangements and an outline for a new government for the post-war Germany as well as war reparations and resettlement. All German annexations in Europe after 1937, such as the Sudetenland, were reversed, and in addition subject to a peace settlement Germany's eastern border was shifted westwards to the Oder-Neisse line, effectively reducing Germany in size by approximately 25% compared to its 1937 border. The territories east of the new border comprised East Prussia, Silesia, West Prussia, two-thirds of Pomerania and parts of Brandenburg. Much of these

areas were agricultural, with the exception of Upper Silesia, which was the second-largest center of German heavy industry. Many smaller and large cities such as Stettin, Königsberg, Breslau, Elbing and Danzig were cleansed of their German populations and taken from Germany as well.[citation needed]

France took control of a large part of Germany's remaining coal deposits. Virtually all Germans in Central Europe outside of the new eastern borders of Germany and Austria were subsequently, over a period of several years, expelled, affecting about 17 million ethnic Germans. Most casualty estimates of this expulsion range between one to two million dead. The French, US and British occupation zones later became West Germany (the Federal Republic of Germany), while the Soviet zone became the communist East Germany (the German Democratic Republic, excluding sections of Berlin).[citation needed]

The initial repressive occupation policy in Germany by the Western Allies was reversed after a few years when the Cold War made the Germans important as allies against communism. West Germany recovered economically by the 1960s, in what was called the economic miracle (German term Wirtschaftswunder), mainly due to the currency reform of 1948 which replaced the Reichsmark with the Deutsche Mark as legal tender, halting rampant inflation, but also to a minor degree helped by economic aid (in the form of loans) through the Marshall Plan which was extended to also include West Germany. West German recovery was upheld thanks to fiscal policy and intense labour, eventually leading to the influx of Gastarbeiter ("guest workers").[citation needed]

The Allied dismantling of West German industry was finally halted in 1951, and in 1952 West Germany joined the European Coal and Steel Community. In 1955 the military occupation of West Germany was ended. East Germany recovered at a slower pace under communism until 1990, due to reparations paid to the Soviet Union and the effects of the centrally planned economy. Germany regained full sovereignty in 1991.

The US Army blows up the swastika atop the Nazi Party rally ground (Zeppelin field) in Nuremberg.

[citation needed]

After the war, surviving Nazi leaders were put on trial by an Allied tribunal at Nuremberg for crimes against humanity. A minority were sentenced to death and executed, but a number were jailed and then released by the mid-1950s due to poor health and old age, with

the notable exception of Rudolf Hess, who died in Spandau Prison in 1987 while in permanent solitary confinement. In the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, some renewed efforts were made in West Germany to take those who were directly responsible for "crimes against humanity" to court (e.g., Auschwitz trials). However, many of the less prominent leaders continued to live well into the 1980s and 1990s.[citation needed]

The victorious Allies outlawed the Nazi Party, its subsidiary organizations, and most of its symbols and emblems (including the swastika in most manifestations) throughout Germany and Austria; this prohibition remains in force. The end of Nazi Germany also saw the rise in unpopularity of related aggressive manifestations of nationalism in Germany such as Pan-Germanism and the Völkisch movement which had previously been significant political ideas there, and in other parts of Europe, before the Second World War. Those that remain are largely fringe movements. In all non-fascist European countries there were legal purges to punish the members of the former Nazi and Fascist parties. Even there, however, some of the former leaders found ways to accommodate themselves under the new circumstances.[citation needed]

Nuremberg TrialsMain article: Nuremberg Trials

The prosecution’s principal defendant was Hermann Göring (left, first row ), the most important surviving Third Reich official.

Nazi German war crimes and crimes against humanity revived internationalism in Western Europe and the Eastern Bloc, resulting in the establishment of the United Nations (26 June 1945). One of the organization’s first orders of business was establishing war crimes tribunals to try Nazi officials in the Nuremberg Trials, held in the Nazis' (former) political stronghold, Nuremberg, Bavaria. The first, major and trial was the Trial of the Major War Criminals Before the International Military Tribunal (IMT), of 24 key Nazi officials—including Hermann Göring, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Rudolf Hess, Albert Speer, Karl Dönitz, Hans Frank, and Julius Streicher. Many defendants were found guilty, 12 were sentenced to death by hanging. Many of those hanged praised Hitler in their last seconds of life, and a few officials evaded execution. Among them were Göring, who committed suicide by ingesting cyanide; Hess, (a formerly close confidant of Hitler's, sentenced to life in prison and stayed in Spandau prison until his death in 1987); Speer, (the state architect and later armaments minister who served 20 years despite his use of slave labour); Konstantin von Neurath, (a Third Reich cabinet minister who was in office before the advent of the Nazi

regime); and another minister who also served in the pre-Nazi government, the economist Hjalmar Schacht. Nonetheless, some have accused the Nuremberg Trials of being “victor’s justice”, because no like action was taken to punish the war crimes and crimes against humanity of the victors.[45][46]

[edit] Geography

See also: Administrative divisions of Nazi Germany, Territorial changes of Germany, and Territorial changes of Germany after World War II

Administrative regions of Greater German Reich in 1944.

[edit] Administration

To consolidate Adolf Hitler’s control of Germany, in 1935, the Nazi régime de facto replaced the administration of the Länder (constituent states) with gaus (regional districts) headed by governors answerable to the central Reich government in Berlin. The reorganization politically weakened Prussia, which had historically dominated German politics. Moreover, despite having centralised and assumed the Gau governments, some Nazis still retained leadership title to the different Länder; Hermann Göring was and remained the Reichsstatthalter (Reich state governor) and Minister–President of Prussia until 1945, and Ludwig Siebert remained as Minister–President of Bavaria.

[edit] Regions and protectorates

A 50 Korun note , the currency of the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.

In the years leading to war, in addition to the Weimar Republic proper, the Reich came to include areas with ethnic German populations, such as Austria, the Czechoslovak Sudetenland, and the Lithuanian territory of Memel (the Klaipėda region). Regions

conquered after war’s start, include Eupen-et-Malmédy, Alsace-Lorraine, Danzig, and territories of Poland (Second Polish Republic).

From 1939 to 1945, the Third Reich ruled Bohemia and Moravia as the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, with its own currency; conquered, subjugated, and annexed before the war, like-wise, Czech Silesia was incorporated to the province of Silesia; and Luxembourg was a wartime annexation in 1942. Central Poland and Polish Galicia were governed by the protectorate General Government. Eventually, the Polish people were to be removed, and Poland proper then re-populated with 5 million Germans. By late 1943, Nazi Germany had conquered the Province of Bolzano-Bozen (South Tyrol) and Istria, which had been parts of Austria-Hungary before 1919, and seized Trieste after the (erstwhile Axis Ally) Italian Fascist government capitulated to the Allies.

[edit] The Greater Germanic Reich

Main article: Greater Germanic Reich

A 42-pfennig postal stamp of Adolf Hitler (1944). Germany became the Grossdeutsches Reich in 1943.

Beyond the territories directly annexed into Germany were the Reichskommissariate (Reich Commissariats), administrative regions established in a number of occupied lands that were ruled by Nazi civilian administrators (Reichskommissars). Although outside of the Reich in a legal sense these were intended for eventual incorporation into it, both as sources for Lebensraum and to unite all the Germanic inhabitants of Europe into one nation. Nazi-occupied Soviet Russia included the Reichskommissariat Ostland (encompassing the Baltic states, eastern parts of Poland, and western parts of Belarus) and a Reichskommissariat Ukraine. In northern and western Europe, there were the Reichskommissariat Niederlande (the Netherlands) and the Reichskommissariat Norwegen (Norway). In June 1944 a Franco–Belgian Reichskommissariat derived from the previous Military Administration of Belgium and North France was also established to facilitate the area's intended annexation into Germany. This subsequently happened in December 1944 when it was split into three new Reichsgaue: Flanders, Wallonia, and Brussels of the Greater German Reich. This meant little in reality however as the majority of Belgium had already been liberated by the Allied

forces at that point, although the Wehrmacht did make small gains in retaking Wallonia in the Ardennes offensive.

Adolf Hitler and other leading Nazi politicians believed that the non-German Germanic peoples of Europe, such as the Scandinavians, the Dutch, and the Flemish, racially belonged to the superior Aryan Herrenvolk . Hitler announced that he wanted to do away with the "unnatural" division of the Nordic race into many different countries ("kleinstaatengerümpel"). This policy stated that since the union with Austria had transformed Germany into a Greater German Reich (Grossdeutsches Reich), so would its union with the rest of Germanic Europe create a Greater Germanic Reich (Grossgermanisches Reich). The British however were expected to be accorded a higher status then other "Germanic" Europeans (who were to simply be absorbed into the Reich), as partners in the Nazi's New Order rather than subjects. Hitler professed an admiration for the British Empire and its people as proof of Aryan superiority in Mein Kampf.

[edit] Post-war changes

The de facto borders of the Reich changed long before its vanquishment in May 1945; as the Red Army progressed westwards, the colonist German populaces fled to Germany proper, as the Western Allies advanced eastwards, from France. At war’s end, a small strip of land, from Austria to Bohemia and Moravia (and other isolated regions) was the only area not occupied by the Allies. Upon its defeat, some have historians propose that the Reich was in debellation. France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States, established occupation zones. The prewar German lands east of the Oder-Neisse line and Stettin, and environs (nearly 25 per cent of pre-war German territory) were under Polish and Soviet administration, sundered for Polish and Soviet annexation; the Allies expelled the German inhabitants. In 1947, the Allied Control Council disestablished Prussia with Law No. 46 (20 May 1947); per the Potsdam Conference (6 July–2 August 1945), the Prussian lands east of the Oder-Neisse Line were divided and administered by Poland and the Kaliningrad Oblast, pending the final peace treaty Later, by signing the Treaty of Warsaw (1970) and the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany (1990), Germany renounced claims to territories lost during the Second World War (1939–45).[citation

needed]

[edit] Economy

Main article: Economy of Nazi Germany

See also: Forced labour in Germany during World War II, Extermination through labor, Hunger Plan, and Economics_of_fascism#Political_economy_of_Nazi_Germany

In keeping with the political syncretism of fascism, the Nazi war economy was a mixed economy of free-market and central-planning practices; historian Richard Overy reports: “The German economy fell between two stools. It was not enough of a command economy to do what the Soviet system could do; yet it was not capitalist enough to rely, as America did, on the recruitment of private enterprise.”[47]

20 Reichsmark note

When the Nazis assumed German government, their most pressing economic matter was a national unemployment rate of approximately 30 per cent;[48] at the start, Third Reich economic policies were the brainchildren of the economist Dr. Hjalmar Schacht, President of the Reichsbank (1933) and Minister of Economics (1934), who helped Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler implement Nazi redevelopment, reindustrialization, and rearmament of Germany; formerly, he had been Weimar Republic currency commissioner and Reichsbank president.[48] As Economics Minister, Schacht was one of few ministers who took advantage of the administrative freedom allowed by the removal of the Reichsmark from the gold standard—to maintain low interest rates, and high government deficits; the extensive, national public works, reducing the unemployment, were deficit-funded policy.[48] The consequence of Economics Minister Schacht’s administration was the extremely rapid unemployment-rate decline, the greatest of any country during the Great Depression.[48] Eventually, this Keynesian economic policy was supplemented by the increased production demands of warfare, inflating military budgets, and increasing government spending; the 100,000-soldier Reichswehr expanded to millions, and renamed as the Wehrmacht in 1935.[48]

OST-Arbeiter badge

While the strict state intervention into the economy, and the massive rearmament policy, almost led to full employment during the 1930s (statistics didn't include non-citizens or

women), real wages in Germany dropped by roughly 25% between 1933 and 1938.[49] Trade unions were abolished, as well as collective bargaining and the right to strike.[50] The right to quit also disappeared: Labour books were introduced in 1935, and required the consent of the previous employer in order to be hired for another job.[50]

Nazi control of business retained a diminished investment profit-incentive, controlled with economic regulation concording a company’s functioning with the Reich’s national production requirements. Government financing eventually dominated private investment; in the 1933–34 biennium, the proportion of private securities issued diminished from more than 50 per cent of the total, to approximately 10 per cent in the 1935–38 quadrennium. Heavy profit taxes limited self-financing companies, and the largest companies (usually government contractors) mostly were exempted from paying taxes on profits—in practice, however, government control allowed “only the shell of private ownership” in the Third Reich economy.[51]

In 1937, Hermann Göring replaced Schacht as Minister of Economics, and introduced the Four Year Plan that would establish German self-sufficiency for war—within four years—by curtailing foreign importations; fixing wages and prices (violators merited concentration-camp internment); stock dividends were restricted to six per cent on book capital, et cetera. Strategic goals were to be achieved regardless of cost (as in Soviet economics): thus the rapid construction of synthetic-rubber factories, steel mills, automatic textile mills, et cetera.[48]

The Four-Year Plan is discussed in the German-expansion Hossbach Memorandum (5 November 1937) meeting-summary of Hitler and his military and foreign policy leaders planning aggressive war. Nevertheless, when Nazi Germany started the Second World War, in September 1939, the Four Year Plan’s expiry was not until 1940; to control the Reich economy, Economics Minister Göring had established the Office of the Four Year Plan. In 1942, the increased burdens of the war, and the accidental aeroplane-crash death of ReichsministerFritz Todt, placed Albert Speer in economics ministry command; he then established a war economy in Nazi Germany, which required the large-scale employment of forced labourers. To supply the Third Reich economy with slaves, the Nazis abducted some 12 million people, from some 20 European countries; approximately 75 per cent were Eastern European.[52]

[edit] Politics

Main article: Adolf Hitler

Through staffing of most government positions with Nazi Party members, by 1935 the German national government and the Nazi Party had become virtually one and the same. By 1938, through the policy of Gleichschaltung, local and state governments lost all legislative power and answered administratively to Nazi Party leaders, known as Gauleiters, who governed Gaue and Reichsgaue.

[edit] Government

See also: Weimar Constitution#Hitler's subversion of the Weimar Constitution

Nazi Germany was made up of various competing power structures, all trying to gain favor with the Führer, Adolf Hitler. Thus many existing laws were stricken and replaced with interpretations of what Hitler wanted. Any high party/government official could take one of Hitler's comments and turn it into a new law, of which Hitler would casually either approve or disapprove. This became known as "working towards the Führer", as the government was not a coordinated, co-operating body, but a collection of individuals each trying to gain more power and influence through the Führer. This often made government very convoluted and divided, especially with Hitler's vague policy of creating similar posts with overlapping powers and authority. The process allowed the more unscrupulous and ambitious Nazis to get away with implementing the more radical and extreme elements of Hitler's ideology, such as anti-Semitism, and in doing so win political favor. Protected by Goebbels' extremely effective propaganda machine, which portrayed the government as a dedicated, dutiful and efficient outfit, the dog-eat-dog competition and chaotic legislation was allowed to escalate. Historical opinion is divided between "intentionalists", who believe that Hitler created this system as the only means of ensuring both the total loyalty and dedication of his supporters and the impossibility of a conspiracy; and "structuralists", who believe that the system evolved by itself and was a limitation on Hitler's supposedly totalitarian power.

[edit] Cabinet and national authorities

Office of the Reich Chancellery (Hans Lammers) Office of the Party Chancellery (Martin Bormann) Office of the Presidential Chancellery (Otto Meissner) Privy Cabinet Council (Konstantin von Neurath) Chancellery of the Führer (Philip Bouhler)

[edit] Reich offices

Office of the Four-Year Plan (Hermann Göring) Office of the Reich Master Forester (Hermann Göring) Office of the Inspector for Highways Office of the President of the Reich Bank Reich Youth Office Reich Treasury Office General Inspector of the Reich Capital Office of the Councillor for the Capital of the Movement (Munich, Bavaria)

[edit] Reich ministries

Reich Foreign Ministry (Joachim von Ribbentrop) Reich Interior Ministry (Wilhelm Frick, Heinrich Himmler) Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda (Joseph Goebbels) Reich Ministry of Aviation (Hermann Göring) Reich Ministry of Finance (Lutz Schwerin von Krosigk)

Reich Ministry of Justice (Otto Thierack) Reich Economics Ministry (Walther Funk) Reich Ministry for Nutrition and Agriculture (Richard Walther Darré, Herbert

Backe) Reich Labour Ministry (Franz Seldte) Reich Ministry for Science, Education, and Public Instruction (Bernhard Rust) Reich Ministry for Ecclesiastical Affairs (Hanns Kerrl) Reich Transportation Ministry (Julius Dorpmüller) Reich Postal Ministry (Wilhelm Ohnesorge) Reich Ministry for Weapons, Munitions, and Armament (Fritz Todt, Albert Speer) Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories (Alfred Rosenberg) Reich Ministers without Portfolio (Konstantin von Neurath, Hans Frank, Hjalmar

Schacht, Arthur Seyss-Inquart)

[edit] State ideology

Main article: Nazism

National Socialism had some of the key ideological elements of fascism which originally developed in Italy under Benito Mussolini; however, the Nazis never officially declared themselves fascists. Both ideologies involved the political use of militarism, nationalism, anti-communism and paramilitary forces, and both intended to create a dictatorial state.[citation needed] The Nazis, however, were far more racially oriented than the fascists in Italy, Portugal, and Spain. The Nazis were also intent on creating a completely totalitarian state, unlike Italian fascists who while promoting a totalitarian state, allowed a larger degree of private liberties for their citizens. These differences allowed the Italian monarchy to continue to exist and have some official powers. However the Nazis copied much of their symbolism from the Fascists in Italy, such as copying the Roman salute as the Nazi salute, use of mass rallies, both made use of uniformed paramilitaries devoted to the party (the SA in Germany and the Blackshirts in Italy), both Hitler and Mussolini were called the "Leader" (Führer in German, Duce in Italian), both were anti-Communist, both wanted an ideologically driven state, and both advocated a middle-way between capitalism and communism, commonly known as corporatism. The party itself rejected the fascist label, claiming National Socialism was an ideology unique to Germany.

The totalitarian nature of the Nazi party was one of its principal tenets. The Nazis contended that all the great achievements in the past of the German nation and its people were associated with the ideals of National Socialism, even before the ideology officially existed. Propaganda accredited the consolidation of Nazi ideals and successes of the regime to the regime's Führer ("Leader"), Adolf Hitler, who was portrayed as the genius behind the Nazi party's success and Germany's saviour.

To secure their ability to create a totalitarian state, the Nazi party's paramilitary force, the Sturmabteilung (SA) or "Storm Detachment" used acts of violence against leftists, communist, democrats, Jews and other opposition or minority groups. The SA "storm troopers" violently clashed with the Communist Party of Germany (German

Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands – KPD) which created a climate of lawlessness and fear. In the cities, people were anxious over punishment or even death, if they displayed opposition to the Nazis. Given the frustrations of the people (after World War I and during the Great Depression) it was easy for the SA to attract large numbers of alienated (and unemployed) youth and working class people for the party.

The "German problem", as it is often referred to in English scholarship, focuses on the issue of administration of Germanic regions in Northern and Central Europe, an important theme throughout German history.[53] The "logic" of keeping Germany small worked in the favor of its principal economic rivals, and had been a driving force in the recreation of a Polish state.[citation needed] The goal was to create numerous counterweights in order to "balance out Germany's power".

The Nazis endorsed the concept of Großdeutschland, or Greater Germany, and believed that the incorporation of the Germanic people into one nation was a vital step towards their national success.[citation needed] It was the Nazis' passionate support of the Volk concept of Greater Germany that led to Germany's expansion, that gave legitimacy and the support needed for the Third Reich to proceed to conquer long-lost territories with overwhelmingly non-German population like former Prussian gains in Poland that it lost to Russia in the 19th century, or to acquire territories with German population like parts of Austria. The German concept of Lebensraum ("living space") or more specifically its need for an expanding German population was also claimed by the Nazi regime for territorial expansion.

Two important issues were administration of the Polish corridor and Danzig's incorporation into the Reich. As a further extension of racial policy, the Lebensraum program pertained to similar interests; the Nazis determined that Eastern Europe would be settled with ethnic Germans, and the Slavic population who met the Nazi racial standard would be absorbed into the Reich. Those not fitting the racial standard were to be used as cheap labour force or deported eastward.[54]

Racialism and racism were important aspects of society within the Third Reich. The Nazis combined anti-Semitism with anti-Communist ideology, regarding the leftist-internationalist movement—as well as international market capitalism—as the work of "Conspiratorial Jewry". They referred to this so-called movement with terminology such as the "Jewish-Bolshevistic revolution of subhumans".[55] This platform manifested itself in the displacement, internment, and systematic extermination of an estimated 11 million to 12 million people in the midst of World War II, roughly half of them being Jews targeted in what is historically remembered as the Holocaust (Shoah), 3 million ethnic Poles that died as a result of warfare, genocide, reprisals, forced labor or famine,[30] and another 100,000–1,000,000 being Roma, who were murdered in the Porajmos. Other victims of Nazi persecution included communists, various political opponents, social outcasts, homosexuals, freethinkers, religious dissidents such as Jehovah's Witnesses, Christadelphians, the Confessing Church and Freemasons.[56]

[edit] Foreign relations

Foreign relations between Germany and the rest of Europe were riddled with political manuevres and opportunistic decisions. Fearing a second world war, Britain and France sought a policy of appeasement towards Germany, and refused aggressive foreign policies to satisfy the newly empowered Nazis. Hitler aims upon coming to power was threefold; destroy Versailles, re-unite lost German territories under the decrees of Versailles, and Lebensraum. It is said that Hitler wanted Britain as an ally with wars with the USSR, and eventually the USA. Hitler used the Appeasement policies of Britain and France to his opportunistic advantage when he announced in March 1935 that he would conscript men into his army and create the Luftwaffe; both a direct violation of Versailles. His foreign policies were designed to test the nerve of Britain and France so he could see what else he was able to get away with. His other concern was Italy, whom under Mussolini had become a similarly fascist country, but had so much internal civil disruption Hitler wanted a more stable and powerful ally.

Although Germany's relations with Italy improved with creation of the Rome-Berlin Axis, tensions remained high because the Nazis wanted Austria to be incorporated into Germany. Italy was opposed to this, as were France and Britain. In 1938, an Austrian-led Nazi coup took place in Austria and Germany sent in its troops, annexing the country. Italy and Britain no longer had common interests and, as Germany had stopped supporting the German speaking population under Italy's control in Bolzano-Bozen (South Tyrol), Italy began to gravitate towards Germany.

Hitler with (from left to right) Neville Chamberlain, Édouard Daladier, Benito Mussolini, and Galeazzo Ciano pictured before signing the Munich Agreement.

Germany's annexation of the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia in September 1938 came about during talks with British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, in which Hitler, backed by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, demanded that the German territories be ceded. Chamberlain and Hitler came to an agreement when Hitler signed a piece of paper which said that with the annexation of the Sudetenland, Germany would proceed with no further territorial aims. Chamberlain took this to be a success in that it avoided a potential war with Germany. However, the Nazis helped to promote Slovakian dissention and declaring that the country was no more, seized control of the Czech part.

For quite some time, Germany had engaged in informal negotiations with Poland regarding the issue of territorial revision, but after the Munich Agreement and the reacquisition of

Memel, the Nazis became increasingly vocal. Poland refused to allow the annexation of the Free City of Danzig.

Germany and the Soviet Union began talks over planning an invasion of Poland. In August 1939, the Molotov Pact was signed and Germany and the Soviet Union agreed to divide Poland along a mutually agreed set boundary. The invasion was put into effect on 1 September 1939. Last-minute Polish-German diplomatic proceedings failed, and Germany invaded Poland as scheduled. Germany alleged that Polish operatives had attacked German positions, but the result was the outbreak of World War II, as Allied forces refused to accept Germany's claims on Poland and blamed Germany for the conflict.

From 1939-1940, the so-called "Phony War" occurred, as German forces made no further advances but instead, both the Axis and Allies engaged in a propaganda campaign. However in early 1940, Germany began to concern that the British intended to stop trade between Sweden and Germany by bringing Norway into an alliance against Germany, with Norway in Allied hands, the Allies would be dangerously close to German territory. In response, Germany invaded Denmark and Norway ending the Phony War (leapfrogging the British invasion troops bound towards Norway by just 24 hours). After sweeping through the Low Countries and occupying northern France, Germany allowed French nationalist and war hero Philippe Petain to form a fascist regime in southern France known as the "French State" but more commonly referred to as Vichy France named after its capital in Vichy.

On October 23, 1940 Adolf Hitler and Francisco Franco, the dictator of Spain, met in Hendaye to discuss Spain entering the war. Franco asked too much from Hitler. Even though Spain would remain neutral during WWII Spain and Nazi Germany would remain allies during the war. Spain would send Volunteer soldiers to fight for Germany but against the Soviet Union.

In 1941, Germany's invasion of Yugoslavia resulted in that state's splintering. In spite of Hitler's earlier view of inferiority of all Slavs, he supported Mussolini's agenda of creating a fascist puppet state of Croatia, called the Independent State of Croatia. Croatia was led by the extreme nationalist Ante Pavelić a long-time Croatian exile in Rome, whose Ustashe movement formed a government in modern-day Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Ustashe were allowed to persecute Serbs, while Germany contributed to that goal in German-occupied Serbia.

From 1941 to the end of the war, Germany engaged in war with the Soviet Union in its attempt to create the Nazi colonial goal of Lebensraum "living space" for German citizens. The German occupation authorities set up occupation and colonial authorities called Reichskommissariats such as Reichskommissariat Ostland and Reichskommissariat Ukraine. The Slavic populations were to be destroyed along with Jews there to make way for German colonists.

As the fortunes of war changed, Germany was forced to occupy Italy when Mussolini was thrown out as Prime Minister by Italy's king in 1943. German forces rescued Mussolini and instructed him to establish a fascist regime in Italy called the Italian Social Republic. This

was the last major foreign policy delivered. The remainder of the war saw the decline of German power and desperate attempts by Nazi officials such as Heinrich Himmler to negotiate a peace with the western Allies against the wishes of Hitler.

See also: German-Japanese relations

[edit] Law

Main articles: Reichstag (institution) and Reichsrat (Germany)

Most of the judicial structures and legal codes of the Weimar Republic remained in use during the Third Reich, but significant changes within the judicial codes occurred, as well as significant changes in court rulings. The Nazi party was the only legal political party in Germany; all other political parties were banned. Most human rights of the constitution of the Weimar Republic were disabled by several Reichsgesetze ("Reich's laws"). Several minorities such as the Jews, opposition politicians and prisoners of war were deprived of most of their rights and responsibilities. The Plan to pass a Volksstrafgesetzbuch ("people's code of criminal justice") arose soon after 1933, but didn't come into reality until the end of World War II.

As a new type of court, the Volksgerichtshof ("people's court") was established in 1934, only dealing with cases of political importance. From 1934-September 1944, a total of 5,375 death sentences were spoken by the court. Not included in this numbers are the death sentences from 20 July 1944-April 1945, which are estimated at 2,000. Its most prominent jurist was Roland Freisler, who headed the court from August 1942-February 1945.

[edit] Military

Main articles: Wehrmacht, Heer (1935–1945), Kriegsmarine, Luftwaffe, and Waffen-SS

The military of the Third Reich – the Wehrmacht – was the name of the unified armed forces of Germany from 1935-1945 with Heer (Army), Kriegsmarine (Navy), Luftwaffe (Air Force) and a military organization Waffen-SS (military branch of the Schutzstaffel, which was, de facto, a fourth branch of the Wehrmacht).The German Army furthered concepts pioneered during the First World War, combining Ground and Air Force assets into combined arms teams. Coupled with traditional war fighting methods such as encirclements and the "battle of annihilation", the German military managed many lightning quick victories in the first year of the Second World War, prompting foreign journalists to create a new word for what they witnessed: Blitzkrieg. The total number of soldiers who served in the Wehrmacht during its existence from 1935-1945 is believed to approach 18.2 million.

[edit] Racial policy

Main articles: Holocaust and Racial policy of Nazi Germany

The effects of Nazi social policy in Germany was divided between those considered to be "Aryan" and those considered "non-Aryan", Jewish, or part of other minority groups. For "Aryan" Germans, a number of social policies put through by the regime to benefit them were advanced for the time, including state opposition to the use of tobacco, an end to official stigmatization toward Aryan children who were born from parents outside of marriage, as well as giving financial assistance to Aryan German families who bore children.[57]

The Nazi Party pursued its racial and social policies through persecution and killing of those considered social undesirables or "enemies of the Reich".

The aftermath of Kristallnacht, Jewish shops vandalized.

Naked Soviet POWs in Mauthausen concentration camp. Between June 1941 and January 1942, the Nazis killed an estimated 2.8 million Red Army POWs, whom they viewed as "subhuman".[58]

Senator Alben W. Barkley, a member of the US Congressional Nazi crimes committee visiting Buchenwald concentration camp shortly after its liberation.

Lager Nordhausen concentration camp

Especially targeted were minority groups such as Jews, Romani (also known as Gypsies), Jehovah's Witnesses,[59] people with mental or physical disabilities and homosexuals.

In the 1930s, plans to isolate and eventually eliminate Jews completely in Germany began with the construction of ghettos, concentration camps, and labour camps which began with the 1933 construction of the Dachau concentration camp, which Heinrich Himmler officially described as "the first concentration camp for political prisoners."[60]

In the years following the Nazi rise to power, many Jews were encouraged to leave the country and did so. By the time the Nuremberg Laws were passed in 1935, Jews were stripped of their German citizenship and denied government employment. Most Jews employed by Germans lost their jobs at this time, which were being taken by unemployed Germans. Notably, the government attempted to send 17,000 German Jews of Polish descent back to Poland, a decision which led to the assassination of Ernst vom Rath by Herschel Grynszpan, a German Jew living in France. This provided the pretext for a pogrom the Nazi Party incited against the Jews on 9 November 1938, which specifically targeted Jewish businesses. The event was called Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass, literally "Crystal Night"); the euphemism was used because the numerous broken windows made the streets look as if covered with crystals. By September 1939, more than 200,000 Jews had left Germany, with the government seizing any property they left behind.

The Nazis also undertook programs targeting "weak" or "unfit" people, such as the T-4 Euthanasia Program, killing tens of thousands of disabled and sick Germans in an effort to "maintain the purity of the German Master race" (German: Herrenvolk) as described by Nazi propagandists. The techniques of mass killing developed in these efforts would later be used in the Holocaust. Under a law passed in 1933, the Nazi regime carried out the compulsory sterilization of over 400,000 individuals labeled as having hereditary defects, ranging from mental illness to alcoholism.

Another component of the Nazi programme of creating racial purity was the Lebensborn, or "Fountain of Life" programme founded in 1935. The programme was aimed at encouraging German soldiers—mainly SS—to reproduce. This included offering SS families support services (including the adoption of racially pure children into suitable SS families) and accommodating racially valuable women, pregnant with mainly SS men's children, in care homes in Germany and throughout Occupied Europe. Lebensborn also expanded to encompass the placing of racially pure children forcibly seized from occupied countries—such as Poland—with German families.[citation needed]

The Nazis considered Jews, Romani people, Poles along with other Slavic people like the Russians, Ukrainians, Czechs and anyone else who was not an "Aryan" according to the contemporary Nazi race terminology to be Untermenschen ("subhumans"). The Nazis rationalized that the (Aryan) Germans had a biological right to displace, eliminate and enslave inferiors.[61][62] After the war, under the "Big Plan", Generalplan Ost foresaw the eventual expulsion of more than 50 million non-Germanized Slavs of Eastern Europe

through forced migration, as well as some of the Balts, beyond the Ural Mountains and into Siberia. In their place, Germans would be settled in an extended "living space" of the 1000-Year Empire. Herbert Backe was one of the orchestrators of the Hunger Plan - the plan to starve tens of millions of Slavs in order to ensure steady food supplies for the German people and troops.[63] In the longer term,[64] the Nazis wanted to exterminate some 30–45 million Slavs.[65] Had the Germans won the war, they would have undertaken the largest genocide in history.[66]

At the outset of World War II, the German authority in the General Government in occupied Poland ordered that all Jews face compulsory labour and that those who were physically incapable such as women and children were to be confined to ghettos.[67]

To the Nazis, a number of ideas appeared on how to answer the "Jewish Question". One method was a mass forced deportation of Jews. Adolf Eichmann suggested that Jews be forced to emigrate to Palestine.[68] Franz Rademacher made the proposal that Jews be deported to Madagascar; this proposal was supported by Himmler and was discussed by Hitler and Italian dictator Benito Mussolini but was later dismissed as impractical in 1942.[69] The idea of continuing deportations to occupied Poland was rejected by the governor, Hans Frank, of the General Government of occupied Poland as Frank refused to accept any more deportations of Jews to the territory which already had large numbers of Jews.[69] In 1942, at the Wannsee Conference, Nazi officials decided to eliminate the Jews altogether, as discussed the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question". Concentration camps like Auschwitz were converted and used gas chambers to kill as many Jews as possible. By 1945, a number of concentration camps had been liberated by Allied forces and they found the survivors to be severely malnourished. The Allies also found evidence that the Nazis were profiteering from the mass murder of Jews not only by confiscating their property and personal valuables but also by extracting gold fillings from the bodies of some Jews held in concentration camps.

[edit] Social Policy

[edit] Education

Further information: University education in Nazi Germany

Education under the Nazi regime focused on racial biology, population policy, culture, geography and especially physical fitness.[70] Military education (Wehrerziehung) became the central component of physical education[71]; the historical mission of Germany and the study of its “great men” were the primary subject of history classes[72]; and science textbooks presented natural selection in terms meant to underline the concept of racial purity[73]

Anti-Semitic policy led to the expulsion of Jewish teachers and professors and officials from the education system.[74] Likewise, politically undesireable teachers, such as socialists, were expelled as part of the “Law for the Restoration of the Civil Service” (Gesetz zur Wiederherstellung des Berufbeamtentums).[75] The success of this policy is reflected in the

membership of the National Socialist Teachers' Association (Nationalsozialistischer Lehrerbund , NSLB), which by 1937 claimed 97% of all teachers as members [76]. All university professors were required to be a member of the National Socialist Association of University Lecturers in order to be able to be employed as professors.[77]

While the official line mandated that all vestiges of liberal education be discarded, the teaching methods promoted under National Socialism were experiential and active in their orientation. This was largely an extension of the anti-intellectual attitude of the Nazi leadership, however, and not primarily an attempt to experiment with new didactic methods. As Henrich Hansen, the head of the NS-Teachers' Association, put it:

The youth of Germany will no longer be „objectively“ posed with the choice between an upbringing that is materialistic oridealistic, ethnic [völkish] or international, religious or godless, rather it will be consciously formed according to principlesthat have shown themselves to be true: the principles of the national socialist worldview.[78]

In seeking a way to make education less abstract, intellectual and distant from the experiences of children, educators and administrators foresaw a much-expanded role for film in the classroom. Reichsfilmintendant and Head of the Film Section in the Propaganda Ministry Fritz Hippler wrote that film affects people “primarily on the optical and emotional, that is to say, non-intellectual” level,[79] while educator Christian Caselmann even argued that film should take on a primary role in education: "Film as supplemental classroom material costs time, film as the central classroom material saves time."[80] Film also appealed to the Nazi leadership as a medium through which they could speak directly to children without the mediation of teachers. Dr. Bernhard Rust, a prominent contemporary figure in the field of education, also saw film as an essential tool:

The leadership of Germany more and more comes to believe that schools have to be open for the dissemination of our ideology. Todo this job, we know of no better means than film. Film is necessary, above all, for the youngest of our citizens, theschool children. Film has to bring closer to them all the political problems of today, knowledge of Germany’s great past, andunderstanding of the development of the Third Reich. The National Socialist State definitely and deliberately makes the film thetransmitter of its ideology.[81]

[edit] Social Welfare

Advertisement for state-engineered Kdf-Wagen. Commonly known then and afterwards named the Volkswagen ("People's Car"), as it was designed to be an inexpensive automobile which every German citizen could be able to purchase.

Recent research by academics such as Götz Aly has emphasized the role of the extensive Nazi social welfare programs that focused on providing employment for German citizens and insuring a minimal living standard for German citizens. Heavily focused on was the idea of a national German community. To aid the fostering of a feeling of community, the German people's labour and entertainment experiences—from festivals, to vacation trips and traveling cinemas—were all made a part of the "Strength through Joy" (Kraft durch Freude, KdF) program. Also crucial to the building of loyalty and comradeship was the implementation of the National Labour Service and the Hitler Youth Organization, with compulsory membership. In addition to this, a number of architectural projects were undertaken. KdF created the KdF-wagen, later known as the Volkswagen ("People's Car"), which was designed to be an automobile that every German citizen would be able to afford. With the outbreak of the Second World War the car was converted into a military vehicle and civilian production was stopped. Another national project undertaken was the construction of the Autobahn, which made it the first freeway system in the world.

[edit] Health

According to the research of Robert N. Proctor for his book The Nazi War on Cancer,[82][83] Nazi Germany had arguably the most powerful anti-tobacco movement in the world. Anti-tobacco research received a strong backing from the government, and German scientists proved that cigarette smoke could cause cancer. German pioneering research on experimental epidemiology led to the 1939 paper by Franz H. Müller, and the 1943 paper by Eberhard Schairer and Erich Schöniger which convincingly demonstrated that tobacco smoking was a main culprit in lung cancer. The government urged German doctors to counsel patients against tobacco use.

German research on the dangers of tobacco was silenced after the war, and the dangers of tobacco had to be rediscovered by American and English scientists in the early 1950s, with

a medical consensus arising in the early 1960s. German scientists also proved that asbestos was a health hazard, and in 1943—as the first nation in the world to offer such a benefit—Germany recognized the diseases caused by asbestos, e.g., lung cancer, as occupational illnesses eligible for compensation. The German asbestos-cancer research was later used by American lawyers doing battle against the Johns-Manville Corporation.

As part of the general public-health campaign in Nazi Germany, water supplies were cleaned up, lead and mercury were removed from consumer products, and women were urged to undergo regular screenings for breast cancer.[82][83]

[edit] Women's rights

The Nazis opposed women's feminist movement, claiming that it was Jewish-led, had a left-wing agenda (compared to Communism) and was bad for both women and men. The Nazi regime advocated a patriarchal society in which German women would recognize the "world is her husband, her family, her children, and her home."[84] Hitler claimed that women taking vital jobs away from men during the Great Depression was economically bad for families in that women were paid only 66 percent of what men earned.[84] Hitler never considered endorsing the idea of raising women's wages to avoid such a scenario again, but instead called for women to stay at home. Simultaneously with calling for women to leave work outside the home, the regime called for women to be actively supportive of the state regarding women's affairs. In 1933, Hitler appointed Gertrud Scholtz-Klink as the Reich Women's Leader, who instructed women that their primary role in society was to bear children and that women should be subservient to men, once saying "the mission of woman is to minister in the home and in her profession to the needs of life from the first to last moment of man's existence.".[84] The expectation even applied to Aryan women married to Jewish men—a necessary ingredient in the 1943 Rosenstrasse protest in which 1800 German women (joined by 4200 relatives) obliged the Nazi state to release their Jewish husbands.

The Nazi regime discouraged women from seeking higher education in secondary schools, universities and colleges.[85] The number of women allowed to enroll in universities dropped drastically under the Nazi regime, which shrank from approximately 128,000 women being enrolled in 1933 to 51,000 in 1938.[77] Female enrollment in secondary schools dropped from 437,000 in 1926 to 205,000 in 1937.[77] However with the requirement of men to be enlisted into the German armed forces during the war, women made up half of the enrollment in the education system by 1944.[77]

Organizations were made for the indoctrination of Nazi values to German women. Such organizations included the Jungmädel ("Young Girls") section of the Hitler Youth for girls from the age 10 to 14, the Bund Deutscher Mädel (BDM, "German Girls' League") for young women from 14 to 18, and the NS-Frauenschaft, a woman's organization. The NS-Frauenschaft put out the NS-Frauen-Warte, the only approved women's magazine in Nazi Germany.[86]

On the issue of sexual affairs regarding women, the Nazis differed greatly from the restrictive stances on women's role in society. The Nazi regime promoted a liberal code of conduct as regards sexual matters, and were sympathetic to women bearing children out of wedlock.[57] The collapse of 19th century morals in Germany accelerated during the Third Reich, partly due to the Nazis, and greatly due to the effects of the war.[57] Promiscuity increased greatly as the war progressed, with unmarried soldiers often involved intimately with several women simultaneously.[57] Married women were often involved in multiple affairs simultaneously, with soldiers, civilians or slave labourers.[57] "Some farm wives in Württemberg had already begun using sex as a commodity, employing carnal favours as a means of getting a full day's work from foreign labourers."[57] Marriage or sexual relations between a person considered “Aryan” and one that was not were classified as Rassenschande were forbidden and under penalty (people found guilty could face incarceration in a concentration camp, while non-Aryans could face the death penalty). Pamphlets enjoined all German women to avoid sexual intercourse with all foreign workers brought to Germany as a danger to their blood.[87]

Despite the somewhat official restrictions, some women forged highly visible, as well as officially praised, achievements. Examples are aviatrix Hanna Reitsch and film director Leni Riefenstahl.

An example of the way in which Nazi doctrines differed from practice is that, whilst sexual relationships among campers was explicitly forbidden, boys' and girls' camps of the Hitlerjugend associations were needlessly placed close together as if to make it happen. Pregnancy (including repercussions on established marriages) often resulted when fetching members of the Bund Deutscher Mädel were assigned to duties which juxtaposed them with tempted men.[88] Ilsa McKee noted that the lectures of Hitler Youth and the BDM on the need to produce more children produced several illegitimate children, which neither the mothers nor the possible fathers regarded as problematic.[89]

Abortion was heavily penalized in Nazi Germany unless on the grounds of "racial health"; from 1943 abortionists faced the death penalty.[90] Display of contraceptives was not allowed and Hitler himself described contraception as "violation of nature, as degradation of womanhood, motherhood and love." [91]

[edit] Environmentalism

In 1935, the regime enacted the "Reich Nature Protection Act". While not a purely Nazi piece of legislation, as parts of its influences pre-dated the Nazi rise to power, it nevertheless reflected Nazi ideology. The concept of the Dauerwald (best translated as the "perpetual forest") which included concepts such as forest management and protection was promoted and efforts were also made to curb air pollution.[92][93]

In practice, the enacted laws and policies met resistance from various ministries that sought to undermine them, and from the priority that the war-effort took to environmental protection.

[edit] Animal protection policy

Main article: Animal welfare in Nazi Germany

The Nazis had elements which were supportive of animal rights, zoos and wildlife,[94] and took several measures to ensure their protection.[95] In 1933 the government enacted a stringent animal-protection law.[96][97] Many NSDAP leaders including Adolf Hitler and Hermann Göring were supporters of animal protection. Several Nazis were environmentalists (notably Rudolf Hess), and species protection and animal welfare were significant issues in the regime.[98] Heinrich Himmler made efforts to ban the hunting of animals.[99] Göring was an animal lover and conservationist.[100]The current animal welfare laws in Germany are more or less modification of the laws introduced by the National Socialist regime.[101]

Although enacting various laws for animal protection, there was a lack of enforcement. According to Pfugers Archiv für die Gesamte Physiologie (Pfugers Archive for the Total Physiology), a science journal at that time, there were many animal experiments during the Nazi regime.[102] The Nazi regime disbanded several unofficial organizations advocating environmentalism and animal protection, such as the Friends of Nature.[103]

[edit] Culture

Main article: Art of the Third Reich

The regime sought to restore traditional values in German culture. The art and culture that came to define the Weimar Republic years was repressed. The visual arts were strictly monitored and traditional, focusing on exemplifying Germanic themes, racial purity, militarism, heroism, power, strength, and obedience. Modern abstract art and avant-garde art was removed from museums and put on special display as "degenerate art", where it was to be ridiculed. In one notable example, on 31 March 1937, huge crowds stood in line to view a special display of "degenerate art" in Munich. Art forms considered to be degenerate included Dada, Cubism, Expressionism, Fauvism, Impressionism, New Objectivity, and Surrealism. Literature written by Jewish, other non-Aryans, or authors opposed to the Nazis was destroyed by the regime. The most infamous destruction of literature was the book burnings by German students in 1933.

In 1933, Nazis burned works considered "un-German" in Berlin which included books by Jewish authors, political opponents, and other works which did not align with Nazi ideology.

German Nazi propaganda poster: "Danzig is German".

Despite the official attempt to forge a pure Germanic culture, one major area of the arts, architecture, under Hitler's personal guidance, was neoclassical, a style based on architecture of ancient Rome.[104] This style stood out in stark contrast and opposition to newer, more liberal, and more popular architecture styles of the time such as Art Deco. Various Roman buildings were examined by state architect Albert Speer for architectural designs for state buildings. Speer constructed huge and imposing structures such as in the Nazi party rally grounds in Nuremberg and the new Reich Chancellery building in Berlin. One design that was pursued, but never built, was a gigantic version of the Pantheon in Rome, called the Volkshalle to be the semi-religious centre of Nazism in a renamed Berlin called Germania, which was to be the "world capital" (Welthauptstadt). Also to be constructed was a Triumphal arch several times larger than that found in Paris, which was also based upon a classical styling. Many of the designs for Germania were impractical to construct because of their size and the marshy soil underneath Berlin; materials that were to be used for construction were diverted to the war effort.

[edit] Cinema and media

Main articles: Cinema of Germany, List of German films 1933-1945, Nazism and cinema, Panorama (German wartime newsreel), and Propagandaministerium

The majority of German films of the period were intended principally as works of entertainment. The import of foreign films was legally restricted after 1936 and the German industry, which was effectively nationalised in 1937, had to make up for the missing foreign films (above all American productions). Entertainment also became increasingly important in the later years of World War II when the cinema provided a distraction from Allied bombing and a string of German defeats. In both 1943 and 1944 cinema admissions

in Germany exceeded a billion,[105] and the biggest box office hits of the war years were Die große Liebe (1942) and Wunschkonzert (1941), which both combine elements of the musical, wartime romance and patriotic propaganda, Frauen sind doch bessere Diplomaten (1941), a comic musical which was one of the earliest German films in colour, and Wiener Blut (1942), the adaptation of a Johann Strauß comic operetta. The importance of the cinema as a tool of the state, both for its propaganda value and its ability to keep the populace entertained, can be seen in the filming history of Veit Harlan's Kolberg (1945), the most expensive film of the era, for the shooting of which tens of thousands of soldiers were diverted from their military positions to appear as extras.[106]

Despite the emigration of many film-makers and the political restrictions, the German film industry was not without technical and aesthetic innovations, the introduction of Agfacolor film production being a notable example. Technical and aesthetic achievement could also be turned to the specific ends of the Greater German Reich, most spectacularly in the work of Leni Riefenstahl. Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will (1935), documenting the Nuremberg Rally (1934), and Olympia (1938), documenting the 1936 Summer Olympics, pioneered techniques of camera movement and editing that have influenced many later films. Both films, particularly Triumph of the Will, remain highly controversial, as their aesthetic merit is inseparable from their propagandizing of Nationalsocialism ideals.[106]

[edit] Religion

Main article: Religion in Nazi Germany

[edit] Sports

Main articles: Nationalsozialistischer Reichsbund für Leibesübungen and Berlin Olympic Games

Olympic Stadium (photo by Josef Jindřich Šechtl).

Established in 1934, the Nationalsozialistischer Reichsbund für Leibesübungen (NSRL), (sometimes also known under the acronym NSRBL) was the umbrella organization for sports during the Third Reich.

Two major displays of Nazi German art and culture were at the 1936 Summer Olympics and at the German pavilion at the 1937 International Exposition in Paris. The 1936 Olympics was meant to display to the world the Aryan superiority of Germany to other

nations. German athletes were carefully chosen not only for strength but for Aryan appearance. However, one common belief of Hitler snubbing African-American athlete Jesse Owens has recently been discovered to be technically incorrect—it was African-American athlete Cornelius Cooper Johnson who was believed to have been snubbed by Hitler, who left the medal ceremonies after awarding a German and a Finn medal. Hitler claimed it was not a snub, but that he had official business to attend to which caused him to depart. On reports that Hitler had deliberately avoided acknowledging his victories, and had refused to shake his hand, Owens recounted:

"When I passed the Chancellor he arose, waved his hand at me, and I waved back at him. I think the writers showed bad taste in criticizing the man of the hour in Germany." He also stated: "Hitler didn't snub me — it was FDR who snubbed me. The president didn't even send me a telegram."

Hitler was criticized for this and the Olympic committee officials insisted that he greet each and every medalist, or none at all. Hitler did not attend any of the medal presentations which followed, including the one after Jesse Owens won his four medals, and met with German winners outside the stadium afterwards. [107][108]

VolkssturmDe Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libreSaltar a navegación, búsqueda

Volkssturm

Brazalete oficial de los combatientes del Volkssturm, utilizado en el brazo izquierdo

Activa 18 de octubre de 1944 – 1945

País Tercer Reich

Tipo Milicia

Comandantes

Comandantes derenombre

Joseph Goebbels

Cultura e historia

Batallas/guerras Segunda Guerra Mundial, Batalla de Berlín

El Volkssturm (que se puede traducir como 'Tormenta del Pueblo' o 'Tormenta Nacional' o, más bien 'Ataque del pueblo', en el sentido de fuerzas de ataque) fue la milicia nacional alemana, creada en los últimos días del Tercer Reich, específicamente el 18 de octubre de 1944 bajo las órdenes de Joseph Goebbels, por lo que todos los hombres entre los 16 y 60 años fueron conscriptos e integrados en el plan de defensa de la patria contra el avance del Ejército Rojo en el este, y las tropas anglo-americanas en el oeste y en el sur.

Contenido

[ocultar]

1 Creación 2 Rangos, uniforme e insignia 3 Desempeño 4 Enlaces externos

[editar] Creación

Si bien la idea de crear el Volkssturm se originó en 1935, no fue sino hasta la segunda mitad de 1944 que los líderes nazis abordaron seriamente la posibilidad de efectuar un reclutamiento masivo entre la población civil alemana, incluyendo a categorías de hombres que previamente habían estado exentas del servicio militar por su edad o condición socioeconómica. Al agravarse la situación militar del Tercer Reich en la Segunda Guerra Mundial, surgió en Hitler y el líder nazi Martin Bormann la idea de realizar una leva militar generalizada para cubrir las serias bajas sufridas por la Wehrmacht e instaurar en la población civil alemana una identificación total con el destino del régimen nazi, que estimularía la resistencia a una inminente invasión extranjera (situación que el pueblo alemán no vivía desde los días de Napoleón Bonaparte). Precisamente, el aniversario 130 de la Batalla de Leipzig de 1814 fue elegido como fecha para que Hitler emitiera su discurso de creación del Volkssturm, enfatizando que esta milicia sería la defensa final de Alemania contra las tropas foráneas que la amenazaban desde el este y el oeste.

En los días posteriores Martin Bormann, bajo orden directa de Hitler, reclutó casi seis millones de alemanes para formar una milicia nacional, entregando las respectivas ordenes a todos los Gauleiter nazis locales. La unidad básica del Volkssturm era un batallón de 642 hombres, compuestos en su mayoría por miembros de las Juventudes Hitlerianas, ancianos, inválidos y personas consideradas anteriormente no aptas para prestar servicio militar. Pese al esfuerzo inicial de Bormann, durante los últimos meses de la guerra el Volkssturm estuvo bajo el mando del jefe de las SS Heinrich Himmler , y participó en la defensa de Berlín.

Un oficial del Volkssturm enseña el uso de un Panzerfaust a un combatiente mayor de 60 años en los preparativos de la defensa de Berlín, a principios de 1945.

Rasgo notable del Volkssturm fue que desde el inicio Hitler y Himmler insistieron no sólo en la preparación estrictamente militar de los reclutas sino además en llenar de fanatismo nazi a estas milicias, para así determinarlas a combatir hasta su aniquilación; por ello el Volkssturm no empezaba a operar bajo el control directo de la Wehrmacht, sino bajo la dirección del mismo Partido Nazi, mediante sus jefes locales de cada ciudad o región.

[editar] Rangos, uniforme e insignia

El uniforme de color gris consistía en un brazalete en el brazo izquierdo de color rojo/negro/rojo con la inscripción «Deutscher Volkssturm Wehrmacht» franqueado por dos águilas, además se le agregaban pines plateados al collar del miembro, que designaban su rango. En vista de que la Wehrmacht no pudo entregar uniformes a todos sus miembros, la mayoría llevaba ropas civiles o el uniforme de su trabajo o empleo, entre ellos el uniforme de conductor de trenes era muy popular.

También predominaba el uniforme marrón de las Juventudes Hitlerianas, y los soldados soviéticos a veces no les disparaban por pensar que eran de su bando (unidades del Ejército Rojo usaban uniformes de una tonalidad marrón también) y cuando los capturaban pensaban que eran espías. Las insignias del Volkssturm eran la siguientes:

RangoEquivalente Insignia

Bataillionsführer Líder del Batallón (falta la imagen)

Kompanieführer Líder de la Compañía

Zugführer Líder de Sección

Gruppenführer Líder de Pelotón

Volkssturmmann Recluta

Los miembros del Volkssturm usaban mucho las armas del derrotado ejército italiano, así como armas antiguas que habían sido dadas de baja por el ejército, e inclusive armas de diverso origen (Francia, Polonia, Bélgica, Unión Soviética) que la Wehrmacht había capturado y guardaba durante años en sus depósitos, esto causó graves problemas de logística pues era muy difícil obtener a tiempo los suministros adecuados para unidades que usaban armas tan diferentes; también se les dieron miles de Panzerfaust, un lanza cohete similar a la Bazooka, arma fácil de fabricar y de gran eficacia antitanque pero que solamente podía usarse una vez (no era posible recargarla). Además de estar pobremente armados, los miembros del Volkssturm no tenían suficientes municiones para el combate, y se les exigió obtener su propio uniforme, sus propias mantas, utensilios de cocina, etc., por lo cual el aspecto final de las tropas reclutadas era sumamente abigarrado y desigual; en realidad la desordenada apariencia de los batallones del Volkssturm no constituía un factor que elevara la moral civil, sino que al contrario mostraba crudamente la desesperada situación militar del Reich.

[editar] Desempeño

Un combatiente de 16 años de las Juventudes Hitlerianas, adscrito al Volksturm.

Los miembros del Volkssturm fueron reclutados masivamente desde noviembre de 1944 para darles el entrenamiento adecuado, pues fueron constituidos en milicias en octubre de 1944, pero apenas cuatro meses después de ello (en febrero de 1945) el Ejército Rojo entraba en Prusia Oriental mientras el 9 de marzo de 1945 las tropas de Estados Unidos cruzaban el río Rin, rebasando la última barrera geográfica que defendía a Alemania. El avance de las operaciones bélicas exigía que la Wehrmacht necesitara urgentemente en el frente de combate a todos sus hombres experimentados, y por ello los reclutas del Volkssturm carecían de instructores adecuados.

Ciertamente muchos reclutas de la Volkssturm habían sido veteranos de la Primera Guerra Mundial o habían realizado su servicio militar cuando éste fue reinstaurado por Hitler en 1933, por lo cual contaban con nociones fundamentales de disciplina militar y manejo de armas. Pese a esto, otros muchos reclutas carecían de esa experiencia, e inclusive los veteranos de la guerra de 1914–1918 desconocían el uso de armas modernas, por lo cual debían ser nuevamente entrenados para ser útiles en la lucha. Muchas veces los escasos instructores disponibles solían ser también veteranos de la Primera Guerra Mundial que desconocían el manejo de armas modernas.

Oficialmente se había ordenado que las milicias formadas mediante el Volkssturm prestarían servicio solamente para defender su localidad de origen, pero conforme la situación bélica del Tercer Reich se hacía más desesperada y aumentaban las bajas en la Wehrmacht, los líderes nazis enviaban milicianos del Volkssturm directamente a combatir en cualquier sitio del frente donde fuese preciso, aun sacando a las milicias de sus propias localidades de base.

Como resultado de este muy deficiente entrenamiento, en muchos casos los reclutas eran enviados al frente sin haber aprendido siquiera a manejar bien su propio armamento, además de ser evidente en muchos casos su total inexperiencia en combate. De esta manera numerosos soldados del Volkssturm murieron negligentemente, muchos practicaron deserciones masivas en el frente, o en todo caso capitularon casi sin lucha ante el avance enemigo (como hicieron varios cientos de reclutas del Volkssturm ante tropas estadounidenses en la cuenca del Ruhr), por ello los historiadores están de acuerdo en que el valor táctico de estas tropas improvisadas era muy pequeño, y exceptuando los casos concretos de la Batalla de Berlín y el cerco de Breslau, su actuación no afectó mucho el avance del enemigo.

En la Batalla de Berlín, el Volkssturm sufrió numerosísimas bajas, muchas veces a manos de las mismas tropas alemanas, ya que sin experiencia de combate se cruzaban en la línea de fuego de sus propios compañeros, atacándose en medio de la confusión. Por considerarse la última batalla contra el comunismo, y ser los reclutas nativos de la ciudad en su mayoría, los miembros del Volkssturm en Berlín lucharon duramente, aunque poco pudieron hacer para evitar la derrota final.

En Breslau, actual Wrocław, la situación fue distinta, ya que la ciudad resistió al Ejército Rojo desde el 14 de febrero de 1945 hasta el 6 de mayo del mismo año, cuando los supervivientes del Volkssturm (muchos de ellos adolescentes y ancianos) al mando del General Hermann Niehoff, se rindieron exhaustos al quedarse sin municiones, carentes casi

de alimentos y enterados de la caída de Berlín días antes. Sin embargo, los combatientes del Volkssturm en Breslau consiguieron destruir varios tanques soviéticos con las Panzerfaust y causar muchas bajas al Ejército Rojo.

WehrmachtDe Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libreSaltar a navegación, búsqueda

Wehrmacht

La Balkenkreuz, una versión estilizada de la Cruz de Hierro, era el emblema de la Wehrmacht.

Activa 1935–1945

País  Alemania Nazi

Función Fuerzas Armadas del Tercer Reich.

Tamaño 18.200.000

Estructura HeerKriegsmarineLuftwaffeWaffen-SS (desde 1940)

Volkssturm (desde 1944)

Acuartelamiento Zossen

Comandantes

Comandantes derenombre

Wilhelm KeitelKarl DönitzHermann Göring

Insignias

Símbolo deidentificación

Balkenkreuz

Insignias para el casco utilizadas por el Heer.

Cultura e historia

Patrón Adolf Hitler

Colores Feldgrau

Batallas/guerras Guerra Civil EspañolaSegunda Guerra Mundial

La Wehrmacht (escuchar ▶ ? /i, «Fuerza de Defensa» en alemán) era el nombre de las fuerzas armadas unificadas de la Alemania nazi desde 1935 a 1945, surgida tras la disolución de la Reichswehr, fuerzas armadas de República de Weimar, por el régimen nazi. Estaba compuesta por el Heer (ejército), la Kriegsmarine (marina de guerra) y la Luftwaffe (fuerza aérea).

La Waffen-SS, el brazo armado de las SS (la organización paramilitar del Partido Nazi), se convirtió de facto en la cuarta rama de la Wehrmacht, ya que se expandió de 3 regimientos a 38 divisiones en los años 1940. Y aunque las SS eran autónomas y existían de forma paralela a la Wehrmacht, las unidades de las Waffen-SS eran puestas bajo el control operacional del Alto Mando de la Wehrmacht (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, OKW) o del Alto Mando del Ejército (Oberkommando des Heeres, OKH).

Contenido

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1 Historia o 1.1 Segunda Guerra Mundial o 1.2 Fuerzas movilizadas o 1.3 Crímenes de guerra o 1.4 Bajas durante la guerra

2 Después de la guerra 3 Véase también 4 Referencias 5 Enlaces externos

[editar] Historia

La Reichswehr era el ejército de la República de Weimar y heredero del derrotado ejército imperial alemán. Ernst Röhm, jefe de la organización paramilitar Sturmabteilung (SA), pretendió que esta organización fuese aceptada en las filas de la Reichswehr, a lo que se oponía el alto mando militar con contundencia, por lo que Hitler hizo suyas las exigencias de los militares, ya que aún no los dominaba y temía que provocasen un golpe militar. Después de la noche de los cuchillos largos y el asesinato de Röhm, de sus seguidores y en paralelo de un alto mando militar y su esposa que nada tenían que ver con la ideología de los asesinados, Hitler, al comprobar la satisfacción por la eliminación de los jefes de la SA de la Reichswehr y su nula protesta por el asesinato de su compañero y su mujer, comprobó que la criminalización del mando de la Reichswehr era un hecho factible, organizando la Wehrmacht tras la disolución del anterior ejército. Entre los organizadores del nuevo ejército se encontraban los generales Heinz Guderian, von Reichenau y Jodl.

Se renovaron las tácticas de trincheras, ya obsoletas, y se reemplazó por la innovadora táctica Blitzkrieg o guerra relámpago. Se integró la artillería mecanizada a la infantería. Se incluyeron en sus filas nuevos oficiales con más amplio grado de iniciativa. El armamento tuvo un cambio radical, con el empleo de ametralladoras más ligeras y fáciles de transportar, la organización de escuadrones móviles de asalto, escuadrones de logística, así como una cadena de mando, la cual aun siendo monolítica, permitía la autonomía de acción a escuadrones sin oficiales al mando, si estos llegaban a faltar o caer. Muchos ejércitos del mundo han copiado la base de esta organización.

Hacia 1939, el ejército alemán de línea contabilizaba alrededor de 3.200.000 soldados y durante toda la II Guerra Mundial combatieron por Alemania más de 12 millones de soldados de diversas nacionalidades. A pesar de lo que se ve en las películas, en el ejército alemán se usaba el saludo militar regular, hasta el atentado de julio de 1944, en el que se impuso el «saludo romano», fascista, con el brazo en alto.

[editar] Segunda Guerra Mundial

Soldados de la Wehrmacht, hechos prisioneros, desfilan por una calle de Aquisgrán.

Durante los primeros tres años de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, la Wehrmacht logró victorias completas y resonantes, derrotando a los ejércitos europeos con relativa facilidad, debido a su superioridad técnica y de doctrina militar, desarrollada por Alemania en los años posteriores a la derrota en la 1ª guerra mundial. Esta superioridad quedó demostrada con el empleo de la Blitzkrieg (guerra relámpago), consistente en el empleo de movimientos rápidos de tropas, de una mortífera combinación de tanques en extensas formaciones (divisiones Panzer), infantería y artillería motorizada, y aviación de apoyo a las fuerzas terrestres. Esta doctrina dejó obsoleta con sus aplastantes triunfos la doctrina militar imperante en la mayoría de los ejércitos europeos, aferrados aún a las defensas estáticas y a la guerra de trincheras, consideradas como válidas desde el final de la anterior guerra mundial.

La estrategia envolvente fue usada en Francia y la Unión Soviética (URSS) con gran éxito entre 1940 y 1941. Consistía en la embestida profunda y localizada contra el frente enemigo con la mayor concentración de fuerzas y armas de apoyo, para posteriormente enviar a través de la brecha conseguida las reservas acorazadas y motorizadas. La velocidad de estas fuerzas permitiría en una fase posterior de la batalla, rodear y aniquilar a las fuerzas enemigas desde su propia retaguardia, estrangulando su sistema logístico y de suministro, y aislarlas hasta formar bolsas (en alemán Kessel 'caldero') de resistencia que acabarían rindiéndose.

La moral combativa de la Wehrmacht, una oficialidad muy competente, sus tácticas veloces y masivas, el logro efectivo y rápido de objetivos, con suministros y logística muy eficaces, sumado a la existencia de armamento avanzado, con tanques muy rápidos y una aviación táctica adaptada a las nuevas estrategias, hicieron del ejército alemán el más efectivo y poderoso de la época. Posteriormente su propia fe en esa superioridad inclinó a la Wehrmacht a acometer empresas que demostraron ser demasiado ambiciosas.

En la invasión de la Unión Soviética, que comenzó el 22 de junio de 1941, la Wehrmacht logró contundentes éxitos iniciales y la aniquilación de gran parte de las fuerzas del Ejército Rojo estacionadas en la frontera, permitiendo profundos avances dentro del territorio de la URSS. Sin embargo, los soviéticos lograron resistir la embestida y movilizando todas sus reservas humanas y materiales, apoyados por sus crudos inviernos, la ayuda logística norteamericana, y un material bélico muchas veces tan eficaz como el alemán y mejor diseñado para la producción en masa,1 frenaron el empuje de los alemanes, quienes no pudieron hacerse con Moscú, en noviembre-diciembre de 1941, ni Stalingrado, en diciembre de 1942-febrero de 1943, sufriendo en ésta última 300.000 bajas entre muertos y heridos, incluyendo unos 90.000 soldados germanos que quedaron como prisioneros de guerra.

No obstante, la maquinaria bélica alemana aún era fuerte, al punto de mantener ocupada la práctica totalidad de Europa y combatir en África. En el verano de 1943, sin embargo, la Wehrmacht sufrió otra grave derrota en tierras rusas, cuando en la batalla de Kursk, la fortaleza de las defensas y la posterior contraofensiva soviética destruyó las mejores

unidades blindadas de la Wehrmacht y le causó bajas irremplazables. Kursk se considera la última ofensiva estratégica de la Wehrmacht, y representó su última oportunidad de obtener la victoria en la guerra.

Por otra parte, en 1943 la Wehrmacht no logró rechazar la invasión angloestadounidense de Italia pero sí logró establecer sucesivas líneas defensivas en la península italiana, la cual resistió hasta abril de 1945. En 1944 la Wehrmacht, ya debilitada por las pérdidas en combate contra la Unión Soviética no pudo rechazar ni contener el avance de tropas británicas, estadounidenses y canadienses en Francia y Bélgica tras la batalla de Normandía, debiendo efectuar un rápido repliegue. A pesar de todo durante el invierno de 1944-1945, la Wehrmacht realizó sorpresivamente en el frente occidental su última gran ofensiva, llamada batalla de las Ardenas. Esta ofensiva terminó en derrota germana y representó la pérdida de hombres y material que la Wehrmacht ya no podía reemplazar.

A partir de 1944, la Wehrmacht carecía de suficientes soldados veteranos para cubrir sus filas, sus mejores tropas habían sido destruidas en batalla contra las tropas soviéticas en tres años de lucha, quedando ante ellas en una clara situación de inferioridad numérica, mientras que en el sector occidental no podía resistir mucho tiempo la abrumadora superioridad material de los aliados occidentales.

La Alemania nazi intentó paliar ese déficit de tropas instituyendo la Volkssturm (milicia popular) desde octubre de 1944, como leva en masa, donde se enroló forzosamente en la Wehrmacht a prácticamente todos los varones alemanes entre 14 y 65 años de edad que aún quedasen en retaguardia para defendar el propio territorio germano; no obstante, estas tropas, carentes de instrucción militar y de un armamento adecuado, y desmoralizadas por el visible curso adverso de la guerra, no podían en modo alguno compararse a la Wehrmacht de 1940 o 1941.

En enero de 1945 la Wehrmacht aún podía contar con más de 7 millones de efectivos (millón y medio en el Oeste, otro millón en Italia y el resto en el Este), aunque una parte apreciable pertenecía al Volkssturm y mostraban escaso afán de lucha en circunstancias tan adversas.

Los bombardeos estadounidenses y británicos empezaron a dañar el suministro normal de combustibles y armas a las unidades de la Wehrmacht desde 1943, consiguiendo progresivamente la superioridad aérea y obteniendo para 1945 el estrangulamiento de la industria de guerra alemana, y la destrucción de su sistema de comunicaciones, además de numerosas ciudades.

La Wehrmacht fue derrotada finalmente por los soviéticos en la batalla de Berlín, su canto del cisne, mientras los Aliados la batían en el oeste de Europa, dejando de existir tras la rendición alemana del 8 de mayo de 1945.

[editar] Fuerzas movilizadas

Hay muchas dudas sobre las fuerzas movilizadas por el Eje en la Segunda Guerra Mundial, ya que muchos documentos se perdieron o las cifras fueron alteradas por los Aliados, hay estimaciones de 10 a 12 millones, y las más elevadas llegan a 17 ó 18 millones (probablemente incluyendo a tropas extranjeras que les ayudaron, como en las SS). Según el libro Segunda Guerra Mundial (Editorial Susaeta) en el bando alemán, entre unidades de la Wehrmacht, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine y Waffen SS, fueron movilizados:

1939 : 4.562.000 de hombres. 1940 : 5.762.000 de hombres. 1941 : 7.309.000 de hombres. 1942 : 8.410.000 de hombres. 1943 : 9.480.000 de hombres. 1944 : 9.420.000 de hombres. 1945 : 7.830.000 de hombres.

En este cálculo no se incluyen a unidades movilizadas Volkssturm y Juventudes Hitlerianas. Si entendemos por soldado el individuo movilizado, correctamente instruido (al menos varias semanas, conocimiento de armas ligeras, orientación, fortificación, supervivencia, acción en equipo dentro de una unidad de combatientes), son más exactas las cifras de entre 7 y 8 millones (en cambio la URSS movilizó de 11 a 13 millones y EE. UU.a otros 12 a 16 millones). La Wehrmacht, Luftwaffe y Waffen SS se desperdigaron por casi toda Europa y norte de África, y sólo en Rusia, al principio entraron de golpe 3 millones de hombres.

Fuerzas del Eje

Alemania : 17 millones. Italia : 4,5 millones. Japón : 7 millones.

Fuerzas aliadas

EEUU : 16 millones. URSS : 35 millones. Francia : 5 millones (1940). Imperio británico : 8 millones. China : 8 millones. Polonia : 1 millón (1939).

[editar] Crímenes de guerra

La Wehrmacht fue usada en ocasiones como herramienta del estado policial impuesto por el régimen nazi en los países ocupados, llegando a ser cómplices del Holocausto. También empleó planes y estrategias para saquear los territorios conquistados y satisfacer las necesidades del ejército, especialmente en el frente soviético, ya que Hitler había ordenado en un principio que el ejército debería mantenerse allí a expensas de los recursos del

territorio conquistado, lo que según cálculos que había realizado el alto mando al recibir esta orden antes de comenzar la campaña, había de suponer la muerte por hambre de unos 6.000.000 de civiles soviéticos, lo que se hizo realidad con exceso.

La Wehrmacht participó en numerosos crímenes de guerra, masacres de civiles, ejecución de prisioneros de guerra, ejecuciones sumarias de oficiales políticos soviéticos así como de castigos de represalia por actividades partisanas de los países ocupados.

[editar] Bajas durante la guerra

Los muertos fueron aproximadamente 3.533.000 alemanes y de otras nacionalidades que combatían como aliados. El número de heridos fue de 6.000.000 y los prisioneros de guerra 11.000.000.

[editar] Después de la guerra

Después de la derrota incondicional de la Wehrmacht que tuvo efecto el 8 de mayo de 1945, algunos elementos del ejército seguían en activo con las fuerzas aliadas como fuerzas de policía. Para finales de agosto de 1945, esas unidades quedaron disueltas y al año siguiente los Aliados declararon oficialmente disueltas a todas las unidades de la Wehrmacht y a Alemania se le prohibía tener un ejército. Esta prohibición se mantuvo hasta la creación de la Bundeswehr en 1955.

KriegsmarineDe Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libreSaltar a navegación, búsqueda

Kriegsmarine

Pabellón naval de la Kriegsmarine.

Activa ← 1935 -1945 → →

País Alemania nazi

Tipo Marina de guerra

Comandantes

Comandantes derenombre

Erich RaederKarl Dönitz

Cultura e historia

Batallas/guerras Guerra Civil EspañolaSegunda Guerra Mundial

Para otros usos de este término, véase KuK Kriegsmarine.

La Kriegsmarine («Marina de Guerra» en alemán) era la armada de la Alemania nazi entre 1935 y 1945, durante el régimen nazi, sustituyendo al tradicional nombre de Reichsmarine (Marina Imperial). Estaba compuesta por submarinos, fragatas, acorazados, acorazados de bolsillo, cruceros destructores , etc. También se utilizaron dos antiguos buques de la Primera Guerra Mundial como barcos de entrenamiento.

La Kriegsmarine desempeñó un papel importante en la invasión de Noruega en abril de 1940, en la segunda batalla del Atlántico y la batalla del Río de la Plata. Además, participó en el ataque y posterior hundimiento de los navíos " Royal Oak " , "Glorious" y " Hood " , entre otros. La mayoría de los buques alemanes fueron retirados y en algunos casos destruidos cerca de los puertos para evitar perderlos ante la Royal Navy. Desde finales de 1944 hasta el final de la guerra, se utilizaron para proveer de artillería a las tropas de tierra, así como para la retirada de los ejércitos alemanes a través del Báltico, o trasladando a refugiados a la zona occidental alemana. Después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, la armada de la República Federal Alemana (RFA) se denominó Bundesmarine (Marina federal). Por su parte, la armada de la República Democrática Alemana (RDA) se denominó Volksmarine (Armada Popular). Hoy en día, la armada alemana se llama Deutsche Marine (Marina alemana).

Contenido

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1 Antecedentes de la Marina de guerra alemana 2 Plan Z 3 Naves 4 Fuente 5 Referencias 6 Bibliografía 7 Enlaces externos

[editar] Antecedentes de la Marina de guerra alemana

Insignias para el casco utilizadas por la Kriegsmarine hasta 1940 (año en que se ordenó la remoción del emblema tricolor). La marina de guerra utilizaba el emblema del águila en el costado izquierdo y el tricolor en el derecho.

Großadmiral (Gran Almirante) Erich Raeder; era Comandante General de la Kriegsmarine al inicarse la Segunda Guerra Mundial en septiembre de 1939; a su renuncia, fue sucedido por el almirante Karl Dönitz.

Großadmiral (Gran Almirante) Karl Dönitz.

Mediante el convenio naval germano británico del 18 de junio de 1935, los dos países se habían puesto de acuerdo para que la flota alemana no sobrepasara el 35 % del tonelaje de la flota británica. Esta proporción era aplicable en todas las categorías de buques; sólo los submarinos podían alcanzar el 45%, y aún a partir de 1938, el 100%. Con la firma de este tratado se pensó en una paz duradera. Con la firma de este convenio, Alemania reconocía en parte la supremacía naval del Reino Unido. Se alejaba, en teoría, una carrera de armamentos naval, como la que había tenido lugar antes de la Primera Guerra Mundial.

En fecha tan lejana como es el 15 de julio de 1935, el almirante Erich Raeder , comandante en jefe de la Kriegsmarine , dirigió a sus oficiales una circular, en donde se lee:

"El acuerdo ha nacido del deseo de evitar para siempre hasta la posibilidad de un conflicto entre Alemania e Inglaterra"

Comentario del almirante Erich Raeder al Tratado Naval con Reino Unido, 15 de julio de 1935

Cuatro años después, todo había cambiado. Los éxitos logrados en Austria y Checoslovaquia habían cegado a Hitler hasta el punto de creer que el Reino Unido asistiría "inactivo y silencioso" a sus planes expansionistas. Reunido con sus generales y almirantes, al exponer sus planes expansionistas sobre Polonia el 22 de agosto de 1939 declaraba:

"La situación de Inglaterra es actualmente muy precaria. Me parece excluida la posibilidad de que un hombre de Estado británico cargue sobre sí la responsabilidad, frente a tal situación, de comprometer a su país en una guerra"Declaraciones de Adolf Hitler sobre sus planes expansionistas en Europa, 22 de agosto de 1939

.

El comodoro Karl Dönitz , había sido comandante de un sumergible durante la Primera Guerra Mundial. Después de la firma del tratado con el Reino Unido, Alemania recibió tres pequeños submarinos del tipo II al que los marineros alemanes denominaron " piraguas " .

En agosto de 1939, la Kriegsmarine contaba con veintidós buques que operaban en el Atlántico. La experiencia había enseñado a la Armada alemana, que era preciso disponer de un tercio de los buques en puerto y otro tercio navegando, ya sea hacia el teatro de operaciones navales o regresando de él. Así, en las condiciones más óptimas de la época, fueron siete los submarinos que se podían disponer en el frente. Ante el anuncio de Hitler, era imposible hacer seriamente la guerra con semejante dotación.

En lo referente a los acorazados, cruceros y portaaviones, la situación era sumamente crítica, ya que su programa de construcciones navales, previsto para diez años, llamado (PLAN-Z), se encuentra en sus comienzos. Dicho plan estaba diseñado para que, al cabo de esos diez años, Alemania tuviera una flota muy equilibrada de modernos navíos, capaz de representar dignamente los intereses marítimos alemanes y revalorizar la alianza. A causa de las limitaciones impuestas por el tratado de 1935, era evidente que esta flota no estaba diseñada para hacer la guerra al Reino Unido

[editar] Plan Z

El Plan Z fue el programa de construcciones navales de la Kriegsmarine anterior a la Segunda Guerra Mundial. A mediados de la década de 1930, en los altos mandos alemanes se discutió sobre la clase de programa a escoger. Hubo dos opiniones en aquel entonces.

La primera alternativa se enfocaba en la construcción de una gran flota submarina y una pequeña flota de buques de superficie para la protección de la costa. Este plan, que basaba la potencia de la Kriegsmarine en los "U-Boot", era el preferido por los altos mandos. La segunda alternativa preveía una flota combinada de buques de superficie y una flota más pequeña de submarinos, a semejanza de la ex Kaiserliche Marine y parecida a la de la

Marina Real Británica. Al plan de construcciones navales que se escogió, con modificaciones, se le denominó Plan Z.

De acuerdo con el marino y escritor Luis de la Sierra en su obra La guerra naval en el Atlántico (pags. 20-21) algunos de los navíos a construir serían:

Seis acorazados de 54.000 t de desplazamiento, armados con ocho cañones de 406 mm y 12 de 150 mm; movidos por 12 motores diésel que proporcionarían una velocidad máxima de 30 nudos y una autonomía de 32.000 millas.

Tres cruceros de batalla de 30.000 t y armados con ocho piezas de 380 mm con propulsión mixta diésel-turbina de vapor que daría 34 nudos de velocidad y 28.000 millas de alcance.

Cuatro portaaviones de 20.000 toneladas (incluidos los dos puestos en grada en 1936) con 55 aeronaves, 16 piezas antiaéreas de 152 mm y una velocidad máxima de 34,5 nudos.

Diez y seis cruceros de 8.000 toneladas armados con ocho cañones de 152 mm y dotados con una maquinaria que proporcionaría una velocidad de 35,5 nudos y una autonomía de 16.000 millas.

Veintidós cruceros exploradores de 5.000 toneladas dotados de seis piezas de 152 mm, capaces de andar a 36 nudos y con un alcance de 16.000 millas.

Sesenta y ocho destructores. Noventa torpederos. Doscientos cuarenta y nueve submarinos. Trescientos buques de otros tipos: Minadores, dragaminas, lanchas rápidas,

cazasubmarinos, etc.

Dichas naves debían ser construidas entre 1939 y 1946 y el personal naval de la Kriegsmarine debía ser ampliado a 201.000 hombres a un costo de 33.000 millones de Reichsmark. Este proyecto nunca se hizo realidad, debido a que, por un lado, nunca se contó con los recursos que requería el ambicioso plan, y por otro, no iba a pasar desapercibido a las otras naciones europeas.

La realización del Plan Z comenzó el 29 de enero de 1939, con la construcción de dos acorazados de la clase H. Pero, sólo cuatro meses después, Alemania atacó a Polonia y se paralizaron todos los trabajos que seguían el Plan Z, a causa de las nuevas condiciones presentadas por la guerra. En los siguientes meses, todas la naves incompletas del Plan Z se abandonaron y el material fue usado para la construcción masiva de "U-Boot".

[editar] Naves

Al comienzo de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, la Kriegsmarine consistía en seis acorazados, doce cruceros pesados y ligeros, y había siete naves en proceso de construcción. Completaban esta pequeña flota, 21 destructores y 57 U-Boot. Comparada con las flotas británica, estadounidense o francesa, la alemana era una flota pequeña. Pero al principio de la guerra, esta pequeña flota se anotó espectaculares triunfos sobre la flota británica.

Aunque sus U-Boot, representaron una amenaza real hasta mediados de 1943, las grandes unidades se superficie no demostraron ser eficaces en la segunda mitad del conflicto. Causa de ello fueron las restricciones de combustible, una errada política de construcciones navales, y restricciones operacionales dictadas por el estamento político nazi. A partir de 1943, las naves de la Kriegsmarine no fueron capaces de continuar los éxitos del periodo 1939 - 1941.

Algunas de las naves que tenía la Kriegsmarine no llegaron a entrar en servicio. Las naves que tenían mayor porte fueron las protagonistas de los combates navales; sin embargo, las unidades menores que conformaban la escuadra alemana, fueron las que preparaban el camino a los grandes navíos y los protegían a su entrada y salida del puerto.

Algunos tipos de naves no encajan claramente en las clasificaciones de barcos comúnmente usadas.

Acorazados (Schlachtschiff): Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Bismarck y Tirpitz. Portaaviones (Flugzeugträger): La construcción del Graf Zeppelin comenzó

en 1936, junto con un barco escolta que no fue nombrado y empezado dos años después en 1938, pero ninguno de estos dos fue terminado.

En 1942 se empezó la conversión de 3 barcos de pasajeros alemanes y 2 cruceros inconclusos -el capturado crucero ligero francés De Grasse y el crucero pesado alemán Seydlitz- a portaaviones auxiliares, pero para 1943 el proceso de conversión fue detenido por falta de materiales.1 Sin algún portaaviones en entrenamiento, las órdenes para el bombardero Fieseler Fi 167 de torpedos y reconocimiento fueron canceladas.

Acorazados pre-Dreadnought: Schlesien y Schleswig-Holstein Acorazados de bolsillo (Panzerschiffe): Deutschland / Lützow, Admiral

Scheer y Admiral Graf Spee. La Kriegsmarine los reclasificó como cruceros pesados (Schwere Kreuzer) en 1940.2

Cruceros pesados (Schwere Kreuzer): Admiral Hipper, Blücher, Prinz Eugen, Seydlitz (no terminado)

Cruceros ligeros (Leichter Kreuzer): Emden, Königsberg, Karlsruhe, Köln, Leipzig y Nürnberg.

Destructores (Zerstörer): Varios destructores de las clases "Zerstörer 1934A", "Zerstörer 1936", "Zerstörer 1936A", "Zerstörer 1936B", "Zerstörer 1936C", "Zerstörer 1938A/Ac", "Zerstörer 1938B", "Zerstörer 1942", "Zerstörer 1944", "Zerstörer 1945" y "Spähkreuzer".

Destructores de escolta (Schnelle Geleitboote): Varios destructores de escolta de las clases "Geleitboot 1941" y "Flottenbegleiter"

Torpederos (Torpedoboot): Varios torpederos de las clases "Torpedoboot 1923", "Torpedoboot 1924", "Torpedoboot 1935", "Torpedoboot 1937", "Flottentorpedoboot 39", "Flottentorpedoboot 40", "Flottentorpedoboot 41" y "Flottentorpedoboot 44".

Lanchas rápidas de ataque (Schnellboote): Varias unidades de las clases "Schnellboote 1931", "Schnellboote 1933", "Schnellboote 1934", "Schnellboote 1937", "Schnellboote 1939", "Schnellboote 1939/40",

"Leichte Schnellboote", "Küstenminenleger", "Kleinstschnellboote", "Tragflügelboote", "Turboj. Tragflügelboote" y "Subm. Tragflügelboote"

Dragaminas (Minensuchboote); Varios dragaminas de las clases "Minensuchboote 1935", "Minensuchboote 1940", "Minensuchboote 1943", "Minenräumboote R 130-150 Series" y "Sperrbrecher 32".

Minadores (Minenleger): "Minenleger", Brandenburg, 'Brummmer, Drache, Kamerun, Lothringen, "Niedersachsen, Oldenburg, Tannenberg y Togo.

Cruceros auxiliares (Hilfskreuzer): Orion, Atlantis, Widder, Thor, Pinguin, Stier, Komet, Kormoran, Michel, Togo, Hansa y Coburg.

Buques de desembarco (Marinefährprahm): Varias unidades de los tipos "Marinefährprahm Tipo D" (MFP), "Marine Nachschub Leichter" (MNL), "Marine Artillerie Leichter" (MAL), "Artilleriefährprahm" (AFP), "Siebel Fähre" y "Transport Hydrofoil VS8".

Barcos rápidos (Flottentender): Hela, Tsingtau, Adolf Lüderitz, Carl Peters, Otto Wünsche, Waldemar Kophamel y Wilhelm Bauer.

Buques batería antiaéreas (Schwimmende Flakbatterie): Arcona, Ariadne, Medusa, Niobe, Nymphe, Thetis y Undine.

Submarinos (U-Boote): Varias unidades de submarinos de los tipos "Typ I", "Typ II", "Typ VII", "Typ IX", "Typ X", "Typ XIV", "Submarinos del tipo XXI" y "Typ XXIII".

Submarinos enanos : Varias unidades de submarinos enanos tipos "Bemannter Torpedo Typ Neger", Marder, Molch, Hecht, Biber y Seehund.

Naves de entrenamiento (Artillerieschulschiff): "Artilerieschulschiff Bremse" y "Artilerieschulschiff Brummer".

Buques varios : Aviso Grille, ZielschiffeHessen, ZielschiffeZähringen, "Kanonenboot 1938", "Kanonenboot 1941", FlugsicherungsschiffRichthoffen y "Vorpostenboot".

Buques auxiliares (Troßschiff): Dithmarschen, Nordmark, Uckermark, Franken y Ermland

Waffen-SSDe Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libreSaltar a navegación, búsqueda

Waffen-SS

Emblema oficial

Activa ← 1939 –1945

País Tercer Reich

Tipo Fuerzas especiales

Tamaño 950.000 efectivos

Comandantes

Comandantes derenombre

Heinrich Himmler

Cultura e historia

Batallas/guerras Segunda Guerra Mundial

Las Waffen-SS eran el cuerpo de combate de élite de las Schutzstaffel (más conocidas como las SS, o escuadras de protección). Dirigidas por el Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, las Waffen-SS participaron en la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Finalizada la guerra algunos de sus líderes fueron juzgados por crímenes de guerra.

Comenzaron como unidad de protección y choque de la dirección del Partido Nazi, hasta convertirse en una fuerza de combate de 950.000 soldados aproximadamente, de los que 352.000 murieron en acción y 50.000 desaparecieron.

Se batieron bajo el signo de las Waffen-SS hombres de unas veinticinco nacionalidades. En los Juicios de Núremberg, las Waffen-SS fueron condenadas como parte de una organización criminal debido a su participación en atrocidades y crímenes de guerra.

Contenido

[ocultar]

1 Comienzos 2 Bautismo de fuego 3 Divisiones clásicas de las Waffen-SS 4 Voluntarios y reclutas extranjeros 5 Crímenes de guerra 6 Lista de divisiones de las Waffen-SS 7 Referencias 8 Véase también 9 Enlaces externos

[editar] Comienzos

Dos efectivos de la Waffen SS, armados con subametralladoras MP40.

El cuadro original de las Waffen-SS procedió de los Freikorps y de la Reichswehr además de varias formaciones paramilitares de extrema derecha. Formada a iniciativa de Heinrich Himmler, la Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH) fue la primera unidad a partir de la cual se crearon el resto de unidades de las Waffen-SS. Cuando las SA fueron depuradas en la Noche de los Cuchillos Largos, muchos hombres pidieron su traslado a las SS, engrosándose así sus filas y dando por resultado la formación de nuevas unidades incluyendo las SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT) y las SS-Totenkopfverbände(SS-TV). Al principio las Waffen-SS fueron dotadas con armamento de segunda mano y el material y equipo de muchas unidades era de origen checoslovaco y austríaco. Esta política continuó durante toda la guerra, a excepción de un selecto grupo de divisiones formadas con personal de origen germánico, que fueron dotadas con el mejor material. La mayor parte del material y equipo de mejor calidad fue destinado también a equipar otras divisiones de élite de la Wehrmacht, como la Panzer-Grenadier-Division Großdeutschland, la 130. Panzer-Lehr-Division y la división División Hermann Göring de la Luftwaffe

[editar] Bautismo de fuego

Efectivos de la Waffen SS en una unidad motorizada de la División Totenkpof en la Unión Soviética, en 1942.

Cuando se acercó el comienzo de la guerra, Himmler pidió la formación de varias unidades de combate a partir de los SS-Standarten (unidades del tamaño de un regimiento). Las tres unidades resultantes(la LSSAH, las SSVT y las SSTV) participaron en la invasión de Polonia. Durante la campaña en el oeste, la Totenkopf y la LSSAH estuvieron implicadas en varias atrocidades. El rendimiento de las Waffen-SS fue mediocre durante estas campañas. El pobre rendimiento inicial de las unidades Waffen-SS fue principalmente debido al énfasis en el adoctrinamiento político más que en la instrucción militar antes de la guerra. Esto fue en gran parte debido a la escasez de instructores experimentados, que prefirieron permanecer con el ejército regular (Wehrmacht). A pesar de ello, la experiencia ganada en las campañas de Polonia, Francia y de los Balcanes, y la peculiar forma de adiestramiento, pronto convirtieron a las Waffen-SS en auténticas unidades de élite. En varias ocasiones, las Waffen-SS fueron criticadas por el ejército regular a causa de su indiferencia ante las bajas en el combate. Sin embargo, las divisiones Waffen-SS demostraron ser unas unidades excepcionales y disciplinadas sobre todo en Carelia.

Las Waffen-SS probaron de verdad su valor durante la tercera batalla de Karkov, donde el II.SS-Panzerkorps bajo el mando del SS-Brigadeführer Paul Hausser recobró la ciudad y detuvo la ofensiva soviética, salvando a las fuerzas del grupo de ejércitos de Erich von Manstein. A mediados de 1943, el II.SS-Panzerkorps participó en la operación Ciudadela y el LSSAH, la división DasReich y el Totenkopf (ahora divisiones de Panzergrenadier) participaron en las batallas de Kursk. Mientras que el éxito de las divisiones aumentó, lo hizo también la dificultad de las misiones que se les asignaron. En los meses del final de la guerra, a las formaciones Waffen-SS se les encomendaron misiones imposibles por parte de Hitler, que las veía eficaces en el combate, así como también fieles en lo político. La operación Konrad para liberar el cerco de Budapest y la operación de Frühlingserwachen para recobrar los campos petrolíferos húngaros resultaron condenadas al fracaso, y Hitler proclamó que las Waffen-SS tenían que ser disueltas y agregadas a otras unidades, ordenando el retiro de títulos honoríficos. La orden disgustó y no fue cumplida por el comandante de VI.SS-Panzer-Armee, SS-Oberstgruppenführer Josef "Sepp" Dietrich .

[editar] Divisiones clásicas de las Waffen-SS

Como los cuerpos Waffen-SS eran de batalla en campo abierto, varias de sus divisiones fueron consideradas de élite. Estas divisiones fueron caracterizadas por una moral extremadamente alta y una capacidad excelente en el combate, así como estar politizados en la misión de una cruzada contra el bolchevismo y la "defensa de Europa". También fueron beneficiados con frecuencia con el mejor equipo y armamento disponible. Hacia el final de la guerra, las SS disponían de sus propios laboratorios científicos y fabricas de desarrollo tecnológico militar, acaparando el control de las "armas secretas".

Estas divisiones se refieren como las divisiones clásicas Waffen-SS, e incluyen el LSSAH, Das Reich, Totenkopf, Wiking, Wallonie, Hohenstaufen, Frundsberg, Nordland, Charlomagne y la Hitlerjugend.

Las Waffen-SS también disponían de unidades de caballería, como la 8ª SS Kavallerie-Division "Florian Geyer".

[editar] Voluntarios y reclutas extranjeros

Artículo principal:Divisiones de las Waffen-SS

Himmler, deseando ampliar los Waffen-SS, se inspiró en la Legión Extranjera Francesa, intentando justificar la guerra como una cruzada contra el comunismo. A fines de 1940 se crea la primera unidad multinacional de las SS, la División Wiking, bajo el mando del Obergruppenführer Felix Steiner , que aglutinaba a combatientes escandinavos. La División Wiking entró en combate pocos días después del lanzamiento de la Operación Barbarroja, demostrando ser una unidad eficiente.

Posteriormente se crearían divisiones danesas, flamencas, noruegas, finlandesas y holandesas, las cuales entrarían rapidamente en combate. Posteriormente se buscaron a reclutas más alejados del ideal germánico, pero siempre bajo las órdenes de oficiales alemanes. A partir de 1942, varias formaciones nuevas fueron conformadas por letones, estonios, ucranianos y de bosnios

Muchos militantes anticomunistas de distintas partes de Europa engrosaron las filas de las SS, con el pretexto de la lucha contra el marxismo. Hacia finales de 1943, el número de los reclutas voluntarios era insuficiente para resolver las necesidades militares alemanes.

Al final de la guerra, voluntarios franceses y españoles de las SS, junto con el remanente del 11.SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division Nordland, participaron de la defensa final del Reichstag en 1945. Después de la rendición alemana, muchos voluntarios fueron presos y puestos en confinamiento en sus países de origen, bajo cargos de colaboracionismo y/o traición, pero en la mayoría de los casos se les ejecutó.

Muchos otros voluntarios extranjeros de las Waffen-SS evitaron el castigo enrolándose en la Legión Extranjera francesa, y muchos de estos soldados provenientes de las SS lucharon y murieron en la batalla de Dien Bien Phu en 1954, en pleno conflicto colonial en Vietnam. Un caso excepcional fue el de Léon Degrelle (líder de la Legión Valonia), que escapó hacia España, en donde con la complicidad de la dictadura de Franco, y pesar de ser condenado a muerte en rebeldía por las autoridades belgas por traición, vivió un tranquilo exilio hasta su muerte en Málaga en 1994.

En total lucharon bajo las órdenes de las Waffen-SS hombres de unas veinticinco nacionalidades; entre ellos, albaneses, armenios, belgas, croatas, checoslovacos, daneses, estonios, españoles, finlandeses, franceses, griegos, holandeses, ingleses, italianos, letones, lituanos, noruegos, húngaros, rumanos, rusos, suecos y ucranianos.

[editar] Crímenes de guerra

Cadáveres de efectivos norteamericanos fusilados por elementos de la Segunda División de la SS "Das Reich", en Malmedy, Las Ardenas.

Varias unidades de las Waffen-SS estuvieron implicadas en crímenes de guerra. Los casos más notorios de estos crímenes fueron Oradour-sur-Glane, Marzabotto y la masacre de Malmedy. Otras unidades, integradas en algunos casos por ex criminales, por ejemplo los Einsatzgruppen, por prisioneros de guerra rusos, y mandadas por fanáticos como Oskar Dirlewanger y Bronislaw Kaminski, participaron también en estos crímenes. Después de acciones como la Sublevación de Varsovia en 1944, las quejas del ejército dieron lugar a que estas últimas unidades fueran disueltas y a que varios de sus miembros, posteriormente a la guerra (Kaminski incluido), fueran ejecutados por su activo papel en dichos incidentes. De forma similar, la unidad Waffen-Sturm-Brigade RONA tiene en su expediente de combate el haber asesinado a prisioneros americanos, así como una conducta intolerable. Mientras que divisiones como la Nordland y la Nord mantuvieron sus expedientes virtualmente intachables, la mayoría de las divisiones Waffen-SS estuvieron implicadas, por lo menos, en acciones cuestionables. Por ejemplo, el personal de la Totenkopf tenía asignada la vigilancia de los campos de concentración y exterminio. Sin importar el expediente individual de las unidades de combate dentro de las Waffen-SS, la organización entera fue declarada una organización criminal por el tribunal militar internacional durante los Juicios de Núremberg, a excepción de los soldados rasos, que fueron eximidos de ese juicio debido a la movilización forzada. Las acciones de Himmler y de la jerarquía nazi en la estructura de las SS, los campos de concentración y los Einsatzgruppen dejaron claro que tal decisión era inevitable.

[editar] Lista de divisiones de las Waffen-SS

Artículo principal:Divisiones de las Waffen SS

Las divisiones Waffen-SS estaban tácticamente bajo el mando del ejército mientras que otras unidades como el Totenkopf estaban bajo el mando de las SS. En conjunto 38 divisiones fueron empleadas activamente en combate, las cuales estaban divididas en las siguientes ramas:

3 Kavallerie-Divisionen (División de caballería) 7 Panzer-Divisionen (División acorazadas) 8 Panzer-Grenadier-Divisionen (División de infantería mecanizada) 1 Gebirgs-Divisionen (División de montaña) 4 Waffen-Gebirgs-Divisionen (División de montaña no alemanas) 5 Grenadier-Divisionen (División de infantería) 10 Waffen-Grenadier-Divisionen (División de infantería no alemana)

Luftwaffe (Wehrmacht)De Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libreSaltar a navegación, búsqueda

Luftwaffe

Activa ← 1924 - 1945

País Tercer Reich

Tipo Fuerza aérea

Comandantes

Comandantes derenombre

Hermann Göring

Cultura e historia

Batallas/guerras Segunda Guerra Mundial, Guerra Civil Española

La Luftwaffe (literalmente Arma aérea) es el término en alemán usado para referirse a la Fuerza Aérea histórica del ejército de Alemania desde su creación en 1910 hasta el final del régimen nazi del III Reich en 1945 y sustituida por la fuerza aérea Luftwaffe (Bundeswehr), fuerzas armadas de la República Federal integradas en la OTAN en 1955.

Contenido

[ocultar]

1 Historia o 1.1 Orígenes o 1.2 Acciones hasta 1939 o 1.3 La II Guerra Mundial: Blitzkrieg (1939-1942) o 1.4 Inflexión en la guerra aérea: Batalla de Inglaterra y Stalingrado o 1.5 Defensa de Alemania (1943-1945)

2 Organización o 2.1 Jerarquía

3 Aviones Empleados en la Guerra (1936-1945) o 3.1 Material y equipamiento

3.1.1 Aeronaves Destacadas o 3.2 Ases de la Luftwaffe

4 Véase también

[editar] Historia

[editar] Orígenes

Creada después de la I Guerra Mundial, el Tratado de Versalles decretó su disolución. Fue Hitler quien la creó, siguiendo una politica militarista. En la realidad nunca desapareció. La sección de aviación siguió existiendo en la Reichswehr, pero de manera oculta dentro de su organigrama.

Desde 1924, pilotos, tripulaciones y mecánicos recibían entrenamiento en la Unión Soviética en el aeródromo de Lípetsk. Tras la llegada de los nazis al poder, Adolf Hitler encargó a Hermann Göring su reorganización en 1935 en clara violación del Tratado de Versalles.

[editar] Acciones hasta 1939

Durante la Guerra Civil Española, la Luftwaffe fue enviada por Hitler en apoyo de las fuerzas del bando nacional con el nombre de Legión Cóndor.

[editar] La II Guerra Mundial: Blitzkrieg (1939-1942)

Al estallar el conflicto, la Luftwaffe, dirigida por Hermann Göring, dispuso de una relativa superioridad, probada en España, en comparación con las fuerzas aéreas de otros países implicados en la guerra.

Göring llegó a declarar: "Estados Unidos podrá producir Fords y Chevrolets, pero no podrá nunca fabricar buenos aviones." A pesar de una capacidad de producción cuantitativamente inferior en Alemania, gracias a la calidad de las aeronaves, de sus pilotos y sus novedosas estrategias, demostraron su superioridad en los primeros años de la guerra frente a las fuerzas aéreas aliadas.

Atacando de manera combinada con las unidades motorizadas y blindadas, participaron en las victorias de las campañas de Polonia y Francia.

[editar] Inflexión en la guerra aérea: Batalla de Inglaterra y Stalingrado

A pesar de las numerosas victorias aéreas de los pilotos alemanes y su preparación, la Luftwaffe, por una estrategia errónea y mal dirigida, fue derrotada en 1940 durante la Batalla de Inglaterra, donde perdió numeroso material y pilotos experimentados.

Posteriormente, fracasó nuevamente en la defensa y aprovisionamiento de la Wehrmacht sitiada y derrotada en Stalingrado.

A partir de entonces, al igual que ocurrió con el resto del ejército alemán, cedió la capacidad ofensiva y paulativamente se centró en la defensa del suelo alemán contra los bombardeos masivos a la población civil por parte de los aliados.

[editar] Defensa de Alemania (1943-1945)

Luftwaffe 1941-1945.

Durante toda la guerra, los pilotos alemanes reclamaron el derribo de aproximadamente 70.000 aeronaves aliadas, de las cuales 15.400 fueron derribadas por apenas 105 pilotos de la Luftwaffe, que superaron las cien victorias de manera individual.

[editar] Organización

Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring.

La Luftwaffe fue desarrollada pareja al ejército gracias a la acción de Hermann Göring y su estrecha relación con Hitler.

[editar] Jerarquía

Existían varias organizaciones de combate. Se desarrolló un método propio de identificación en función del rango para los aparatos, que permitía precisar con exactitud su adscripción y su función.

El sistema asignaba una marca especial para cada uno de los "Gruppen" (grupos) que integraban un "Geschwader" (ala) determinada, así como un color para cada "Staffel" (escuadrón) del "Gruppe", que se aplicaba a las marcas y número particular de cada aparato, lo que permitía individualizarlo.

El sistema experimentó algunas modificaciones durante el transcurso de la guerra, en función de la experiencia en combate y de las necesidades del frente. También se diferenciaba según el piloto que llevara el avión, que distinguía varios rangos, como el de Kommodore (comandante del ala), Adjutant o Einsatzoffizier.

[editar] Aviones Empleados en la Guerra (1936-1945)

A lo largo de la guerra, la Luftwaffe, a través de las principales empresas aeronaúticas del país, diseño y construyó miles de aviones a una media de casi 15.000 aviones anuales (1250 aviones mensuales), en total antes y durante la guerra las industrias alemanas construyeron casi 86.000 aviones, de todas las formas, modalidades y usos, y de distintos fabricantes :

·Junkers Ju 52 (4500 aviones construidos): Fue uno de los aviones más utilizados por Alemania; avión polivalente, usado normalmente para operaciones paracaidistas y de suministro; sus mayores apariciones tuvieron lugar durante la invasión por tropas aerotranportadas y paracaidistas de Creta y la batalla de Stalingrado, donde eran los Ju-52 los encargados de hacer llegar víveres a los soldados sitiados.

·Junkers Ju 87Stuka (5700 aviones construidos): Es uno de los aviones más característicos y conocidos de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, conocido por su ataque en picado y su sonido característico.

·Junkers Ju 88 (15.000 aviones construidos): Fue, junto al He-111 el avión pesado por excelencia para operaciones de bombardeo; ampliamente usado durante la Batalla de Inglaterra, fue operado y fabricado durante todo la guerra y en grandes cantidades por sus buenas prestaciones y su alta fiabilidad; entre otras cosas su velocidad (550 Km/H) era todo un record para un bombardero pesado.

·Heinkel He 111 (7300 aviones construidos): Bombardero que se produjo en grades cantidades; fue uno de los aviones insignia de la Luftwaffe, bombardero usado durante toda la guerra fabricado por la casa aeronaútica Heinkel .

·Heinkel He 51 (700 aviones construidos): A pesar de que se construyeron cientos de unidades, este avión quedo obsoleto incuso antes del comienzo de la guerra, debido a la aparición del Messerschmitt Bf 109, su mayor aparición fue en 1936, durante la guerra civil española.

·Heinkel He 177Greif (1180 aviones construidos): Se trataba de un avión bombardero pesado de largo alcance y con una alta capacidad en cuanto a número de bombas que podía transportar, se fabricaron mas de un millar.

·Heinkel He 162 (170 aviones construidos): Fue el modelo de avión a reacción fabricado por Heinkel, pero solo se produjeron menos de dos centenas, debido al uso del otro avión a reacción, el Messerschmitt Me 262.

·Heinkel He 219 (300 aviones construidos, aproximadamente): Avión nocturno, construido por la casa Heinkel, pudo ser un avión revolucionario, pero su puesta en escena (1945) hizo que no tuviera una alta participación debido al bajo número de aviones construidos, a pesar de ello, en las operaciones en que participo, demostró su superioridad en todos los aspectos, contra sus semejantes británicos y estadounidenses, además de sus bombarderos.

Escuadrilla de Stukas

·Focke-Wulf Fw 190 (20.000 aviones construidos): Además de ser uno de los aviones más fabricados de la guerra, fue también el avión al que se le encargó la tarea de sustituir al Messerschmitt Bf 109; objetivo que lo consiguió solo parcialmente a pesar de sus excelentes prestaciones.

·Focke-Wulf Fw 200Condor (200 aviones construidos): Avión usado para transporte, reconocimiento a largas distancias y bombardero de objetivos marítimos, no tuvo un gran número de aviones fabricados, por lo que su impacto en la guerra no fue muy significativo.

·Focke-Wulf Ta 152 (67 aviones construidos): Fue un prototipo de caza de Focke-Wulf, que no llegó a pasar a producción, por la aparición de otros modelos mejores de caza.

·Messerschmitt Bf 109 (33.000 aviones construidos): Fue el avión más fabricado de la guerra; fue el caza por excelencia de la aviación alemana; considerado de ultima generación y ultramoderno al principio de la guerra, permaneció en primera línea hasta 1944, cuando (parcialmente) fue sustituido por el Focke-Wulf Fw 190.

·Messerschmitt Bf 110 (6170 aviones construidos): Un avión muy polivalente usado durante toda la guerra, se trataba de un bombardero ligero, que podía ser dirigido por un único combatiente, desempeño también tareas de caza nocturno o cazabombardero.

·Messerschmitt Me 262 (1400 aviones construidos): A pesar de que no fue el primer avión de la historia propulsado a reacción si se convirtió en el primero en entrar en combate de la historia, además de ser el primero que se produjo en cantidades considerables; como en otras circunstancias, a pesar de su gran superioridad (900 Km/H, contra 700 Km/H) su tardanza en entrar en sevicio (se empezó a producir a nivel industrial en Septiembre de 1944, cuando el prototipo estaba listo desde 1941) no permitió virar el curso de la guerra.

·Messerschmitt Me 163Komet (370 aviones construidos): Sus 970 Km/H lo convertian en el avión más rápido de la Luftwaffe; estaba propulsado por un cohete en su parte trasera, cuyo combustible y funcionamiento era el mismo que propulsaba los V-1 y los V-2, fue el único avión cohete que entro en combate en grandes cantidades.

·Messerschmitt Me 323Gigant (340 aviones construidos): Uno de los mayores aviones de la Luftwaffe, estaba propulsado por 4 potentes motores, su principal misión era el transporte de víveres o de soldados, etc.

·Arado Ar 196 (540 aviones construidos): Inicialmente concebida para ser usada en el futuro portaaviones Graf Zeppelin , finalmente se uso como hidroavión para patrulla costera.

·Serie AR tambien fueron construidos (500 aviones construidos, aproximadamente): Fue una serie de varios bombarderos, construidos por la empresa Arados, el más famoso de ellos y que en mayores cantidades se produjo (144) fue el Arado Ar 232.

·Dornier Do 17 (1700 aviones construidos): Fue un bombardero táctico pesado.

·Henschel Hs 123 (1500 aviones construidos, aproximadamente): Fue un avión que como ocurrió con otros aviones, a pesar de la alta cantidad de aviones producidos quedó obsoleto incluso antes de la guerra; en el caso de este avión, su sustituto fue el Stuka, muy superior; el Hs 123 era un avión biplano, que como el Junkers Ju 87, bombardeaba en picado.

·Fieseler Fi 156Storch (2500 aviones construidos): se trataba de una avioneta producida en grandes cantidades, que era pilotada por un único piloto, su principal labor eran las labores de enlace y mensajería.

·Junkers Ju 188 (1200 aviones construidos): Estuvo 3 años en servicio este bombardero de gran capacidad, era el avión alemán con mayor rendimiento y mayor radio de acción.

·Henschel Hs 129 (865 aviones construidos): Su misión era la de ataque a tierra para la destrucción de elementos acorazados, pero su bajo número de unidades fabricadas supuso que no tuviera un gran impacto en la guerra.

·Junkers Ju 388 (69 aviones construidos): Avión polivalente , introducido muy tarde en la

guerra, y por los problemas de producción y las condiciones generales de la guerra provocaron que solo fueran entregados unos pocos.

[editar] Material y equipamiento

La Luftwaffe estuvo equipada con aeronaves generalmente de gran capacidad diseñadas por diferentes empresas:

Arado Flugzeugwerke o Arado Ar 196 o Arado Ar 232 o Arado Ar 234 o Arado Ar 240 o Arado E.555 o Arado E.560

Bachem o Bachem Ba 349

Blohm & Voss o BV 40 o BV 155

Dornier o Do 17 o Do 215 o Do 335

Heinkel o He 50 o He 60 o He 66 o He 70 o He 111 o He 118 o Hs 123 o Hs 127 o Hs 129 o Hs 132 o He 162 o He 177 o He 178 (primer avión de motor a reacción en servicio)o He 343 o Heinkel Lerche II

o Heinkel Wespe

Junkers o Ju 87 o Ju 88 o Junkers Ju-88C/R/G/H

Fieseler o Fi 156 o Fi 167

Focke-Wulf o Fw 190 o Fw 200 o Ta-152 o Focke-Wulf Fw 200 o Focke-Wulf Fw 300

Gothaer Waggonfabrik o Gotha Go 244 o Horten Ho 229

Messerschmitt o Bf 109 o Bf 110 o Me 163 o Me 262 o Me 321 o Me 323

Siebel o Siebel Si 201

La aparición de estas aeronaves revolucionó los combates aéreos debido fundamentalmente a varios factores como son: su fiabilidad, su avanzada tecnología para la época en que hicieron su aparición, sus poderosos armamentos y la rapidez de éstas con relación a sus rivales.

[editar] Aeronaves Destacadas

A continuación se relacionan las aeronaves más destacadas por su precedencia, así como por su recordación:

Messerschmitt Bf 109

Era un caza monoplaza que luego se convertiría en un cazabombardero. Estaba dotado de un motor Daimler-Benz DB601A de 12 cilindros en V invertida, refrigerado por líquido y generaba unos 1,175 hp. Su peso vacío era de 1,900 kg y con carga de 2,665 kg. Su velocidad máxima era de 560 km/h a 4,440 m, su ascensión inicial era de 1,000 m/min. Su techo era de 10,500 m máximo y poseía una autonomía de 660 km.

Messerschmitt Me 262 "Schwalbe"

[editar] Ases de la Luftwaffe

Erich Hartmann (352 victorias), con un avión Messerschmitt Bf-109, derribó a su primer enemigo el 5 de noviembre de 1942 con 20 años. Al finalizar la guerra, se rindió a los americanos, pero estos lo entregaron a los rusos, ya que toda su carrera la hizo en el Frente Ruso. Fue condenado a 20 años de prisión acusado de "provocar grandes daños y sabotear la industria soviética". De sus 352 derribos, 345 eran aviones soviéticos y 7 aviones americanos tipo P-51 Mustang.

Helmut Lent (110 victorias) fue el as de la caza nocturna, derribando 102 aviones enemigos en misiones nocturnas. Murió en combate.

Adolf Galland , piloto desde los años 30, participó en la Guerra Civil Española y se hizo famoso en la Batalla de Inglaterra liderando el Ala 26 de Caza. Finalizando la guerra, recibió el mando de un grupo de caza equipado con los reactores Me 262.

Hans-Ulrich Rudel , poseedor de la más alta condecoración concedida a un militar, la Cruz de Caballero de la Cruz de Hierro con Hojas de Roble en Oro, Espadas y Brillantes, y una impresionante hoja de servicios, tiene en su haber 2.530 misiones de combate, destruyendo 519 tanques soviéticos, un acorazado, dos cruceros, 11 aviones y más de 70 embarcaciones fluviales. Las bajas soviéticas causadas por Rudel se calculan en 4.300 efectivos.

Werner Mölders fue el principal táctico de la Luftwaffe. Ingresó en la Luftwaffe a principios de los años 30. Durante la Guerra Civil Española, estando al mando de una escuadrilla de cazas, observó lo obsoleto de las tácticas aéreas usadas por la Legión Cóndor, por lo que actualizó las tácticas aéreas desarrolladas por Oswald Boelcke en la Primera Guerra Mundial. Sus tácticas revolucionaron el combate aéreo. A lo largo de los cuatro años siguientes, por méritos de guerra pasaría de ser teniente en 1938 a general en 1941. Nombrado Inspector de la Caza Alemana, moriría en accidente aéreo en noviembre de 1941

SchutzstaffelFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search

"SS" redirects here. For other uses, see SS (disambiguation).

SS

Schutzstaffel

SS insignia

Adolf Hitler inspects the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler on

arrival at Klagenfurt in April 1938.

Agency overview

Formed 1925

Preceding agenciesSturmabteilung

Stabswache

Dissolved May 8, 1945

JurisdictionGermany

German-occupied Europe

Headquarters

SS-Hauptamt, Prinz-Albrecht-Straße,

Berlin

52°30′26″N

13°22′57″E 52.50722°N 13.3825°E

Employees 1,250,000 (c. February 1945)

Ministers

responsible

Adolf Hitler, Führer

Heinrich Himmler, Reichsführer

Agency executives

Julius Schreck, Reichsführer-SS

(Reich Leader of the SS)

(1925–1926)

Joseph Berchtold, Reichsführer-SS

(1926–1927)

Erhard Heiden, Reichsführer-SS

(1927–1929)

Heinrich Himmler, Reichsführer-SS

(1929–1945)

Karl Hanke, Reichsführer-SS

(29 April – May 1945)

Parent agency NSDAP

Child agencies

Allgemeine SS

Waffen-SS (SS-Verfügungstruppe)

SS-Totenkopfverbände

RSHA - Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo) and

Sicherheitsdienst (SD)

Ordnungspolizei

The Schutzstaffel (German pronunciation: [ˈʃʊtsʃtafəl]  ( listen), Protection Squadron), abbreviated SS—or with stylized "Armanen" Sig runes — was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS, under Heinrich Himmler's command, was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II (1939–1945). After 1945, the SS was banned in Germany, along with the Nazi Party, as a criminal organization.

The SS was formed in 1925 as a personal protection guard unit for Adolf Hitler. Under the leadership of Heinrich Himmler between 1929 and 1945, the SS grew from a small paramilitary formation to one of the largest and most powerful organizations in the Third Reich.[1][2][3]

Contents

[hide]

1 Background o 1.1 Special ranks and uniforms o 1.2 Class egalitarianism o 1.3 Merger with police forces o 1.4 Personal control of Himmler

2 History o 2.1 Origins o 2.2 Development o 2.3 Early SS Disunity

3 The SS before 1933 o 3.1 1925–1928 o 3.2 1929–1931 o 3.3 1931–1933

4 The SS after the Nazi seizure of power o 4.1 1934–1936 o 4.2 1936–1939

5 The SS during World War II o 5.1 SS and police leaders o 5.2 SS offices o 5.3 Allgemeine-SS o 5.4 Waffen-SS o 5.5 Germanic-SS o 5.6 Auxiliary-SS

6 SS Units and Branches o 6.1 Concentration camps o 6.2 Security services o 6.3 Death squads o 6.4 Special action units o 6.5 SS and police courts o 6.6 Special protection units

7 SS Special Purpose Corps o 7.1 SS Cavalry Corps o 7.2 SS Medical Corps o 7.3 SS Helferinnen Corps o 7.4 SS Scientific Corps

8 Other SS Groups

o 8.1 Austrian-SS o 8.2 Contract Workers

9 Postwar activity and ODESSA 10 See also 11 References 12 Further reading 13 External links

[edit] Background

The SS grew from a small paramilitary unit to a powerful force that served as the Führer's "Praetorian Guard", the Nazi Party's "Protection Squadron" and a force that, fielding almost a million men (both on the front lines and as political police), managed to exert as much political influence in the Third Reich as the Wehrmacht (Germany's regular armed forces).

According to the Nuremberg Trials, as well as countless war crimes investigations and trials conducted over the past sixty years, the SS was responsible for the vast majority of war crimes perpetrated under the Nazi regime. In particular, it was the primary organization which carried out The Holocaust. As a part of its race-centric functions, the SS oversaw the isolation and displacement of Jews from the populations of the conquered territories, seizing their assets and transporting them to concentration camps and ghettos where they would be used as slave labor (pending extermination) or immediately killed.

Initially a small branch of the Sturmabteilung (a German military "Storm Detachment" consisting of specially trained Stormtroopers, abbreviated in German as SA), the SS grew in size and power due to its exclusive loyalty to Adolf Hitler, as opposed to the SA, which was seen as semi-independent and a threat to Adolf Hitler's hegemony over the party. Under Himmler, the SS selected its members according to the Nazi ideology. Creating elite police and military units such as the Waffen-SS, Adolf Hitler used the SS to form an order of men claimed to be superior in racial purity and ability to other Germans and national groups, a model for the Nazi vision of a master race. During World War II, SS units operated alongside the regular Heer (German Army). However, by the final stages of the war, the SS came to dominate the Wehrmacht in order to eliminate perceived threats to Adolf Hitler's power while implementing his strategies, despite the increasingly futile German war effort.

Chosen to implement the Nazi "Final Solution" for the Jews and other groups deemed inferior (and/or enemies of the state), the SS was the lead branch in carrying out the killing, torture and enslavement of approximately twelve million people. Most victims were Jews or of Polish or other Slavic extraction. However, other racial/ethnic groups such as the Rroma made up a significant number of victims, as well. Furthermore, the SS purge was extended to those viewed as threats to "race hygiene" or Nazi ideology—including the mentally or physically handicapped, homosexuals, or political dissidents. Members of labor organizations and those perceived to be affiliated with groups (religious, political, social and otherwise) that opposed the regime, or were seen to have views contradictory to the

goals of the Nazi government, were rounded up in large numbers; these included clergy of all faiths, Jehovah's Witnesses, Freemasons, Communists, and Rotary Club members.

Foreseeing Nazi defeat in the war, a significant number of SS personnel organized their escape to South American nations. These escapes are said to have been assisted by an organization known as ODESSA, an acronym of the German phrase Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen, which translates as the Organization of Former Members of the SS. Many others were captured and prosecuted by Allied authorities at the Nuremberg Trials for war crimes, and absconding SS criminals were the targets of police forces in various Allied nations, post-war West and East Germany, Austria and Israel.

The Nazis regarded the SS as an elite unit, the party's "Praetorian Guard", with all SS personnel (originally) selected on the principles of racial purity and loyalty to the Nazi Party.[3][4] In the early days of the SS, officer candidates had to prove German ancestry to 1750. They also were required to prove that they had no Jewish ancestors. Later, when the requirements of the war made it impossible to confirm the ancestry of officer candidates, the proof of ancestry regulation was dropped.

In contrast to the black-uniformed Allgemeine SS (the political wing of the SS), the Waffen-SS (the military wing) evolved into a second German army aside the Wehrmacht (the regular national armed forces) and operating in tandem with them; especially with the Heer (German Army).

[edit] Special ranks and uniforms

Main article: Uniforms and insignia of the Schutzstaffel

The SS was distinguished from other branches of the German military, the National Socialist Party, and German state officials by its own rank structure, unit insignia, and uniforms. The all-black SS uniform was designed by SS-Oberführer Prof. Karl Diebitsch and graphic designer SS-Sturmhauptführer Walter Heck.[5] These uniforms were rarely worn after the war began, however, as Himmler ordered that the all-black uniforms be turned in for use by others. They were sent east where they were used by native auxiliary police units and west to be used by Germanic-SS units such as the ones in Holland and Denmark.[6] In place of the black uniform, SS men wore uniforms of dove-grey or Army field-grey with distinctive insignia. The uniforms were made by hundreds of clothing factories licensed by the RZM, including Hugo Boss, with some workers being prisoners of war forced into labor work.[7] Many were made in concentration camps. The SS also developed its own field uniforms. Initially these were similar to standard Wehrmacht wool uniforms but they also included reversible smocks and helmet covers printed with camouflage patterns with a brown/green "spring" side and a brown/brown "autumn" side. In 1944, the Waffen SS began using a universal camouflage uniform intended to replace the wool field uniform.

[edit] Class egalitarianism

In contrast to the Imperial military tradition, promotions in the SS were based on the individual's commitment, effectiveness and political reliability, not class or education.[8] Consequently the SS officer schools offered a military career option for those of modest social background, which was not usually possible in the Wehrmacht.[8] The relationship between officers and soldiers was also less formal than in the regular armed forces.[8] SS-officers were referred to as Führer ("leader"), not Offiziere, which had class connotations.[8]

The military rank prefix Herr ("Sir") was forbidden, and all ranks were addressed simply by their title (for example, a SS private would address a SS Major general as Brigadeführer, never Herr Brigadeführer).[8] Off duty, junior ranks would address their seniors either asKamerad ("Comrade") or Parteigenosse ("Party collegue"), depending on if both were members of the Nazi party.[8]

[edit] Merger with police forces

Main article: Ordnungspolizei

As the Nazi party monopolized political power in Germany, key government functions such as law enforcement were absorbed by the SS, while many SS organizations became de facto government agencies. To maintain the political power and security of the Nazi party (and later the nation), the SS established and ran the SD (Security service) and took over the administration of Gestapo (Secret state police), Kripo (criminal investigative police), and the Orpo (regular uniformed police).[9] Moreover, legal jurisdiction over the SS and its members was taken away from the civilian courts and given to courts run by the SS itself. These actions effectively put the SS above the law.

[edit] Personal control of Himmler

Inspection by Himmler at Dachau on 8 May 1936.

An execution of Poles by an Einsatzgruppe in Leszno, October 1939

Himmler, the leader of the SS, was a chief architect of the Final Solution. The SS Einsatzgruppen death squads , formed by his deputy, Heydrich, murdered many civilian non-combatants, mostly Jews, in the countries occupied by Germany during World War II. Himmler was responsible for establishing and operating concentration camps and extermination camps in which millions of inmates died of systematic mass gassing, shooting, hanging, inhumane treatment, overwork, malnutrition, or medical experiments. After the war, the judges of the Nuremberg Trials declared the SS and its sub-parts criminal organizations responsible for the implementation of racial policies of genocide and committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.

[edit] History

[edit] Origins

The group was first formed in 1923, as a company of the SA who were given the task of protecting senior leaders of the Nazi Party at rallies, speeches, and other public events. Commanded by Emil Maurice, and known as the Stabswache (Staff Guard), the original group consisted of eight men and was modeled after the Erhardt Naval Brigade, a violent Freikorps of the time.

After the failed 1923 Putsch by the Nazi Party, the SA and the Stabswache were abolished, yet they returned in 1925. At that time, the Stabswache was reestablished as the 30-man "Stosstrupp Adolf Hitler", given the task of providing personal protection for Hitler at Nazi Party functions and events. That same year, the Stosstrupp was expanded to a national level, and renamed successively the Sturmstaffel (storm squadron), then the Schutzkommando (protection command), and finally the Schutzstaffel (SS). The new SS was delegated to be a protection company of various Nazi Party leaders throughout Germany. Hitler's personal SS protection unit was later enlarged to include combat units and after April 13, 1934, was known as the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH).[10] After Germany mobilized in 1939, the combat units in the LSSAH were mobilized as well, leaving behind an honour guard battalion to protect Hitler. It is these SS troops that are seen at the Reich Chancellery and Hitler's Obersalzberg estate in his personal 8 mm movies.

[edit] Development

The black cap with a Totenkopf of the SS

Between 1925 and 1929, the SS was considered merely a small Gruppe of the SA and numbered no more than 1000 personnel; by 1929 that number was down to 280. On January 6, 1929, Hitler appointed Himmler as the leader of the SS, and by the end of 1932, the SS had 52,000 members. By the end of the next year, it had over 209,000 members. Himmler's expansion of the SS was based on models from other groups, such as the Knights Templar and the Italian Blackshirts. According to SS-Obergruppenführer and General of the Waffen-SS, Karl Wolff, it was also based on the model from the Society of Jesus of absolute obedience to the Pope. The motto of the SS was "Treu, Tapfer, Gehorsam" (Loyal, Valiant, Obedient).[11]

Before 1929, the SS wore the same brown uniform as the SA, with the exception of a black tie and a black cap with a Totenkopf, skull and bones, ("death's head") symbol on it. In that year Himmler extended the black colour to include breeches, boots, belts, and armband edges; and in 1932 they adopted the all-black uniform, designed by Prof. Diebitsch and Walter Heck.[12] In 1936 an "earth-grey" uniform was issued. The Waffen ("armed") SS wore a field-grey (feldgrau) uniform similar to the regular army, or Heer. During the war, Waffen-SS units wore a wide range of items printed with camouflage patterns (such as Platanenmuster,Erbsenmuster, captured Italian Telo Mimetico, etc.), while their feldgrau uniforms became largely indistinguishable from those of the Heer, save for the insignia. In 1945, the SS adopted the Leibermuster disruptive pattern that inspired many forms of modern battle dress, although it was not widely issued before the end of the war.

Their motto was "Meine Ehre heißt Treue ("My Honour is Loyalty.") The SS rank system was unique in that it did not copy the terms and ranks used by the Wehrmacht's branches (Heer ("army"), Luftwaffe ("air force"), and Kriegsmarine ("navy")), but instead used the ranks established by the post-WWI Freikorps and taken over by the SA. This was mainly done to establish the SS as being independent from the Wehrmacht, although SS ranks do generally have equivalents in the other services.

Heinrich Himmler, together with his right-hand man, Reinhard Heydrich, consolidated the power of the organization. In 1931, Himmler gave Heydrich the assignment to build an intelligence and security service inside the SS, which became the Sicherheitsdienst (SD). By the time the war began, the number of members rose to 250,000, and the Waffen-SS was formed in August 1940, expanding the earlier armed SS troops who had fought in Poland and France in 1939-40, to serve alongside the Wehrmacht, Germany's regular armed forces. Himmler also received control of the Gestapo in 1934, and, that same year, Hitler had given the SS jurisdiction over all concentration camps. In the wake of the plot against Hitler's lifeby a group of regular military generals in July 1944, the Führer came to distrust his regular military, putting ever more trust in the SS, particularly Himmler, who had acted against the plotters and their families. This attitude of Hitler's was further shown at the very end of the war, when he refused to station himself in the OKW bunker in Berlin, claiming that he did not 'trust the strength of army concrete', however the true reason was probably that he feared another generals' plot and so chose to stay in his own headquarters, surrounded by an apparently more loyal SS retinue.

[edit] Early SS Disunity

Far from the united instrument of oppression that the SS would eventually become, in its first years of existence, the SS was in fact significantly divided into several factions both geographically within Germany as well as within the structure of the SS as a whole. In addition, prior to April 1934, the Gestapo was a civilian state police agency outside the control of SS leadership. In some cases, it came into direct conflict with the SS and even attempted to arrest some of its members.

The first major division in the early SS was between SS units in Northern Germany, situated around Berlin, and SS units in southern Germany headquartered around Munich. The “Northern-SS” was under the command of Kurt Daluege who had close ties to Hermann Göring and enjoyed his position in Berlin where most of the Nazi government offices were located. This in contrast to the SS in southern Germany, commanded unquestionably by Heinrich Himmler and located mostly in Munich which was the location of the major Nazi political offices.

Within the SS, early divisions also developed between the “General SS” and the SS under the command of Sepp Dietrich which would eventually become the Waffen-SS. The early military SS was kept quite separate from the regular SS and Dietrich introduced early regulations that the military SS answered directly to Hitler, and not Himmler, and for several months even ordered his troops to wear the black SS uniform without a swastika armband to separate the soldiers from other SS units once the black uniform had become common throughout Germany.

The division between the military and general SS never entirely disappeared even in the last days of World War II. Senior Waffen-SS commanders had little respect for Himmler and he was scornfully nicknamed “Reichsheini” by the Waffen-SS rank and file. Himmler worsened his own position when he attempted to hold a military command during the last months of the war and proved totally incompetent as a field commander.

The Gestapo, which would eventually become a semi-integrated part of the SS security forces, was at first a large “thorn in the side” to Himmler as the group was originally the Prussian state political police under the control of Hermann Göring and commanded by his protege Rudolf Diels. Early Gestapo activities came into direct conflict with the SS and it was not until the SA became a common enemy that Göring turned over control of the Gestapo to Himmler and Heydrich (the three then worked together to destroy the greater threat of the SA leadership). Even so, Göring was reported to have disliked Himmler to the last days of the war and even turned down honorary SS rank since he did not want to any way be subordinated to Himmler.[13]

[edit] The SS before 1933

Main article: Units and Commands of the Schutzstaffel

[edit] 1925–1928

In early 1925, the future SS was a single, thirty-man company that was Hitler's personal bodyguard. In September, all local NSDAP offices were ordered to create body guard units of no more than ten men apiece. By 1926, six SS-Gaus were established, supervising all such units in Germany. In turn, the SS-Gaus answered to the SS-Oberleitung, the headquarters unit. The SS-Oberleitung answered to the office of the SA Chief of Staff, clearly establishing the SS as a subordinate unit of the Sturmabteilung.

Between 1926 and 1928, the SS command Gaus were as follows:

SS-Gau Berlin Brandenburg SS-Gau Franken SS-Gau Niederbayern SS-Gau Rheinland-Süd SS-Gau Sachsen

[edit] 1929–1931

In 1929, the SS-Oberleitung was expanded and reorganized into the SS-Oberstab with five main offices, as listed below:

Abteilung I: Administration Abteilung II: Personnel Abteilung III: Finance Abteilung IV: Security Abteilung V: Race

At the same time, the SS-Gaus were expanded into three SS-Oberführerbereiche as listed below

SS-Oberführerbereiche Ost SS-Oberführerbereiche West SS-Oberführerbereiche Süd

Each SS-Oberführerbereiche contained several SS-Brigaden, which in turn were divided into regiment-sized SS-Standarten.

[edit] 1931–1933

In 1931, as the SS began to increase its membership to over 100,000, the organization was again restructured beginning with the SS-Oberleitung, which was replaced by the SS-Amt, divided into five sections as follows:

Section I: Headquarters Staff Section II: Personnel Office Section III: Administration Office Section IV: SS Reserves

Section V: SS Medical Corps

In addition to the SS-Amt, the SS-Rasseamt (Race Office) and Sicherheitsdienst Amt (Office of the SD) were established as two separate offices on an equal footing with the Headquarters Office.

At the same time that the SS Headquarters was being reorganized, the SS-Oberführerbereichenwere replaced with five SS-Gruppen, listed as follows:

SS-Gruppe Nord SS-Gruppe Ost SS-Gruppe Süd SS-Gruppe Südost SS-Gruppe West

The lower levels of the SS remained unchanged between 1931 and 1933. However, it was during this time that the SS began to establish its independence from the Sturmabteilung (SA); the SS was still considered merely a sub-organization of the SA and answerable to the SA Chief of Staff.[13]

[edit] The SS after the Nazi seizure of power

After the Nazi seizure of power, the mission of the SS expanded from the protection of the person of Adolf Hitler to the internal security of the Nazi regime.[14] In 1936, Himmler described the new mission of the SS, protecting the internal security of the regime, in his pamphlet, "The SS as an Anti-bolshevist Fighting Organization."

We shall unremittingly fulfill our task, the guaranty of the security of Germany from the interior, just as the Wehr-macht guarantees the safety, the honor, the greatness, and the peace of the Reich from the exterior. We shall take care that never again in Germany, the heart of Europe, will the Jewish-Bolshevistic revolution of subhumans be able to be kindled either from within or through emissaries from without. Without pity we shall be a merciless sword of justice for all those forces whose existence and activity we know, on the day of the slightest attempt, may it be today, may it be in decades or may it be in centuries.[15]

Following Hitler's assumption of power in Germany, the SS became regarded as a state organization and a branch of the established government. The Headquarters Staff, SD, and Race Office became full-time paid employees, as did the leaders of the SS-Gruppen and some of their command staffs. The rest of the SS were considered part-time volunteers, and in this concept the Allgemeine-SS came into being.

By the autumn of 1933, Hitler's personal bodyguard (previously the 1st SS Standarte located in Munich) had been called to Berlin to replace the Army Chancellery Guard as protectors of the Chancellor of Germany. In November 1933, the SS guard in Berlin became known as the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler. In April 1934, Himmler modified the

name to Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH).[10] The LSSAH would later become the first division in the Order of Battle of the Waffen-SS.

[edit] 1934–1936

On April 20, 1934, (as a prelude to the Night of the Long Knives), Göring transferred the Gestapo to Himmler, who was also named chief of all German police forces outside Prussia; two days later Himmler named Heydrich the head of the Gestapo.[16]

SS organization ca. 1936-37

Following the Night of the Long Knives, the SS again underwent a massive reorganization. The SS-Gruppenwere renamed as SS-Oberabschnitt, and the former SS Headquarters and command offices were reorganized into three and then eight SS-Hauptämter. The SS-Hauptamt offices would eventually grow in number to twelve main offices by 1944. These offices remained unchanged in their names until the end of World War II and the fall of the SS.

By mid-1934, the SS had taken control of all concentration camps from the SA, and a new organization, the SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS-TV) had been established as the SS Concentration Camp Service. The original SS-TV was organized into six Wachtruppen at each of Germany's major concentration camps. The Wachtruppen were expanded in 1935 into Wachsturmbanne and again in 1937 into three main SS-Totenkopfstandarten. This structure would remain unchanged until 1941, when a massive labor and death camp system in the occupied territories necessitated the concentration camps to be placed under the Wirtschafts und Verwaltungshauptamt (SS-WVHA) in three main divisions of Labor Camps, Concentration Camps, and Death Camps.

The early Waffen-SS can trace its origins to 1934 in the SS-Verfügungstruppe: two Standarten (regiments) under retired general Paul Hausser armed and trained to Army standards, and held ready at the personal disposal of the Führer in peace or war. Hausser also established two Junkerschule for the training of SS officers.

[edit] 1936–1939

Troops of the SS Leibstandarte at a Nazi procession in 1939.

Himmler was named the chief of all German police (nominally in that role subordinate to Interior Minister Wilhelm Frick) on June 17, 1936. He thereby assumed control of all of the German states' regular police forces and, nationalizing them, formed the Ordnungspolizei and the Kriminalpolizei.[17] The Orpo, uniformed police, were placed under the command of SS ObergruppenführerKurt Daluege. Further, the Gestapo and the Kripo or Kriminalpolizei (Criminal Police) were incorporated into the SiPo or Sicherheitspolizei (Security Police) and considered a complementary organisation to the SD or Sicherheitsdienst (Security Service).[9] Reinhard Heydrich was head of the SiPo (made up of the Gestapo and Kripo) and SD.[17] Heinrich Müller, was chief of operations of the Gestapo. These events effectively placed all German police under the control of SS commanders. In September 1939, the security and police agencies of Nazi Germany (with the exception of the Orpo) were consolidated into the Reich Main Security Office (RSHA), headed by Heydrich.[18]

In 1939, from the existing Totenkopfverbände was formed the SS Division Totenkopf composed of members of the Concentration Camp service together with support units transferred from the Army. The Totenkopf or "Death's Head" division would later become a division of the Waffen-SS.

[edit] The SS during World War II

By the outbreak of World War II, the SS had solidified into its final form. By this point, the term "SS" could be applied to two completely separate organizations, mainly the Allgemeine-SS and the Waffen-SS. The Allgemeine-SS also had control over a third SS branch, known as the Germanic-SS, which was composed of SS groups formed in occupied territories and allied countries. In the last months of World War II, a fourth branch of the SS known as the "Auxiliary-SS" was formed from non-SS members conscripted to serve in Germany's concentration camps.

[edit] SS and police leaders

Main article: SS and Police Leader

During the Second World War, the most powerful men in the SS were the SS and Police Leaders, divided into three levels: Regular Leaders, Higher Leaders, and Supreme Leaders. Such persons normally held the rank of SS-Gruppenführer or above and answered directly to Himmler in all matters pertaining to the SS in their area of responsibility. Thus, SS and Police Leaders bypassed all other chains of command. In Himmler's grand dream of the SS, the SS and Police Leaders were eventually to become SS-Governors of the Lebensraum which would be ruled by SS-Lords, protected by SS-Legions, and worked and lived in by SS-Yeoman Warriors overseeing Slavic serfs.

[edit] SS offices

By 1942, all activities of the SS were managed through twelve main offices of the Allgemeine-SS.[19]

Hauptamt Persönlicher Stab Reichsführer-SS, Personal Staff of the Reich Leader SS (i.e., Himmler)

SS-Hauptamt , SS-HA, Main Administrative Office SS Führungshauptamt , SS-FHA, SS Main Operational Office (military command

for the Waffen-SS) Hauptamt SS-Gericht , Main Office of SS Legal Matters SS-Rasse- und Siedlungshauptamt , RuSHA, SS Office of Race and Settlement SS Personalhauptamt , SS Personnel Main Office SS-Reichssicherheitshauptamt , RSHA, Reich Main Security Office Hauptamt Ordnungspolizei, Main Office of the Order Police Wirtschafts und Verwaltungshauptamt , SS-WVHA, Economic and Administration

Main Office (which administered the concentration camp system) Hauptamt Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle , VOMI, Racial German Assistance Main

Office Hauptamt Dienststelle Heissmeyer, SS Education Office Hauptamt Reichskommissar für die Festigung Deutschen Volkstums, RKFVD, Main

Office of the Reich Commissioner for the Consolidation of German Nationhood

[edit] Allgemeine-SS

Main article: Allgemeine-SS

The Allgemeine-SS (the "General SS") refers to a non-combat branch of the SS. The Allgemeine-SS formations were divided into Standarten, organized into larger formations known as Abschnitte and Oberabschnitte. Many personnel served in other branches of the state government, Nazi Party, and certain departments within the RSHA (e.g., the SD, Gestapo and Kripo). Members of the Allgemeine-SS were considered more or less reservists with many serving the German military, or the Waffen-SS. For those who served in the

Waffen-SS, it was a standard practice to hold separate SS ranks for both the Allgemeine-SS and the Waffen-SS.

[edit] Waffen-SS

Main article: Waffen-SS

The Waffen-SS were frontline combat troops trained to fight in Germany's battles during WWII. During the early campaigns against Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland, military SS units were of regiment size and drawn from existing armed SS formations:

The Leibstandarte, Hitler's personal bodyguard. The Death's-Head Battalions (German: Totenkopfverbände), which administered the

concentration camps. The Dispositional Troops, (German: Verfügungstruppe).

For the invasion of France and the Low Countries in 1940 (Fall Gelb) the three SS-VT and three of the SS-TV regiments were each organized into divisions (the future 2nd "Das Reich" and 3rd "Totenkopf"), and another division was raised from the Ordnungspolizei (later the 4th "Polizei"). Following the campaign, these units together with the Leibstandarte and additional SS-TV Standarten were amalgamated into the newly-formed Kommandoamt der Waffen-SS within the SS-Führungshauptamt.

In 1941 Himmler announced that additional Waffen-SSFreiwilligen units would be raised from non-German foreign nationals. His goal was to acquire additional manpower from occupied nations. These foreign legions eventually included volunteers from Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands.

While the Waffen-SS remained officially outside the Armed Forces (Wehrmacht) and under Himmler's authority, they were placed under the operational command of the Armed Forces High Command (OKW) or Army High Command (OKH), and were largely funded by the Wehrmacht. During the war, the Waffen-SS grew to 38 divisions. The most famous are the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH), 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich, 3rd SS Division Totenkopf, 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking and the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend.

The Waffen-SS maintained several "Foreign Legions" of personnel from conquered territories and countries allied to Germany. The majority wore a distinctive national collar patch and preceded their SS rank titles with the prefix Waffen instead of SS. Volunteers from Scandinavian countries filled the ranks of two divisions, the 5th "Wiking" and 11th "Nordland." Belgian Flemings joined Dutchmen to form the "Nederland" Legion, and their Walloon compatriots joined the Sturmbrigade "Wallonien".

Racial restrictions were relaxed to the extent that Ukrainian Slavs , Albanians from Kosovo, Turkic Tatars , and even Asian from Dutch East Indies (Indonesia)[20] units were recruited. The Ukrainians and the Tatars had both suffered persecution under Joseph Stalin and their

motive was a hatred of communism rather than sympathy for National Socialism. The exiled Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Amin al-Husayni, used hatred of Serbs and Jews to recruit an entire Waffen-SS division of Bosnian Muslims, the 13th SS Division "Handschar" (Scimitar) .[21] The year long Soviet occupation of the Baltic states at the beginning of World War II produced volunteers for Estonian and Latvian Waffen-SS units, though majority of those units still was formed by forced draft. However, some other occupied countries such as Greece, Lithuania, Czech Republic and Poland never formed formal Waffen-SS legions. With that said, there were some countrymen that were in the service of the Waffen-SS. In Greece, the fascist organisation ESPO tried to create a Greek SS division, but the attempt was abandoned after its leader was assassinated.

The Indische Freiwilligen Infanterie Regiment 950 (also known at various stages as the Indische Freiwilligen-Legion der Waffen-SS, the Legion Freies Indien, and Azad Hind Fauj) was created in August 1942, chiefly from disaffected Indian soldiers of the British Indian Army, captured by the Axis in North Africa. Many, if not most, of the Indian volunteers who switched sides to fight with the German Army and against the British were strongly nationalistic supporters of the exiled, anti-British, former president of the Indian National Congress, Netaji (the Leader) Subhash Chandra Bose. See also the Tiger Legion and the Indian National Army.

[edit] Germanic-SS

Main article: Germanic-SS

The Germanic-SS was an SS-modeled structure formed in occupied territories and allied countries. The main purpose of the Germanic-SS was enforcement of Nazi racial doctrine and anti-semitic policies. Denmark and Belgium were the two largest participants in the Germanic-SS program. Germanic-SS members wore the all-black SS uniforms favored by the pre-war German SS. After the war began, Himmler ordered the uniforms to be turned in and many were then sent west to be used by Germanic-SS units such as the ones in Holland and Denmark.[6] These groups had their own uniforms with a modification of SS rank titles and insignia. All Germanic-SS units answered to the SS headquarters in Germany.

[edit] Auxiliary-SS

The Auxiliary-SS (SS mannschaft) was an organization that arose in 1945 as a last-ditch effort to keep concentration camps running. Auxiliary-SS members were not considered regular SS personnel, but were conscripted members from other branches of the German military, the Nazi Party, and the Volkssturm. Such personnel wore a distinctive twin swastika collar patch and served as camp guard and administrative personnel until the surrender of Germany.

Auxiliary SS members had the distinct disadvantage of being the "last ones in the camp" as the major concentration camps were liberated by allied forces. As a result, many auxiliary SS members, in particular those captured by Russian forces, faced swift and fierce retaliation and were often held personally responsible for the carnage of the camps to which some had only been assigned for a few weeks or even days.

There also exist very few records of the Auxiliary SS since, at the time of this group's creation, it was a foregone conclusion that Germany had lost the Second World War and the entire purpose of the Auxiliary SS was to serve in support roles while members of the SS proper escaped from allied forces. Thus, there was never a serious effort to properly train, equip, or maintain records on the Auxiliary SS.

[edit] SS Units and Branches

Within the two main branches of the Allgemeine-SS and Waffen-SS, there further existed several branches and sub-branches some with overlapping duties while other SS commands had little to no contact with each other. In addition, by 1939 the SS had complete control over the German Police, with many police member serving as dual SS members.

[edit] Concentration camps

Main article: SS-Totenkopfverbände

General (later U.S. President) Dwight D. Eisenhower inspecting prisoners’ corpses at the liberated Ohrdruf forced labor camp, 1945

The SS is closely associated with Nazi Germany's concentration camp system. After 1934, the running of Germany's concentration camps was placed under the total authority of the SS and an SS formation known as the SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS-TV), under the command of Theodor Eicke. Known as the "Death's Head Units", the SS-TV was first organized as several battalions, each based at one of Germany's major concentration camps, the oldest of which was at Dachau. In 1939, the Totenkopfverbände expanded into a military division with the establishment of the Totenkopf division , which in 1940 would become a full division within the Waffen-SS.

With the start of World War II, the Totenkopfverbände began a large expansion that eventually would develop into three branches covering each type of concentration camp the SS operated. By 1944, there existed three divisions of the SS-TV, those being the staffs of the concentration camps proper in Germany and Austria, the labor camp system in occupied territories, and the guards and staffs of the extermination camps in Poland that were involved in the Holocaust.

In 1942, for administrative reasons, the guard and administrative staff of all the concentration camps became full members of the Waffen-SS. In addition, to oversee the large administrative burden of an extensive labor camp system, the concentration camps were placed under the command of the SS-Wirtschafts-Verwaltungshauptamt (WVHA) . Oswald Pohl commanded the WVHA, while Richard Glücks served as the Inspector of Concentration Camps.

By 1944, with the concentration camps fully integrated with the Waffen-SS and under the control of the WVHA, a standard practice developed to rotate SS members in and out of the camps, based on manpower needs and also to give assignments to wounded Waffen-SS officers and soldiers who could no longer serve in front-line combat duties. This rotation of personnel is the main argument that nearly the entire SS knew of the concentration camps, and what actions were committed within, making the entire organization liable for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

[edit] Security services

Main article: Sicherheitspolizei

In addition to running Germany's concentration camps, the SS is well known for establishing the police state of Nazi Germany and suppressing all resistance to Adolf Hitler through the use of security forces, such as, the Gestapo.

The RSHA was the main office in charge of SS security services and had under its command the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), Kriminalpolizei (Kripo), and the Gestapo as well as several additional offices to handle finance, administration, and supply. The term

Sicherheitspolizei referred to the combined forces of the Kriminalpolizei, and the Gestapo, police and security offices.

Reinhard Heydrich is viewed as the mastermind behind the SS security forces and held the title of Chef des Sicherheitspolizei und SD until September 1939 when he became the overall supreme commander of the Reich Main Security Office.[18] Heinrich Müller became Gestapo Chief, Arthur Nebe, chief of the Criminal Police (Kripo), and the two branches of SD were commanded by various SS officers such as Otto Ohlendorf and Walter Schellenberg. Heydrich was assassinated in 1942. His positions were taken over by Ernst Kaltenbrunner in January 1943, following a few short months of Heinrich Himmler personally running the RSHA while searching for Heydrich's replacement.[22]

[edit] Death squads

Main article: Einsatzgruppen

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Comprehensive report of Einsatzgruppe A up to 15 October 1941

Killing of Jews at Ivangorod, Ukraine, 1942. A woman is attempting to protect a child with her own body just before they are fired on with rifles at close range

The Einsatzgruppen were special units of the SS that were formed on an 'as-needed' basis under the authority of the Sicherheitspolizei and later the RSHA, whose commander was Heydrich. The first Einsatzgruppen were created in 1938 for use during the Anschluss of Austria and again in 1939 for the annexation of Czechoslovakia. The original purpose of the Einsatzgruppen was to 'enter occupied areas, seize vital records, and neutralize potential threats'. In Austria and Czechoslovakia, the activities of the Einsatzgruppen were mainly limited to Nazification of local governments and assistance with the establishment of new concentration camps.

In 1939 the Einsatzgruppen were reactivated and sent into Poland to exterminate the Polish elite (Operation Tannenberg, AB-Aktion), so that there would be no leadership to form a resistance to German occupation. In 1941, the Einsatzgruppen reached their height when they were sent into Russia to begin large-scale extermination and genocide of "undesirables" such as Jews, Gypsies, and communists.

The last Einsatzgruppen were disbanded in mid 1944 (although on paper some continued to exist until 1945) due to the retreating German forces on both fronts and the inability to carry on with further "in-the-field" extermination activities. Former Einsatzgruppen members were either folded into the Waffen-SS or took up roles in the more established Concentration Camps such as Auschwitz.

[edit] Special action units

Beginning in 1938, the SS enacted a procedure where offices and units of the SS could form smaller sub-units, known as Sonderkommandos, to carry out special tasks and actions which might involve sending agents or troops into the field. The use of Sonderkommandos was very widespread, and according to former SS-Major Wilhelm Höttl, not even the SS leadership knew how many Sonderkommandos were constantly being formed, disbanded, and reformed for various tasks.

The best-known Sonderkommandos were formed from the SS Economic-Administrative Head Office, the SS Head Office, and also Department VII of the Reich Main Security Office (Science and Research) whose duties were to confiscate valuable items from Jewish libraries.

The Eichmann Sonderkommando was attached to the Security Police and the SD in terms of provisioning and manpower, but maintained a special position in the SS due to its direct role in the deportation of Jews to the death camps as part of the Final Solution.

The term "Sonderkommando" was ironically also used to describe the teams of Jewish prisoners who were forced to work in gas chambers and crematoria, receiving special privileges and above-average treatment, before then being gassed themselves. The obvious distinction was that these Jewish "special-action units" were not SS Sonderkommandos; the term was simply applied to these obviously non-SS personnel due to the nature of the tasks which they performed.

[edit] SS and police courts

Main article: SS and Police Courts

SS and police courts were special tribunals which were the only authority authorized to try SS personnel for crimes. The different SS and Police Courts were as follows:

SS- und Polizeigericht: Standard SS and Police Court for trial of SS officers and enlisted men accused of minor and somewhat serious crimes

Feldgerichte: Waffen-SS Court for court martial of Waffen-SS military personnel accused of violating the military penal code of the German Armed Forces.

Oberstes SS- und Polizeigericht: The Supreme SS and Police Court for trial of serious crimes and also any infraction committed by SS Generals.

SS- und Polizeigericht z.b. V.: The Extraordinary SS and Police Court was a secret tribunal that was assembled to deal with highly sensitive issues which were desired to be kept secret even from the SS itself.

The one exception to the SS and Police Courts jurisdiction involved members of the Allgemeine-SS who were serving on active duty in the regular Wehrmacht. In such cases, the SS member in question was subject to regular Wehrmacht military law and could face charges before a standard military tribunal.

[edit] Special protection units

The original purpose of the SS, that of safeguarding the leadership of the Nazi Party (Adolf Hitler) continued until the very end of the group's existence. Hitler had used bodyguards for protection since the 1920s, and as the SS grew in size and importance, so too did Hitler's personnel protection unit. In all, there were two main SS groups most closely associated with protecting the life of Adolf Hitler.

Leibstandarte : The Leibstandarate was the end product of several previous groups which had protected Hitler while he was living in Munich, before he became Chancellor of Germany. By the start of World War II, the Leibstandarte itself had become four distinct entities mainly the Waffen-SS division (unconnected to Hitler's personal protection but a key formation of the Waffen-SS), the Berlin Chancellory Guard, the SS security regiment assigned to the Obersalzberg in Berchtesgaden, and an original remnant of the Munich based bodyguard unit which protected Hitler when he visited his personal apartment and the Brown House Nazi Party headquarters in Munich.

RSD : The RSD, or Reichssicherheitsdienst was a special corps of personal bodyguards who protected Hitler from physical attack. While the Leibstandarte was concerned with security in and around Hitler, the RSD was trained to protect Hitler's actual person and to give their lives in order to prevent harm or death to the Führer.

Hitler also made use of regular military protection, especially when travelling into the field or to operational headquarters (such as the Wolf's Lair). Hitler always maintained an SS escort, however, and his security was mainly handled by the Leibstandarte and the RSD.

[edit] SS Special Purpose Corps

Another section of the SS consisted of special purpose units which assisted the main SS with a variety of tasks. The first such units were SS cavalry formations formed in the 1930s as part of the Allgemeine-SS (these units were entirely separate from the later Waffen-SS cavalry commands).

One of the more infamous SS special purpose corps were the SS medical units, composed mostly of doctors who became involved in both euthanasia and human experimentation. The SS also formed a special corps for women, since full SS membership was available

only for men, as well as a scientific corps to conduct historical research into Nordic-Germanic origins.

[edit] SS Cavalry Corps

The SS Cavalry Corps (German: Reiter-SS) comprised several Reiterstandarten and Reiterabschnitte, which were really equestrian clubs to attract the German upper class and nobility into the SS. In the 1930s, the Reiter-SS was considered as a nucleus for a military branch of the SS, but this idea was phased out with the rise of the SS-Verfügungstruppe (later the Waffen-SS).

By 1941, the Reiter-SS was little more than a social club. Most of the serious cavalry officers transferred to combat units in the Waffen-SS and the SS Cavalry Brigade. Between 1942 and 1945, the Reiter-SS effectively ceased to exist except on paper, with only a handful of members. During the Nuremberg Trials, when the Tribunal declared the SS to be a criminal organization, the Reiter-SS was expressly excluded, due to its insignificant involvement in other SS activities.

[edit] SS Medical Corps

Main article: SS Medical Corps

Carpathian Ruthenian Jews arrive at Auschwitz–Birkenau, May 1944. The camp SS doctors would carry out the selection process generally after arrival.

The SS Medical Corps first appeared in the 1930s as small companies of SS personnel known as the Sanitätsstaffel. After 1931, the SS formed a headquarters office known as Amt V, which was the central office for SS medical units.

Crematorium in operation at Dachau, the first concentration camp established in 1933

In 1945, after the surrender of Germany, the SS was declared an illegal criminal organization by the Allies. SS doctors, in particular, were marked as war criminals due to the wide range of human medical experimentation which had been conducted during World War II as well as the role SS doctors had played in the gas chamber selections of the Holocaust. The most infamous member, Doctor Josef Mengele, served as Head Medical Officer of Auschwitz and was responsible for the daily gas chamber selections of people as well as experiments at the camp.

[edit] SS Helferinnen Corps

The SS-Helferinnenkorps, translated literally as 'Women Helper Corps', comprised women volunteers who joined the SS as auxiliary personnel. Such personnel were not considered actual SS members, since SS membership was closed to women.

The Helferin Corps maintained a simple system of ranks, mainly SS-Helfer, SS-Oberhelfer, and SS-Haupthelfer. Members of the Helferin Corps were assigned to a wide variety of activities such as administrative staff, supply support personnel, and female guards at concentration camps.

[edit] SS Scientific Corps

Main article: Ahnenerbe

The Scientific Branch of the SS that was used to provide scientific and archeological proof of Aryan supremacy. Formed in 1935 by Himmler and Herman Wirth, the society did not become part of the SS until 1939.

[edit] Other SS Groups

[edit] Austrian-SS

Main article: Austrian SS

The term "Austrian-SS" was never a recognized branch of the SS, but is often used to describe that portion of the SS membership from Austria. Both Germany and Austria contributed to a single SS and Austrian SS members were seen as regular SS personnel, in contrast to SS members from other countries which were grouped into either the Germanic-SS or the Foreign Legions of the Waffen-SS.

The Austrian branch of the SS first developed in 1932 and, by 1934, was acting as a covert force to influence the Anschluss with Germany which would eventually occur in 1938. The early Austrian SS was led by Ernst Kaltenbrunner and Arthur Seyss-Inquart and was technically under the command of the SS in Germany, but often acted independently concerning Austrian affairs. In 1936, the Austrian-SS was declared illegal by the Austrian government.

After 1938, when Austria was annexed by Germany, the Austrian SS was folded into SS-Oberabschnitt Donau with the 3rd regiment of the SS-Verfugungstruppe, Der Führer, and the fourth Totenkopf regiment, Ostmark, recruited in Austria shortly thereafter. A new concentration camp at Mauthausen also opened under the authority of the SS Death's Head units.

Austrian SS members served in every branch of the SS, including Concentration Camps, Einsatzgruppen, and the Security Services. One notable Austrian-SS member was Amon Göth, immortalized in the film Schindler's List. The fictional character of Hans Landa, seen in the film Inglorious Basterds was also depicted as a member of the Austrian-SS.

[edit] Contract Workers

To conduct upkeep, house-keeping, and the general maintenance of its many headquarters buildings both in Germany and in other occupied countries, the SS frequently hired civilian contract workers to perform such duties as maids, maintenance workers, and general laborers. The SS also occasionally employed civilian secretaries, but more often used the female SS corps for these duties.

Within the concentration camps, the SS used a different method to gain such work skills, mainly through the use of slave labor by "assigning" concentration camp inmates to work in certain jobs. This included doctors, such as Miklós Nyiszli who, while a Jewish prisoner in Auschwitz, served as Chief Pathologist and personal assistant to Josef Mengele.

In occupied countries, especially France and the Low Countries, various resistance groups made use of the SS need for low level workers by planting resistance members in certain jobs within SS headquarters buildings. This allowed for intelligence gathering which assisted resistance attacks against German forces; resistance groups in the conquered eastern lands also used this method, with less success, although groups in Norway conducted several assassinations of SS officers through the use of intelligence plants within SS offices.. The SS was often aware of such "moles" and actively attempted to locate such persons and, on occasion, even used the resistance plants to German advantage by supplying bad information in an attempt to bring resistance groups out into the open and destroy them.

By far, the French Resistance was the most successful in using SS contracted civilian workers to achieve intelligence gathering and conduct partisan operations. At the end of World War II, resistance groups also rounded up local civilians who had worked for the SS, usually subjecting them to humiliating ordeals such as the shaving of heads in public squares or carving swastikas into their foreheads with bowie knives.

Several motion pictures have been the subject of local civilians working for the SS, such as A Woman at War, staring Martha Plimpton, and Black Book, staring Christian Berkel.

[edit] Postwar activity and ODESSA

According to Simon Wiesenthal, toward the end of World War II, a group of former SS officers went to Argentina and set up a Nazi fugitive network code-named ODESSA, (an acronym for Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen, "Organization of the former SS members"), with ties in Germany, Switzerland and Italy, operating out of Buenos Aires. ODESSA allegedly helped Adolf Eichmann, Josef Mengele, Erich Priebke, and many other war criminals find postwar refuge in Latin America.

It is estimated that out of roughly 70,000 members of the SS involved in crimes in German concentration camps, only between 1650 and 1700 were tried after the war.[23]

Argentinian citizen and water company worker Ricardo Klement was discovered to be Adolf Eichmann in the 1950s, by former Jewish Dachau worker Lothar Hermann, whose daughter, Sylvia, became romantically involved with Klaus Klement (born Klaus Eichmann in 1936 in Berlin). He was captured by the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad, in a suburb of Buenos Aires on May 11, 1960, and tried in Jerusalem on April 11, 1961, where he explicitly declared that he had abdicated his conscience in order to follow the Führerprinzip (the 'leader principle' or superior orders).

Josef Mengele, disguised as a member of the regular German infantry, was captured and released by the Allies, oblivious of who he was. He was able to go and work in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1949 and to Altos, Paraguay, in 1959 where he was discovered by Nazi hunters. From the late 1960s on, he exercised his medical practice in Embu, a small city near São Paulo, Brazil, under the identity of Wolfgang Gerhard, where in 1979, he suffered a stroke while swimming and drowned.

The British writer Gitta Sereny (born in 1921 in Hungary), who conducted interviews with SS men, considers the story about ODESSA untrue and attributes the escape of notorious SS members to postwar chaos, an individual bishop in the Vatican, and the Vatican's inability to investigate the stories of those people who came requesting help.

More recent research, however, notably by the Argentine author and journalist Uki Goñi in his book The Real Odessa , has shown that such a network in fact existed, and in Argentina was largely run by Argentine President Juan Domingo Perón, a Nazi sympathiser who had been impressed by Mussolini's reign in Italy during a military tour of duty in that country which also took him to Nazi Germany.

In the modern age, several neo-Nazi groups claim to be successor organizations to the SS. There is no single group, however, that is recognized as a continuation of the SS, and most such present-day organizations are loosely organized with separate agendas

SS-TotenkopfverbändeFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search

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Not to be confused with 3rd SS Division Totenkopf, the Waffen-SS fighting unit.

Main articles: The Holocaust and Porajmos

SS-TV

SS-Totenkopfverbände

Totenkopf (Death's head) collar insignia, 13th Standarte of

the SS-Totenkopfverbände

SS-TV officers standing in front of prisoners at KZ Gusenin

October 1941.

Agency overview

Formed June 1934

Dissolved May 8, 1945

JurisdictionGermany

Occupied Europe

Headquarters

Oranienburg, near Berlin

52°45′16″N 13°14′13″E 52.75444°N

13.23694°E

Employees22,033 (SS-TV 1939[1] and

SS Division Totenkopf c.1942)

Minister

responsible

Heinrich Himmler1934-1945,

Reichsführer-SS

Agency

executives

SS-Obergruppenführer Theodor Eicke

(1934-1940), Commander, SS-TV

SS-Gruppenführer Richard Glücks (1940-

1945), Commander, SS-TV

Parent agency Schutzstaffel

SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS-TV), meaning "Death's-Head Units"[2], was the SS organization responsible for administering the Nazi concentration camps for the Third Reich.

The SS-TV was an independent unit within the SS with its own ranks and command structure. It ran the camps throughout Germany, such as Dachau and Buchenwald; in Nazi-occupied Europe, it ran Auschwitz in German occupied Poland and Mauthausen in Austria as well as numerous other concentration and death camps. The death camps primary function was genocide and included Treblinka, Bełżec extermination camp and Sobibor. It was responsible for facilitating the Final Solution, known since as the Holocaust, in collaboration with the Reich Main Security Office [3] and the SS Economic and Administrative Main Office.

At the outbreak of WWII one of the first combat units of the Waffen-SS, the SS Division Totenkopf, was formed from SS-TV personnel. It soon developed a reputation for ferocity and fanaticism, participating in several war crimes such as the Le Paradis massacre in 1940 during the Fall of France and the murder of Russian civilians in Operation Barbarossa.

While the Totenkopf (English: Death's Head) was the universal cap badge of the SS, the SS-TV also wore the insignia on the right collar to distinguish itself from other SS units.

Contents

[hide]

1 Formation 2 Development 3 Camp organization 4 Operations 5 SS KZ personnel 6 Totenkopfverbände combat formations 7 See also 8 Notes 9 References 10 External links

[edit] Formation

On 26 June 1933, Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler appointed Oberführer Theodor Eicke the Kommandant of the first Nazi concentration camp at Dachau.[4] Eicke requested a permanent unit that would be subordinate only to him and Himmler granted the request: the SS-Wachverband (Guard Unit) was formed.[5] Promoted on 30 January 1934 to SS-Brigadeführer (equivalent to Major-general in the Army), Eicke as commander of Dachau began new reforms. He reorganized the SS camp, establishing new guarding provisions, which included blind obedience to orders, and tightening disciplinary and punishment regulations for detainees, which were adopted by all concentration camps of the Third Reich on 1 January 1934. Following the Night of the Long Knives (at the end June 1934), Eicke, who had played a major role in the affair, was again promoted to the rank of SS-Gruppenführer and appointed Inspector of Concentration Camps and Commander of SS guard formations.

Personnel from Dachau then went on to work at Sachsenhausen and Oranienburg, where Eicke established his central office. In 1935 Dachau became the training center for the concentration camps service. Many of the early recruits came from the ranks of the SA and Allgemeine SS. Senior roles were filled by personnel from the German police service. On 29 March 1936, concentration camp guards and administration units were officially designated as the SS-Totenkopfverbände.

By April 1938, the SS-TV had four regiments of three storm battalions with three infantry companies, one machine gun company and medical, communication and transportation units.[6]

[edit] Development

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An SS-TV Scharführer from KZ Mauthausen. His collar patch shows the Totenkopf insignia of a concentration camp guard.

When the SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS-TV) was formally established in 1936, the group was organized into six Wachtruppen situated at each of Germany's major concentration camps. Theodor Eicke, at this stage, was technically only the commander of the Dachau concentration camp, although it was without question that he was the effective head of the entire SS-TV.

In 1935, as the concentration camp system within Germany expanded, groups of camps were organized into Wachsturmbanne (battalions) under the office of the Inspector of Concentration Camps who answered directly to the SS headquarters office and Heinrich Himmler. In 1937, the Wachsturmbanne were in turn organized into three main SS-Totenkopfstandarten (regiments).

By 1936, Eicke had also begun to establish military formations of concentration camp personnel which eventually became the Totenkopf Division and other units of the Waffen-SS. In the early days of the military camp service formation, the group's exact chain of command was contested since Eicke as Führer der Totenkopfverbände exercised personal control of the group but also, being a military SS formation, authority over the armed units was claimed by the SS-Verfügungstruppe (who would get it in August 1940). But at this time Eicke and Himmler envisioned the armed SS-TV not as combat soldiers, but as troops for carrying out what were euphemistically described as "police and security operations" behind the front lines. Thus Eicke's men were trained by a cadre of camp personnel without outside intervention; the first major training exercise in 1935 resulted in the clearing of the entire Dachau camp for several weeks while the Totenkopf military formation was organized.

On 17 August 1938 Hitler decreed, at Himmler's request, the SS-TV to be the reserve for the SS-Verfügungstruppe;[7] this would over the course of the war lead to a constant flux of men between the Waffen-SS and the concentration camps. Himmler's intention, however, was simply to expand his private army by using the SS-TV (as well as the police, which he also controlled) as a manpower pool. Himmler sought and obtained a further decree, issued on 18 May 1939, which authorized the expansion of the SS-TV to 50,000 men, and directed the Army to provide it with military equipment, something the Army had resisted.[7]

By the outbreak of war on 1 September 1939 Eicke's SS-TV field forces numbered four infantry regiments and a cavalry regiment, plus two battalions clandestinely placed in independent Danzig. However, their role in the invasion of Poland was not military; unlike the Leibstandarte and the SS-VT they were not under Army High Command (OKH) control, but Himmler's. "Their military capabilities were employed instead in terrorizing the civilian population through acts that included hunting down straggling Polish soldiers, confiscating agricultural produce and livestock, and torturing and murdering large numbers of Polish political leaders, aristocrats, businessmen, priests, intellectuals, and Jews." [8] The behavior of these Standarten in Poland elicited disgust and protests from officers of the Army, including 8th Army commander Johannes Blaskowitz who wrote a lengthy memorandum to von Brauchitsch detailing SS-TV atrocities (to no avail).

In the wake of the Polish conquest the three senior Totenkopf-Standarten were combined with the SS Heimwehr Danzig and some support units transferred from the Army to create the Totenkopf-Division, with Eicke in command. From fall 1939 to spring 1940 a massive recruitment effort raised no fewer than twelve new TK-Standarten (four times the size of the SS-VT) in anticipation of the coming attack on France. By now, however, Eicke's ambition had aroused Himmler's suspicion, and Hausser's and Dietrich's resentment, especially his designation of TK-Standarten as reserves for his Totenkopf-Division alone, and his appropriation of Verfügungstruppe military supplies which were stored at Eicke's concentration camps. After the TK-Division, and Eicke personally, performed poorly during Fall Gelb Himmler resolved to curb his subordinate. Cynically using as justification several well-publicized atrocities committed by the Division in France, on 15 August 1940 he dissolved Eicke's Inspectorate of SS-Totenkopfstandarten and transferred the Totenkopf-Division, the independent TK-Standarten, and their reserve and replacement system to the newly-formed Waffen-SS high command.[9] In February 1941 the Totenkopf designation was removed from the names of all units other than the TK-Division and the camp Totenkopfwachsturmbanne, and their personnel exchanged the Death's-Head collar insignia for the Waffen-SS Sig-runes.

The Totenkopf Division still had close ties to the camp service and its members continued to wear the Death's-Head as their unit insignia. They were known for brutal tactics, a result of the original doctrine of "no pity" which Eicke had instilled in his camp personnel as far back as 1934, together with the fact that the original Totenkopfstandarte had "trained" themselves. The Division's ineffectiveness in France, as well as its war crimes, can in part be explained by its personnel who were more thugs than soldiers. However, over the course of the savage fighting in the East (during which the Division was twice effectively destroyed and recreated), the Totenkopf became one of the crack combat units of the

German military. Very few of the men who were part of the 1939 Standarten in Poland were still in the Division by 1945.

[edit] Camp organization

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A mass grave in Treblinka opened in March 1943; the bodies were removed for burning. In the background, dark grey piles of ash from cremated bodies can be seen

Nazi gas van used to murder people at Chelmno extermination camp.

In 1941, the concentration camps themselves were part of a massive system both in Germany and the occupied territories. By this time, special death camps had also come into operation while an extensive labor camp system was providing forced labor to the SS. As a result, the entire concentration camp system was placed under the authority of the SS-Wirtschafts-Verwaltungshauptamt (WVHA) with the Inspector of Concentration Camps now a subordinate to the Chief of the WVHA. The camps themselves were then administratively separated into three main divisions of Labor Camps, Concentration Camps, and Death Camps.

As a final measure, in 1942 all camp personnel were folded into the Waffen-SS to allow for easier rotation of wounded Waffen-SS personnel into camp positions and for camp personnel to be easily transferred into combat units should the need arise. This last measure was frequently used for SS personnel who were deemed "too soft" for duty in a concentration camp or for those who showed compassion to prisoners or refused to obey illegal orders such as the gassing of prisoners or the shooting of women and children. This

policy of quick transfer into a combat unit was a large incentive for SS personnel to participate in atrocities, as the alternative was almost certain death on the Eastern Front. On the reverse, the SS procedures for camp personnel who refused to engage in war crimes proved that there were never any cases where SS soldiers were under threat of death unless they carried out atrocities (a common defense claim of captured SS personnel at the end of the war). At the trial of Treblinka camp personnel, it was in fact proven that there had never been a single case in the SS where someone was killed for refusing to carry out an illegal order and that such persons were simply transferred into combat with the Waffen-SS.

Within the camps themselves, there existed a hierarchy of camp titles and positions which were unique only to the camp service. Each camp was commanded by a Kommandant, sometimes referred to as Lagerkommandant, who was assisted by a camp adjutant and command staff. The prison barracks within the camp were supervised by a Rapportführer who was responsible for daily roll call and the camp daily schedule. The individual prisoner barracks were overseen by junior SS-NCOs called Blockführer who, in turn had one to two squads of SS soldiers responsible for overseeing the prisoners. Within extermination camps, the Blockführer was in charge of the Sonderkommando and was also the person who would physically gas victims in the camp gas chambers.

The camp perimeter and watch towers were overseen by a separate formation called the Guard Battalion, or the Wachbattalion. The guard battalion commander was responsible for providing watch bills to man guard towers and oversaw security patrols outside the camp. The battalion was organized on typical military lines with companies, platoons, and squads. The battalion commander was subordinate directly to the camp commander.

Concentration camps also had supply and medical personnel, attached to the headquarters office under the camp commander, as well as a security office with Gestapo and Sicherheitsdienst (SD) personnel attached temporarily to the camp. These security personnel, while answering to the camp commander, were also under direct command of Sipo and RSHA commanders independent of the camps. As a result, SD and Gestapo personnel within the concentration camps were seen as "outsiders" by the full time camp personnel and frequently looked down upon with distrust by the regular SS-TV members.

In addition to the regular SS personnel assigned to the Concentration Camp, there also existed a prisoner system of trustees known as Kapos who performed a wide variety of duties from administration to overseeing other groups of prisoners. The Sonderkommandowere special groups of Jewish prisoner who assisted in the extermination camps with the disposal of bodies and other tasks. The duty of actually gassing prisoners was, however, always carried out by the SS.

[edit] Operations

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Crematorium at Dachau in operation

Eicke, in his role as the commander of the SS-TV, continued to reorganize the camp system by dismantling smaller camps. By August 1937 only Dachau, Sachsenhausen, Buchenwald and Ravensbrück remained in Germany. In 1938 Eicke oversaw the building of new camps in Austria following the Anschluss, such as Mauthausen.

Eicke's reorganization and the introduction of forced labor made the camps one of the SS's most powerful tools, but it earned him the enmity of RSHA director, Reinhard Heydrich, who was attempting to take over control of Dachau. However, Himmler wanted to keep a separation of power so Eicke remained in command of the SS-TV and camp operations. This kept control of the camps out of the hands of the Gestapo or the SD.

Carpathian Ruthenian Jews arrive at Auschwitz–Birkenau, May 1944. Without being registered to the camp system, most were killed in gas chambers hours after arriving.

In September 1939, Eicke became the commander of the SS Totenkopf Division. In 1940, the Concentration Camps Inspectorate became part of the Amt D of the Wirtschafts- und Verwaltungshauptamt under SS-Obergruppenführer Oswald Pohl . Eicke was replaced by his Head of Staff, SS-Gruppenführer Richard Glücks who continued to manage the camp administration until the end of the war.

In 1942 Glücks was increasingly involved in the administration of the Endlösung, supplying personnel to assist in Aktion Reinhardt (although the death camps of Belzec, Treblinka and Sobibor were administered by SS-und Polizei-führer Odilo Globocnik of the General Government). [10] In July 1942, Glücks met Himmler to discuss medical experiments on concentration camp inmates. All extermination orders were issued from

Glücks' office to SS-TV commands throughout Nazi Germany and occupied Europe. He specifically authorized the purchase of Zyklon B for use at Auschwitz.

Bodies of Buchenwald prisoners, April 1945.

But as the tide of war changed in Europe, conditions became increasingly harsh for surviving camp inmates. In 1945 SS-TV units began to receive orders to conceal as much of the evidence of The Holocaust as possible. Camps were destroyed, sick prisoners were shot and others were marched on death marches away from the advancing Allies. The SS-TV were also instrumental in the execution of hundreds of political prisoners to prevent their liberation.

By April 1945 many SS-TV had left their posts. Due to their notoriety, some removed their death head insignia to hide their identities. Camp duties were increasingly turned over to so-called "Auxiliary-SS", soldiers and civilians conscripted as camp guards so that the Totenkopf men could escape. However, many were caught by Allied war crime investigators only to be tried at Nuremberg between 1946 and 1949.

[edit] SS KZ personnel

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SS-TV Unterscharführer (Blockführer) at Sachsenhausen in 1936.

Rudolf Höß immediately before being hanged in 1947.

From its inception, Eicke fostered an attitude of "inflexible harshness" in the SS-TV. This core belief continued to influence guards in all concentration camps even after Eicke had

taken over command of the SS Totenkopf Division. Recruits were taught to hate their enemies through tough training regimes and Nazi indoctrination.

SS-TV personnel lost any compassion for camp inmates. Within camps, guards created an atmosphere of controlled, disciplined cruelty that subjugated prisoners. This brutal ethos influenced some of the SS-TV's most infamous members including Rudolf Höß, Franz Ziereis, Karl Otto Koch and Max Kögel.

In the last days of World War II, a special group called the "Auxiliary-SS" (SS-Mannschaft) was formed as a last ditch effort to keep concentration camps running and allow regular SS personnel to escape. Auxiliary-SS members were not considered regular SS personnel, but were conscripted members from other branches of the German military, the Nazi Party, and the Volkssturm. Such personnel wore a distinctive twin swastika collar patch and served as camp guard and administrative personnel until the surrender of Germany.

[edit] Totenkopfverbände combat formations[11][12]

1st TK-Standarte Oberbayern. Formed 1937 at Dachau. During the Polish invasion conducted "security operations" behind the lines. Redesignated 1. SS-Totenkopf-Infanterie-Regiment[13] and assigned to the Totenkopf Division 10/39.

2nd TK-Standarte Brandenburg. Formed 1937 at Oranienburg. During the Polish invasion conducted "security operations" behind the lines. Redesignated 2. SS-Totenkopf-Infanterie-Regiment[13] and assigned to the Totenkopf Division 10/39.

3rd TK-Standarte Thüringen. Formed 1937 at Buchenwald. During the Polish invasion conducted "security operations" behind the lines. Redesignated 3. SS-Totenkopf-Infanterie-Regiment[13] and assigned to the Totenkopf Division, with some men forming the cadre of the 10. TK-Standarte, 11/39.

4th TK-Standarte Ostmark. Formed 1938 at Vienna and Berlin. III Sturmbann Götze detached to form the core of SS Heimwehr Danzig 7/39. Garrison duty at Prague 10/39 and in Holland 6/40. Designated 4. SS-Infanterie-Regiment 2/41, assigned to 2. SS-Infanterie-Brigade 5/41.

SS-Wachsturmbann Eimann . Formed 1939 at Danzig. During the Polish invasion conducted "security operations" behind the lines. Dissolved 1940.

TK-Reiter-Standarte. Formed 9/39 in Poland to conduct "security operations" behind the lines. Expanded and divided into 1. and 2. TK-Reiter-Standarten 5/40. Redesignated 1. and 2. SS-Kavallerie-Regimenter 2/41, combined into SS-Kavallerie-Brigade (later SS-Kavallerie-Division Florian Geyer ) 9/41.

5th TK-Standarte Dietrich Eckhart. Formed 1939 at Berlin and Oranienburg. Designated 5. SS-Infanterie-Regiment 2/41, assigned to 2. SS-Infanterie-Brigade 5/41.

6th TK-Standarte. Formed 1939 at Prague. Garrison duty in Norway 5/40. Designated 6. SS-Infanterie-Regiment 2/41, assigned to Kampfgruppe Nord (later 6. SS-Gebirgs-Division Nord ) spring 41.

7th TK-Standarte. Formed 1939 at Brno. Garrison duty in Norway 5/40. Designated 7. SS-Infanterie-Regiment 2/41, assigned to Kampfgruppe Nord (later 6. SS-Gebirgs-Division Nord) spring 41.

8th TK-Standarte. Formed 1939 at Crakow. Designated 8. SS-Infanterie-Regiment 2/41, assigned to 1. SS-Infanterie-Brigade 4/41.

9th TK-Standarte. Formed 1939 at Danzig. Reorganized (with elements of St. 12) into Standarte "K" (Kirkenes, Norway) 8-11/40, redesignated 9. SS-Infanterie-Regiment 2/41, assigned to Kampfgruppe Nord spring 41. Incorporated into SS-Regiment Thule 8/42.

10th TK-Standarte. Formed 1939 at Buchenwald. Garrison duties in Poland 1940. Designated 10. SS-Infanterie-Regiment 2/41, assigned to 1. SS-Infanterie-Brigade 4/41.

11th TK-Standarte. Formed 1939 at Radom. Garrison duty in Holland 5/40. Assigned to SS-Infanterie-Division (mot) Reich to replace the 2. SS-Infanterie-Regiment Germania 12/40 and redesignated 11. SS-Infanterie-Regiment.

TK-Standarten 12-16 were raised in the winter of 1939-40, but disbanded the following summer, their personnel used to fill out other units.

EinsatzgruppenFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Main article: The Holocaust

Einsatzgruppen

Einsatzgruppen were under the administration of the SS.

Agency overview

Formed c. 1939

Preceding

agencyEinsatzkommando

JurisdictionGermany

Occupied Europe

Headquarters

RSHA, Prinz-Albrecht-Straße, Berlin

52°30 ′ 26 ″ N 13°22 ′ 57 ″ E / 52.50722°N

13.3825°E

Employees ~ 3,000 c. 1941

Minister

responsibleHeinrich Himmler, Reichsführer

Agency

executives

SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich,

Director, RSHA (1939-1942)

SS-Obergruppenführer Dr. Ernst

Kaltenbrunner, Director, RSHA, (1943-

1945)

Parent agencyAllgemeine SS

RSHA

Einsatzgruppen (German: "task forces";[1] singular Einsatzgruppe) were SS paramilitary death squads that were responsible for mass killings, typically by shooting, of Jews in particular, but also significant numbers of other population groups and political categories. The Einsatzgruppen operated throughout the territory occupied by the German armed forces following the German invasions of Poland, in September, 1939, and later, of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941. The Einsatzgruppen carried out operations ranging from the murder of a few people to operations which lasted over two or more days, such as the massacres at Babi Yar (33,771 killed in two days) and Rumbula (25,000 killed in two days). The Einsatzgruppen were responsible for the murders of over 1,000,000 people, and they were the first Nazi organizations to commence mass killing of Jews as an organized policy.

Contents

[hide]

1 Background

2 Personnel 3 History

o 3.1 Czechoslovakia o 3.2 Poland o 3.3 Western Europe o 3.4 Soviet Union o 3.5 Baltic states o 3.6 Debate o 3.7 Wehrmacht o 3.8 "The Second Sweep"

4 Final Solution 5 Method of killing 6 The Jäger Report 7 Plans for the Middle East 8 Disestablishment and post-war 9 Organization (1941) 10 See also 11 Notes 12 References 13 Further reading 14 External links

Background

The Einsatzgruppen were formed under the direction of SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich (deputy to Heinrich Himmler) and operated by the Schutzstaffel (SS) before and during World War II.[2] From September 1939 forward the SS-Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA - Reich Main Security Office)[3] had overall command of the Einsatzgruppen. Their principal task during the war (according to SS General Erich von dem Bach at the Nuremberg Trials) "... was the annihilation of the Jews, Gypsies, and Soviet political commissars".[4] The Einsatzgruppen had a leading role in the implementation of the final solution of the Jewish question (Die Endlösung der Judenfrage) in the conquered territories.

Personnel

Formed mainly of members from the Orpo, the Waffen-SS, and local volunteers, e.g. militia groups, and led by SD, Gestapo and Kripo officers, these death squads followed the Wehrmacht Heer (German Army) as it advanced eastwards through Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.[5] During the course of their operations, the Einsatzgruppen commanders were authorized to request, and they did receive, assistance from the Wehrmacht.[5] Incorporated, primarily into Einsatzgruppe D, were a large number of Muslim volunteers from Albania and Serbo-Croatia, who were recruited and provided by Mohammad Amin al-Husayni, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem.[6]

In occupied territory, the Einsatzgruppen also used the local populace for additional security and personnel. The activities of the Einsatzgruppen were spread through a large pool of soldiers from the branches of the SS and German Reich. Heydrich acting under orders from Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler supplied security forces on an "as needed" basis to the local SS and Police Leaders.[2]

According to their own records, the Einsatzgruppen murdered more than one million people, almost all civilians, beginning with the Polish intelligentsia, and then quickly progressing (by 1941) to killing Jews, gypsies and others throughout Eastern Europe. Historian Raul Hilberg estimates that between 1941 and 1945 the Einsatzgruppen and the SS killed more than 1.3 million Jews, Gypsies, and Soviet political commissars in open-air shootings.[7]

History

Einsatzgruppen can be traced back to the ad-hoc Einsatzkommando formed by Reinhard Heydrich to secure government buildings and documents following the Anschluss in Austria in March 1938.[8] The task of securing government buildings with their accompanying documentation and the questioning of senior civil servants in lands occupied by Germany was the Einsatzgruppen's original mission.[8]

Czechoslovakia

In the summer of 1938, when Germany was preparing an invasion of Czechoslovakia scheduled for October 1 of that year, the Einsatzgruppen were founded. The intention was for Einsatzgruppen to travel in the wake of the German armies as they advanced into Czechoslovakia, and to secure government papers and offices. Unlike the early Einsatzkommando, the Einsatzgruppen were to be armed and authorized to freely use lethal force to accomplish their mission. The Munich Agreement of 1938 prevented the war for which the Einsatzgruppen were originally founded, but as the Germans occupied the Sudetenland in the fall of 1938, the Einsatzgruppen moved into the region to occupy offices formerly belonging to the Czechoslovak state. After the occupation of the rest of the Czech portion of Czechoslovakia on March 15, 1939, the Einsatzgruppen were re-formed and again used to secure offices formerly belonging to the Czechoslovak government. The Einsatzgruppen were never a standing formation; rather they were ad hoc units recruited mostly from the ranks of the SS, the SD, and various German police forces such as the Ordnungspolizei, the Gendarmerie, the Kripo and the Gestapo. Once the military campaign had ended, the Einsatzgruppen units were disbanded, though generally the same personnel were recruited again if the need arose for the Einsatzgruppen units to be re-activated.[2]

Poland

An execution of Poles by an Einsatzgruppe in Leszno, October 1939

In May 1939, Adolf Hitler decided upon an invasion of Poland planned for August 25 of that year (later moved to September 1). In response, Heydrich again re-formed the Einsatzgruppen to travel in the wake of the German armies. Unlike the earlier operations, Heydrich gave the Einsatzgruppen commanders carte blanche to kill anyone belonging to groups that the Germans considered hostile. After the occupation of Poland in 1939, the Einsatzgruppen killed Poles belonging to the upper class and intelligentsia, such as priests and teachers.[9] The mission of the Einsatzgruppen was therefore the forceful depoliticisation of the Polish people and the elimination of the groups most clearly identified with the Polish national identity. As stated by Hitler in his Armenian quote, units were sent: "...with orders for them to send to death mercilessly and without compassion, men, women, and children of Polish race and language. Only in this way can we obtain the living space we need."[10] "Whatever we find in the shape of an upper class in Poland will be liquidated," Hitler had declared.[11] The massacres committed in Poland in 1939 caused tension with the German Army, who while having no moral objections to the massacres of Poles, felt these killings were injurious to military discipline.[12]

First action of elimination Polish intelligentsia took place soon after the German invasion of Poland, lasting from fall of 1939 till spring of 1940. Intelligenzaktion was a plan to eliminate the Polish intelligentsia, Poland's leadership class, realized by Einsatzgruppen and Selbstschutz. In 10 regional actions, 60,000 Polish nobles, teachers, Polish entrepreneurs, social workers, priests, judges and political activists were killed.[13][14] The Intelligenzaktion was continued by the German AB-Aktion operation in Poland.

Western Europe

Following the German invasion of the Netherlands, Belgium and France in May 1940, the Einsatzgruppen once again travelled in the wake of the Wehrmacht, but unlike their operations in Poland, the Einsatzgruppen operations in Western Europe in 1940 were within the original mandate of securing government offices and papers. Had Operation Sealion, the German plan for an invasion of the United Kingdom, been launched, six Einsatzgruppen were scheduled to follow the invasion force to Britain. The Einsatzgruppen intended for "Sealion" were provided with a list (known as The Black Book after the war) of 2,820 people to be arrested immediately.

Soviet Union

Killing of Jews at Ivangorod, Ukraine, 1942. A woman is attempting to protect a child with her own body just before they are fired on with rifles at close range

Sometime between late June 1940 when planning for Operation Barbarossa first started and March 1941, orders were approved by Adolf Hitler for the re-establishment of the Einsatzgruppen (the surviving historical record does not permit firm conclusions to be drawn about the precise date).[15] On March 13, 1941 Hitler dictated sub-paragraph B of the "Guidelines in Special Spheres re Directive No. 21 (Operation Barbarossa)", which read:

"In the operations area of the Army, the Reichsführer SS has been given special tasks on the orders of the Führer, in order to prepare the political administration. These tasks arise from the forthcoming final struggle of two opposing political systems. Within the framework of these tasks, the Reichsführer SS acts independently and on his own responsibility."[16]

Sub-paragraph B was intended by Hitler to prevent the sort of friction that had occurred in Poland in 1939 when several German Army generals had attempted to bring Einsatzgruppen leaders to trial for the murders they had committed[16] On March 30, 1941 in a secret speech to his leading generals, Hitler described the sort of war he wanted Operation Barbarossa to be according to the notes taken by Army's Chief of Staff, General Franz Halder as:

"Struggle between two ideologies. Scathing evaluation of Bolshevism, equals antisocial criminality. Communism immense future danger...This a fight to the finish. If we do not accept this, we shall beat the enemy, but in thirty years we shall again confront the Communist foe. We don't make war to preserve the enemy...Struggle against Russia: Extermination of Bolshevik Commissars and of the Communist intelligentsia...Commissars and GPU personnel are criminals and must be treated as such. The struggle will differ from that in the west. In the east harshness now means mildness for the future."[17]

Though General Halder's notes did not record any mention of Jews, the German historian Andreas Hillgruber argued that because Hitler's frequent statements at the same time about the coming war of annihilation against "Judeo-Bolshevism", that his generals would have implicitly understood Hitler's call for the total destruction of the Soviet Union as also

comprising a call for the total destruction of the Jewish population of the Soviet Union.[17] In May 1941 Reinhard Heydrich passed on verbally the order to kill the Soviet Jews to the Border Police School of Pretzsch when the commanders of the Einsatzgruppen were being trained for Operation Barbarossa.[18] In the spring 1941, Heydrich and the First Quartermaster of the German Army, General Eduard Wagner successfully completed negotiations for co-operation between the Einsatzgruppen and the German Army to allow the implementation of the "special tasks".[19] Following the Heydrich-Wagner agreement on April 28, 1941, Fieldmarshal Walther von Brauchitsch ordered when Operation Barbarossa began that all German Army commanders were to identify and register all Jews in the occupied areas in the Soviet Union at once and to co-operate fully with the Einsatzgruppen".[20] For Operation Barbarossa, four Einsatzgruppen were created, each numbering between 500-990 men to comprise a total force of 3,000.[20] The men of the four Einsatzgruppen came from the SD, Gestapo, Kripo, Orpo, and Waffen SS.[20] Each Einsatzgruppen in its area of operations were under the operational control of the Higher SS-Police Chiefs.[20] In a further agreement between the Army and the SS concluded in May 1941 by General Wagner and Walter Schellenberg, it was agreed that the Einsatzgruppen in front-line areas were to operate under Army command while the Army would provide the Einsatzgruppen with all necessary logistical support.[21]

Before Operation Barbarossa began on June 22, 1941, both the men of the German Army and the SS were told that Barbarossa was a “preventive war” forced on Germany by an alleged Soviet attack planned to occur in July 1941. At the same time, a massive propaganda campaign was launched in the spring of 1941 presenting Barbarossa as an ideological-racial war between German National Socialism and Soviet Communism, or to use the preferred German phrase “Judeo-Bolshevism”[22]

In November 1935, the psychological war laboratory of the Reich War Ministry submitted a study about how best to undermine Red Army morale should a German-Soviet war break out.[23] Working closely with the émigré Russian Fascist Party based in Harbin, the German psychological warfare unit created a series of pamphlets written in Russian for distribution in the Soviet Union.[24] One pamphlet called the "Gentlemen commissars and party functionaries" a group of "mostly filthy Jews".[24] The pamphlet ended with the call for "brother soldiers" of the Red Army to rise up and kill all of the "Jewish commissars".[24] Through this material was not used at the time, later in 1941 the material the psychological war laboratory had developed in 1935 was dusted off, and served as the basis for not only propaganda in the Soviet Union, but for propaganda within the German Army.[25] The German Army propaganda portrayed the Soviet enemy in the most dehumanized terms, depicting the Red Army as a force of Slavic Untermensch (sub-humans) and “Asiatic” savages engaging in “barbaric Asiatic fighting methods” commanded by evil Jewish commissars whom German troops were to grant no mercy.[22] Typical of the German Army propaganda was the following passage from a pamphlet issued in June 1941:

“Anyone who has ever looked into the face of a Red commissar knows what the Bolsheviks are. There is no need here for theoretical reflections. It would be an insult to animals if one were to call the features of these, largely Jewish, tormentors of people beasts. They are the embodiment of the infernal, of the personified insane hatred of everything that is noble in humanity. In the shape of these commissars we witness the revolt of the subhuman against

noble blood. The masses whom they are driving to their deaths with every means of icy terror and lunatic incitement would have brought about an end of all meaningful life, had the incursion not been prevented at the last moment” [the last statement is a reference to the “preventive war” that Barbarossa was alleged to be].[25]

As a result of this sort of propaganda, the majority of the Wehrmacht Heer officers and soldiers tended to regard the war in Nazi terms, seeing their Soviet opponents as so much sub-human trash deserving to be trampled upon.[25] One German soldier wrote home to his father on August 4, 1941 that:

“The pitful hordes on the other side are nothing but felons who are driven by alcohol and the [commissars'] threat of pistols at their heads...They are nothing but a bunch of assholes!...Having encountered these Bolshevik hordes and having seen how they live has made a lasting impression on me. Everyone, even the last doubter knows today, that the battle against these sub-humans, who've been whipped into a frenzy by the Jews, was not only necessary but came in the nick of time. Our Führer has saved Europe from certain chaos".[25]

As a result of these views, the majority of the German Army worked enthusiastically with the SS in murdering Jews in the Soviet Union. After the invasion of the Soviet Union which began on 22 June 1941, the Einsatzgruppen's main assignment was to kill civilians, similarly as in Poland, but this time particularly the Soviet Communist Party commissars and Jews were targeted.[26] These Einsatzgruppen were under the control of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA - Reich Main Security Office); i.e., Reinhard Heydrich and later his successor Ernst Kaltenbrunner. The original mandate set by Heydrich for the four Einsatzgruppen sent into the Soviet Union as part of Operation Barbarossa was to secure the offices and papers of the Soviet state and Communist Party; to liquidate all of the higher cadres of the Soviet state; and to instigate and encourage pogroms against all local Jewish populations.[26] The orders that Heydrich drafted on July 2, 1941 stated that the Einsatzgruppen were to execute all Soviet officials of higher and medium rank; members of the Comintern; "extremist" Communist Party members; members of the central, provincial and district committees of the Communist Party; Red Army political commissars; and all Communist Party members of Jewish origin.[26] In regards to Jewish populations in general:

"No steps will be taken to interfere with any purges that may be initiated by anti-Bolshevik or anti-Jewish elements in the newly occupied territories. On the contrary, these are to be secretly encouraged."[26]

Throughout their existence in the Soviet Union, the Einsatzgruppen produced much anti-Semitic propaganda depicting the Soviet regime as the tools of the Jews[27] On July 17, 1941, Heydrich ordered that the Einsatzgruppen were to kill all Red Army POWs who were Jewish, plus all Red Army POWs from Georgia and Central Asia because Heydrich viewed them as being possibly Jewish.[28] As the German invasion began, a massive series of bloody pogroms broke out, some of which were encouraged by the Germans, and all of which were the spontaneous outbreaks of local anti-Semitism.[29] Within the first few weeks of Operation Barbarossa, 40 pogroms had broken out with about 10,000 Jews being killed by local people.[30] The Canadian historian Erich Haberer has written that incidents such as

the Jedwabne pogrom were not incidental, but rather "integral" to the Holocaust in Eastern Europe as without local help, the Germans could not have murdered so many so quickly.[31] Upon entering Kaunas on June 25, 1941, the Einsatzgruppen released all of the criminals from the local jail and encouraged them to join the already existing pogrom.[32] Between June 23–27, 1941, 4,000 Jews were killed on the streets of Kaunas by local people, and saw the first massacres of Jews in open pits committed by Lithuanian anti-Semitics.[33] Particularly active in the Kaunas pogrom was the so-called "Death dealer of Kaunas", a young man who murdered Jews with a crow bar at the Lietukis Garage before a large crowd who cheered each killing with much applause, and then ever so often stopped to play Tautiška giesmė (the Lithuanian national anthem) with his accordion before resuming the killings[33][34] One German soldier described the scene:

"A young man-he must had been a Lithuanian-...with rolled up sleeves was armed with an iron crowbar. He dragged out one man at a time from the group and struck him with the crowbar with one or more blows on the back of his head. Within three-quarters of an hour he had beaten to death the entire group of forty to fifty people in this way. I had a series of photographs of the victims...

After the entire group had been beaten to death, the young man put the crowbar to one side, fetched an accordion and went and stood on the mountain of corpses and played the Lithuanian national anthem. I recognized the tune and was informed by bystanders that this was the national anthem. The behaviour of the civilians present (women and children) was unbelievable. After each man had been killed, they began to clap and when the national anthem started up they joined the singing and clapping. In the front row there were women with small children in their arms who stayed there right until the end of the whole proceedings. I found out from some people who knew German what was happening here. They explained to me that the parents of the young man who had killed the other people had taken from their beds two days earlier and immediately shot, because they were suspected of being nationalists, and this was the young man's revenge.".[35]

After World War II, several Einsatzgruppen leaders who were brought to trial falsely claimed to have received an order before Operation Barbarossa committing them to murder all Soviet Jews as a part of an effort to reduce their responsibility. There is no evidence to support these assertions as proven by Hedyrich's orders to the Einsatzgruppen leaders of 29 June 1941 to "silently" encourage pogroms and of 2 July 1941 for the murder only of Jews who were Communist Party members and/or who held positions in the Soviet government.[36] The German prosectuor Alfred Streim wrote that if an order had been given before Operation Barbarossa for the murder of the entire Jewish population of the Soviet Union, post-war courts would had convicted the Einsatzgruppen leaders only as accomplices to mass murder.[37] If it could be established that the Einsatzgruppen had committed mass murder without orders, then the Einsatzgruppen leaders would had been convicted as perpetrators of mass murder (in the legal sense), and would hence have received stiffer sentences.[38] In many cases, the difference between a perpetrator and an accomplice to genocide could be the difference between capital punishment and life imprisonment.

The Einsatzgruppen leaders on trial claimed during the late 1940s to had been given a written "Führer Order" for the murder of the entire Soviet Jewish population several weeks

before Operation Barbarossa from Bruno Streckenbach who was widely believed to be dead.[39] In fact, Streckenbach was a POW in the Soviet Union, and upon his release in 1955, several imprisoned Einsatzgruppen leaders wrote to him asking him to go along with their lie in order to improve their chances of parole.[39] In response, Streckenbach privately denied ever giving such an order, but in order to assist the imprisoned Einsatzgruppen leaders, remained silent in public on the question of whether he had given the order or not.[39] British historian Sir Ian Kershaw wrote that is firmly established that the claim that a "Führer Order" for the general genocide before Operation Barbarossa was a post-war fabrication invented by men on trial for their lives, and thus had more to do with their defence than the facts of the matter.[40] Kershaw had argued that it was likely that Hitler's apocalyptic remarks before Barbarossa about the necessity for a war without mercy to “annihilate" the forces of “Judeo-Bolshevism” were taken as both permission and encouragement by the Einsatzgruppen commanders to engage in extreme anti-Semitic violence with discretion being given to each Einsatzgruppen commander about how far he was prepared to go.[41] In support of this, Kershaw cites the example of the massacre of 1,160 Jewish men at Luzk on July 3, 1941, none of whom were Communist Party members, and were all shot for no other reason than as the report to Berlin by the Einsatzkommando leader stated, to prove to the local Jewish community who were the Herrnvolk (master race) and who were not.[40]

Baltic states

As the Einsatzgruppen (and its sub-groups, the Einsatzkommando) advanced into the Soviet Union, after July 1941, they increasingly carried out mass murders of the local Jews themselves rather than encouraging pogroms.[42] Initially, the Einsatzgruppen generally limited themselves to shooting Jewish men, but as the summer wore on, increasingly, all Jews were shot, regardless of age or sex.[43] Before August 15, 1941 there is no mention of the killing of Jewish children in any of the Einsatzgruppen reports, but after that date, children were killed with increasing frequency, especially by Einsatzgruppe A.[44] The most murderous of the four Einsatzgruppen was Einsatzgruppe A, which operated in the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania formerly occupied by the Soviets. Einsatzgruppe A was the first Einsatzgruppe that attempted to systematically exterminate all Jews in its area.[45]

According to its own reports to Himmler, Einsatzgruppe A between June 22-November 25, 1941 killed 136, 421 Jews, 1,064 Communists, 653 mentally ill people, 56 partisans, 44 Poles, 5 Gypsies and 1 Armenian.[46] As Einsatzgruppe A advanced into Lithuania in June–July 1941, members of the Baltaraisciai movement joined the massacres.[30] In Riga, a pogrom in early July killed 400 Jews, and shortly afterwards, saw 2,300 Jews killed by Einsatzgruppe A and Latvian collaborators on July 6–7, 1941.[47] Very active in the Riga pogrom were a group of Latvian nationalists led by Viktors Arājs who "heated up" the Riga pogrom by a campaign of arson against synagogues.[47] On July 2, 1941 Franz Walter Stahlecker, the commander of Einsatzgruppe A appointed Arājs to head the Arajs Kommando.[30] Within six months, Arājs and his Sonderkommando (special commando) of about 300 men, mostly university students killed about half of Latvia's Jewish population.[48] The creation of units such as the Arājs Kommando marked an important change in the

massacres of Jews from the spontaneous mob violence of the pogroms to a switch over to more systematic massacres.[48] Besides for the special commandos, the Germans organzied the Hilfspolizei (auxiliary police), who were mostly recruited from former Latvian Army and police officers, ex-Aizsargi, members of the Pērkonkrusts, and university students to assist with the murder of Latvia's Jewish citizens.[48] Such units as were created in Latvia and elsewhere provided much of the menpower for the Holocaust in Eastern Europe.[49] Despite the assistance from collaborators, Einsatzgruppe A remained active on its accord; on November 30, 1941, Einsatzgruppe A reported that for that day they had killed 10,600 Jews from Riga.[50]

Over the course of the summer and fall of 1941, as the Einsatzkommandos settled down into their headquarters in Kovno, Riga and Tallinn, Einsatzgruppe A grew less mobile and that together with the problems caused by its small size led the Germans to rely more upon such units as the Arājs Kommando in Latvia, the Rollkommando Hamann in Lithuania and the Omakaitse militia in Estonia to perform the massacres of Jews.[51] Besides death squads like the Arājs Kommando, the Hilfspolizei and Selbstschutz militia together with local officials played a key role in rounding up and massacring those Lithuanians, Latvians and Estonians who happened to be Jewish.[52] Without the help of local officials, the various killing units would not have been able to identify and find Jews in such a short period of time.[52] With extensive local help, Einsatzgruppe A was able to carry out the first "total extermination programme" of the Shoah.[52] The Latvian historian Modris Eksteins wrote:

"of the roughly eighty-three thousand Jews who fell into German hands in Latvia, not more than nine hundred survived; and of the more than twenty thousand Western Jews sent into Latvia, only some eight hundred lived through the deportation until liberation. This was the highest percentage of eradication in all of Europe. Such thoroughness was not merely imported or imposed by the German conqueror; it had to an expression of the local situation".[31]

The reasons for extensive and enthusiastic collaboration with the Einsatzgruppen were due to a political culture of violence in the Kresy Wschodnie and other border lands of Russia going back to the time of the Revolution of 1905 together with an insecure sense of nationalism often colored with anti-Semitism.[53] During the interwar period, ethnic antagonism had on the whole been sharpened, not diminished.[54] Finally, the experience of Soviet rule in the Baltic states and in the lands that belonged to Poland until 1939 had been an profoundly traumatic experience for most people with the population brutalized and terrorized by the unwanted imposition of Soviet rule, and the existing and familiar structure of society utterly destroyed.[55] In such a context, where the imposition of Soviet rule had been seen as a national humiliation and with society broken up and atomized, many people sought both an scapegoat in the form of the Jews and violent actions of national "self-purification" and "redemption" in the form of killing Jews.[56] During the period of Soviet rule with traditional society destroyed, the best way to survive and make sense of the "totalitarian atomization" of society was to seek conformity with Communism.[57] As a result, many people by the time of the German invasion had come to see conformism with a totalitarian regime as socially acceptable behaviour, which thus transferred over to an another totalitarian regime.[57] Many of who had been most enthusiastic with collaborating with the Soviets were often the ones who sought to divert attention from their actions by

killings Jews on the grounds that Jews were the ones who had collaborated with the Soviets the most.[58] Through Jews had not in fact collabroated more with the Soviets, it was widely believed that this was the case.[59]

Debate

The expansion of the range of killings after August 1941 has been the subject of much historical debate. Those historian who take a intentionlist line like Andreas Hillgruber, argued that everything that happened after Operation Barbarossa was part of a masterplan he credited Hitler with developing in the 1920s. Hillgruber wrote in his 1967 book Germany and the Two World Wars that for Hitler:

"The conquest of European Russia, the cornerstone of the continental European phase of his program, was thus for Hitler inextricably linked with the extermination of these "bacilli", the Jews. In his conception they had gained dominance over Russia with the Bolshevik Revolution. Russia thereby became the center from which a global danger radiated, particularly threatening to the Aryan race and its German core. To Hitler, Bolshevism meant the consummate rule of Jewry, while democracy - as it had developed in Western Europe and Weimar Germany - represented a preliminary stage of Bolshevism, since the Jews there won a leading, if not yet a dominant, influence. This racist component of Hitler's thought was so closely interwoven with the central political element of his program, the conquest of European Russia, that Russia's defeat and the extermination of the Jews were - in theory as later in practice - inseparable for him. To the aim of expansion per se, however, Hitler gave not racial, but political, strategic, economic and demographic underpinnings".[60]

The German historian Helmut Krausnick argued that:

"What is certain is that the nearer Hitler's plan to overthrow Russia as the last possible enemy on the continent of Europe approached maturity, the more he become obsessed with an idea--with which he had been toying as a "final solution" for a long time--of wiping out the Jews in the territories under his control. It cannot have been later than March 1941, when he openly declared his intention of having the political commissars of the Red Army shot, that he issued his secret degree--which never appeared in writing though it was mentioned verbally on several occasions--that the Jews should be eliminated".[61]

Streim wrote in response that Krausnick had been taken in by the line invented after the war to reduce the responsibility of the Einsatzgruppen leaders brought to trial.[62] Klaus Hildebrand wrote that:

"In qualitative terms, the executions by shooting were no different from the technically more efficient accomplishment of the 'physical final solution' by gassing, of which they were a prelude".[63]

Against the intentionalist interpretation, functionalist historians like Martin Broszat argued that the lower officials of the Nazi state had started exterminating people on their own

initiative.[64] Broszat argued that the Holocaust began “bit by bit” as German officials stumbled into genocide.[65] Broszat argued that in the fall of 1941 German officials had began "improvised" killing schemes as the "simplest" solution to the "Jewish Question".[66] In Broszat's opinion, Hitler subsequently approved of the measures initiated by the lower officials and allowed the expansion of the Holocaust from Eastern Europe to all of Europe.[67] In this way, Broszat argued that the Shoah was not begun in response to an order, written or unwritten, from Hitler but was rather “a way out of the blind alley into which the Nazis had manoeuvred themselves”.[65] The American historian Christopher Browning has argued that:

"Before the invasion, the Einsatzgruppen were not given explicit orders for the total extermination of Jews on Soviet territory. Along with the general incitement to an ideological and racial war, however, they were given the general task of liquidating "potential" enemies. Heydrich's much-debated directive of 2 July 1941 was a minimal list of those who had to be liquidated immediately, including all Jews in state and party positions. It is very likely, moreover, that the Einsatzgruppen leaders were told of the future goal of a Judenfrei [Jew-free] Russia through systematic mass murder".[68]

By contrast, the Swiss historian Philippe Burrin argues that such a decision was not made before August 1941 at the earliest, pointing to orders given by Himmler on July 30, 1941 to the 2nd SS Cavalry Regiment and the SS Cavalry Brigade operating in the Pripet Marshes in the Pripyat operation calling for the murder of male Jews only while the Jewish women and children were to be driven into the Marshes.[69] Browning argues that sometime in mid-July 1941 Hitler made the decision to begin general genocide owing to his exhilaration over his victories over the Red Army, whereas Burrin contends that the decision was made in late August 1941 owing to Hitler's frustration over the slowing down of the Wehrmacht.[69] Kershaw argues that the dramatic expansion in both the range of victims and the intensity of the killings after mid-August 1941 indicates that Hitler issued an order to that effect, most probably an verbal order conveyed to the Einsatzgruppen commanders through either Himmler or Heydrich.[70] It remains unclear whether that was a decision made on Hitler's own initiative motivated only by his own anti-Semitic prejudices, or (impressed with the willingness and ability of Einsatzgruppe A to murder Jewish women and children) ordered that the other three Einsatzgruppen emulate Einsatzgruppe A's bloody example.

The Canadian historian Erich Haberer has contended that the “Baltic flashpoint of genocide”, as the killings committed by Einsatzgruppe A between July–October 1941 are known to historians, were the key development in the evolution of Nazi anti-Semitic policy that resulted in the Holocaust.[71] The Baltic area witnessed the both the most extensive and intense killings of all the Einsatzgruppen with 90,000-100,000 Jews killed between July and October 1941, which led to the almost total decimation of the Jewish communities in that area.[51] Haberer maintains that the “Baltic flashpoint of genocide” occurred at time when the other Nazi plans for a “territorial final solution” such as the Madagascar Plan were unlikely to occur, and thus suggested to the Nazi leadership that genocide was indeed “feasible” as a “final solution to the Jewish Question”.[71]

Wehrmacht

Main article: War crimes of the Wehrmacht

All of these killings took place with the knowledge, approval and support of the German Army in the east.[72] On October 10, 1941 General Walther von Reichenau drafted an order to be read to his troops under his command stating that: "the solder must achieve full understanding of the necessity for a harsh but just vengeance against Jewish subhumanity."[72] Upon hearing of Reichenau's Severity Order, Gerd von Rundstedt of Army Group South expressed his "complete agreement" with it, and sent out a circular to all of the Army generals under his command urging them to send out their own versions of the Severity Order, which would impress upon the troops the need to exerminate Jews[73]. General Erich von Manstein in an order to his troops on November 20, 1941 stated:

"Jewry is the middleman between the enemy at our rear and the still fighting remnants of the Red Army and the Red leadership; more than in Europe, it [Jewry] occupies all key posts of the political leadership and administration, of trade and crafts and forms the nucleus for all disquiet and possible revolts. The Jewish-Bolshevist system must be exterminated once and for all."[72]

On July 6, 1941 Einsatzkommando 4b of Einsatzgruppe C, which was operating in Tarnopol at the time sent a report which noted "Armed forces surprisingly welcome hostility against the Jews".[74] On September 8, 1941 Einsatzgruppe D reported that relations with the German Army were "excellent".[74] Franz Walter Stahlecker of Einsatzgruppe A wrote in September 1941 that Army Group North had been exemplary in co-operating with his men in murdering Jews and that relations with the Fourth Panzer Army commanded by General Erich Hoepner were "very close, almost cordial".[75] In the extreme south, the Romanian Army worked closely with Einsatzgruppe D with the massacres of Ukrainian Jews.[76] In Odessa, the Romanian Army killed about 26,000 Jews in the Odessa massacre.[77] Moreover, most people on the home front in Germany had some idea of the massacres being committed by the Einsatzgruppen.[78] In a letter to his wife dated September 27, 1941 one SS officer wrote:

"As I have said, I am in a very gloomy mood. I must pull myself out of it. The sight of the dead (including women and children) is not very cheering (emphasis in the original). But we are fighting this war for the survivial or non-survival of our people. You back home, thank God, do not feel the full force of that. The bomb attacks have, however, shown what the enemy has in store for us if he has enough power. You are aware of it everywhere you go along the front. My comrades are literally fighting for the existence of our people. The enemy would do the same. I think that you understand me. As the war is in our opinion a Jewish war, the Jews are the first to feel it. Here in Russia, wherever the German soldier is, no Jew remains. You can imagine that at first I needed some time to get to grips with this".[79]

In another letter dated October 15, 1942 to his children, the same SS officer wrote:

"I have already told you about the shooting-that I could not say "no" here either. But they're more or less said they've finally found a good chap to run the administrative side of things.

The last one was all accounts a coward. That's the way people are judged here. But you can trust your Daddy. He thinks about you all the time and is not shooting immoderately. So that's our life".[80]

In August 1941, following the protests by two Lutheran chaplins about the massacre of a group of Jewish women and children at Byelaya Tserkov, General von Reichenau wrote:

"The conclusion of the report in question contains the following sentence, "In the case in question, measures against women and children were undertaken which in no way differ from atrocties carried out by the enemy about which the troops are contiunally being informed".

I have to describe this assessment as incorrect, inappropriate and impertinent in the extreme. Moreover this comment was written in an open communication which passes through many hands.

It would have been far better if the report had not been written at all.".[81]

One SS man who saw the killings at Byelaya Tserkov described them as follows:

"I went to the woods alone. The Wehrmacht had already dug a grave. The children were brough along in a tractor. I had nothing to do with this technical procedure. The Ukrainians were standing around trembling. The children were taken down from the tractor. They were lined up along the top of the grave and shot so that they fell into it. The Ukrainians did not aim at any particular part of the body. They fell into the grave. The wailing was indescribable. I shall never forget the scene throughout my life. I find it very hard to bear. I particulary remember a small fair-haired girl who took me by the hand. She too was shot later...The grave was near some woods. It was not near the rifle-range. The execution must had taken place in the afternoon at about 3.30 or 4.00. It took place the day after the discussions at the Feldkommandanten...Many children were hit four or five times before they died.".[82]

Besides for co-operating with the Einsatzgruppen, the Wehrmacht was also involved in the killings themselves. In the summer of 1941, the SS Cavalry Brigade commanded by Hermann Fegelein during the course of "anti-partisan" operations in the Pripyat Marshes killed 699 Red Army soldiers, 1, 100 partisans and 14, 178 Jews.[83] Before the operation, Fegelein had been ordered to shoot all adult Jews while driving the women and children into the marshes. After the operation, General Max von Schenckendorff, who commanded the rear areas of Army Group Centre ordered on August 10, 1941 that all Wehrmacht security divisions when on anti-partisan duty to emulate Fegelein's example, and organized in Mogilev between September 24–26, 1941 a joint SS-Wehrmacht seminar on how best to murder Jews.[83] The seminar ended with the 7th Company of Police Battalion 322 shooting 32 Jews at village called Knjashizy before the assembled officers as an example of how to "screen" the population for partisans.[84] As the war diary of the Battalion 322 read:

The action, first scheduled as a training exercise was carried out under real-life conditions (ernstfallmässig) in the village itself. Strangers, especially partisans could not be found. The screening of the population, however resulted in 13 Jews, 27 Jewish women and 11 Jewish children, of which 13 Jews and 19 Jewish women were shot in co-operation with the Security Service.[84]

Based on what they had learned during the Mogilev seminar, one Wehrmacht officer told his men "Where the partisan is, there is the Jew and where the Jew is, there is the partisan".[84]

The 707th division of the Wehrmacht put this principle into practice during an "anti-partisan" sweep that saw the division shoot 10,431 people out of the 19,940 it had detained during the sweep while in the progress suffering only two dead and five wounded.[85] In Order #24 of November 24, 1941, the commander of the 707th division declared:

5. Jews and Gypsies:...As already has been ordered, the Jews have to vanish from the flat country and the Gypsies have to be annihilated too. The carrying out of larger Jewish actions is not the task of the divisional units. They are carried out by civilian or police authorities, if necessary ordered by the commandant of White Ruthenia, if he has special units at his disposal, or for security reasons and in the case of collective punishments. When smaller or larger groups of Jews are met in the flat country, they can be liquidated by divisional units or be massed in the ghettos near bigger villages designated for that purpose, where they can be handed over to the civilian authority or the SD.[85]

At Mirgorod, the 62nd Infantry Division executed "the entire Jewish population (168 people) for associating with partisans".[86] At Novomoskovsk, the 444th Security Division reported that they had killed "305 bandits, 6 women with rifles (Flintenweiber), 39 prisoners-of-war and 136 Jews".[86] Even more extreme was the case in Serbia, where the majority of the Jews there were murdered by the Wehrmacht, not the SS.[87] At Šabac, "Central European Jewish refugees, mostly Austrians were shot by troops predominantly of Austrian orgin in retaliation for casualties inflicted by Serbian partisans on the German Army".[86]

The Einsatzgruppen massacres were usually justified under the grounds of anti-partisan operations, but the historian Andreas Hillgruber wrote that this claim was just an "excuse" for the Wehrmacht's considerable involvement with the Einsatzgruppen massacres.[88] Hillgruber maintained that the slaughter of about 2.2 million defenceless men, women and children for the reasons of racist ideology cannot possibly be justified, and that those German generals who claimed that the Einsatzgruppen were a necessary anti-partisan response were lying.[89] In July 1941, when Joseph Stalin appealed for a partisan war, Hitler stated in private on July 16, 1941 that: "The Russians have now issued an order for a partisan war behind out front. This partisan war has its advantage: it allows us to exterminate all who oppose us."[72]

"The Second Sweep"

After December 1941, the other three Einsatzgruppen began what the American historian Raul Hilberg has called the "second sweep", which lasted into the summer of 1942, during which they attempted to emulate Einsatzgruppe A by likewise systematically killing all Jews in their areas.[90] Hilberg wrote that with the exception of Stahlecker of Einsatzgruppe A, all of the Einsatzgruppe commanders were of the opinion by the fall of 1941, that it was impossible to kill the entire Jewish population of the Soviet Union in one sweep and were of the opinion that the killings should stop.[91] Thus, there occurred the interval between the "first sweep" and the "second sweep" of the Einsatzgruppe massacres in the fall of 1941.[92] During the interval, the surviving Jews were forced into ghettoes.[76] After staging the Babi Yar massacre in September 1941, Einsatzgruppe C in a report back to Berlin wrote: "Although 75,000 Jews have been liquidated in this manner so far, today it is already clear that even with such tactics a final solution of the Jewish problem will not be possible".[93] In a report of September 17, 1941, Einsatzgruppe C stated:

"Even if were possible to shut out Jewry 100 percent, we would not eliminate the center of political danger.

The Bolshevist work is done by Jews, Russians, Georgians, Armenians, Poles, Latvians, Ukrainians; the Bolshevist apparatus is by no means identical with the Jewish population. Under such conditions we would miss the goal of political security if we replaced the main task of destroying the Communist machine with the relatively easier one of eliminating the Jews...

In the western and central Ukraine almost all urban workers, skilled mechanics and traders are Jews. If we renounce the Jewish labor potential in full, we cannot rebuild Ukrainian industry and we cannot build up the urban administrative centers.

There is only one way out--a method that the German administration in the Generalgouvernment failed to recognize for a long time: final solution of the Jewish question through complete labor utilization of the Jews.

This would result in a gradual liquidation of Jewry--a development which would be in accord with the economic potentialities of the country".[91]

Einsatzgruppe C's advice that the Germans would be better off using Jewish skills and labour rather than shooting them was not taken up.[93] On 18 December 1941, the appointment book of the Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler shows he met with Hitler, and in response to Himmler's question "What to do with the Jews of Russia?", Hitler's response was recorded as "als Partisanen auszurotten" ("exterminate them as partisans").[94] The Israeli historian Yehuda Bauer has commented that the remark is probably as close as historians will ever get to a definitive order from Hitler for the genocide carried out during the Holocaust.[94] Bauer added that it was unclear whatever Himmler's question meant that it had not decided until that point to exterminate the entire Jewish population, or alternatively whatever such a decision had already been taken, and Himmler's question just referred to the precise method of extermination.[94] At that point in time in mid December 1941, the Operation Reinhard death camps were under construction, Auschwitz was being converted from a concentration camp to a death camp and Chelmno had already opened earlier that

month.[94] Thus, Bauer contends that Himmler's question to Hitler could be about whatever to deport Soviet Jews to the death camps or continue the existing policy of genocide under the guise of anti-partisan operations.[94]

After the "second sweep" started in late 1941-early 1942, since Einsatzgruppe A had murdered almost all of the Jews in its area, it had little to do and so shifted its operations into Belorussia to assist Einsatzgruppe B.[95] As part of the "second sweep", in Dnepropetrovsk in February 1942 saw Einsatzgruppe D reducing the city's Jewish population from about 30, 000 to 702 over four days.[95] Unlike in Germany, where the Nuremberg Laws of 1935 had defined as Jewish anyone who had three or four Jewish grandparents regardless of one's religion, the Einsatzgruppe defined as Jewish anyone had at least one Jewish grandparent again with no regard to one's actual faith.[96] To help with the "second sweep", the German Order Police and local collaborators provided the extra manpower needed to perform all of the shootings.[97] The Canadian historian Erich Haberer wrote like in the Baltic states, the Germans could not have killed so many Jews so quickly without local help.[97] Haberer points out that the ratio of the German Order Police to the Schutzmannschaft (Schuma) was 1:10 in both the Reichskommissariat Ukraine and Generalkommissariat Belorussia.[97] In rural areas of Belorussia and Ukraine, the ratio of Order Policeman-Schuma was 1:20, which meant that most Ukrainian and Belorussian Jews were killed by fellow Ukrainians and Belorussians, albeit commanded by German officers rather than by Germans.[97]

Gebietskommissar Gerhard Erren, an official of the Ministry of the East run by Alfred Rosenberg in a report dated January 25, 1942 wrote about the town of Slonim:

"Upon my arrival there were about 25, 000 Jews in the Slonim area, 16 000 in the actual town itself, making up over two-thirds of the total population of the town. It was not possible to set up a ghetoo as neither barbed wire nor guard manpower was available. I thus immediately began preparations for a large-scale action. First of all property was expropriated and all the German offical buildings, including the Wehrmacht quarters, were equpped with the furniture and equipment that had been made available...Any article which could not be used for the Germans were handed over to the town for sale to the local population. Proceeds from their sale were sent to the finance department. The Jews were then registred accuaretly according to number, age and profession and all craftsmen and workers with qualifications were singled out and given passes and separate accommodation to distinguish them from the other Jews. The action carried out by the SD on 13 November rid me of unnecessary mouths to feed. The some 7, 000 Jews now present in the town of Sonim have all been allocated jobs. They are working willingly because of the constant fear of death. Early next year they will be rigorously checked and sorted for a further reduction.

The plains were extensivley cleansed for a time by the Wehrmacht. Unfortunately, however, this only took place in villages with fewer than 1, 000 inhabitants. In the Rayon towns all Jews will be eradicated with the exception of all but the most essential craftsmen and skilled workers, after auxiliary work for the east-west movement has been carried out.

Since the Wehrmacht is not longer prepared to carry out actions on the plains I shall concentrate all the Jews of the area into two or three Rayon towns. They will work in closed

columns only, in order to stamp out once and for all illicit trading and support for the partisans among them. The best of the skilled workers among the Jews will be made to pass their skills on to intelligent apprentices in my craft collegues, so that Jews will finally be made dispensable in the skilled craft and trade sector, and can be eliminated".[98]

The chauffeuer to Erren described one of the "reduction" actions as follows:

"I was holding a whip or a pistol. I was loading or unloading. The men, children and mothers were pushed into the pits. Children were first beaten to death, and then thrown feet [first] into the pits..There were a number of filthy sadists in the extermination Kommando. For example, pregnant women were shot in the belly for fun and then thrown into the pits...Before the execution the Jews had to undergo a body search, during which..anuses and sex organs were searched for valuables and jewels".[99]

The Generalkommissar for Belarus, Wilhelm Kube in a report dated July 31, 1942 wrote:

"It has become apparent during the course of all clashes with partisans in White Russia, in both the former Polish and former Soviet parts of the Generalbezirk, that the Jews, together with the Polish resistance movement and the Moscow Red Army in the east, are the principal supporters of the partisan movement. Consequently, the question of how the Jews in White Russia should be handled is a political matter taking priority over all considerations about the risks to the economy as a whole. Accordingly, it has to be solved not from an economic but from a political point of view. During the course of extensive discussions with SS-Brigadeführer Zenner and the very competent Leiter of the SD, SS-Obersturmbannführer Dr. jur. Strauch, it was established that we have liquidated about 55, 000 Jews in the last ten weeks. In the Minsk area [Geiet Minsk-land] the Jews have been completely eradicated, without any negative effect on the workforce. In the mainly Polish area of Lida 16, 000 Jews have been liquidated, in Slonim 8, 000 Jews. Our preparations for the liquidation of the Jews in the Głębokie area were disrupted when the rear army area preempted us, liquiadating 10, 000 Jews whom we had been due to eradicate systematically, without any prior liaison with us. (A report on this incursion has already been submitted). On 28 and 29 July about 10, 000 Jews were liquidated in the city of Minsk, 6, 500 of them Russian Jews-for the most part old people, women and children-and the rest Jews unfit for work, who had mostly been sent from Vienna, Brünn, Bremen and Berlin in November of last year to Minsk on the Führer's orders".[100]

The British historian Hugh Trevor-Roper noted that through photographs of the killings were forbidden, it was very comman for both the men of the Einsatzgruppen and various by-standers to take pictures of the killings to send to their loved ones, which would suggest widespread approval of the massacres.[101]

The Einsatzgruppen were assisted by army units and local anti-Semites in killing half a million more people. They were mobile forces in the beginning of the invasion, but settled down after the occupation. In addition, the Einsatzgruppen were often used to carry out anti-partisan operations in the occupied regions of the Soviet Union.

Final Solution

Main article: Final Solution

After a time, it was found that the killing methods used by the Einsatzgruppen were inefficient: they were costly, demoralizing for the troops, and sometimes did not kill the victims quickly enough.[43] During a visit to Russia in August 1941, where he witnessed the Einsatzgruppen killings first-hand, Himmler concluded that shooting Jews was too much of a "psychological burden" for his men.[43] As a result of his "care and concern" for the Einsatzgruppen, Himmler concluded there was a need for a "humane" way of killing (for the killers, not the victims) and ordered the development of the gas vans.[43] Starting in 1942, the Einsatzgruppen began mass killings with gans vans.[102] At the Wannsee Conference, the SS and various state officials met to find a more efficient way of killing their victims. This ultimately led to the establishment of Vernichtungslagern or extermination camps containing gas-chambers. Under this and other plans, an estimated six million Jews and five million non-Jews would ultimately lose their lives.[103]

Method of killing

Nazi gas van used to murder people at Chelmno extermination camp.

The Einsatzgruppen typically followed close behind Wehrmacht army formations, marching into cities and towns where large numbers of Jews were known to live. Once they entered a town, they issued orders requiring Jews and non-Jewish communists to assemble for deportation out of town. Those who refused to comply were hunted down. The process was as follows: The Einsatzgruppen's Einsatzkommando units (not to be confused with Jewish gravediggers in the camps) were sent with the advancing military units to coordinate the executions, to concentrate the hostile and sometimes partisan resistant population, and to recruit local assistants - Mannschaft, either "Junaks" (Lithuanian former convicts) or Gendarmes (Ukrainian policemen); then came the Einsatzkommando to execute the Jews and communists. The killings followed several methods and patterns:

In conquered urban areas of eastern Europe, many Jews would be killed in nearby locations such as woods or inside buildings. The remaining Jews would be confined to

ghettos. Death rates from disease and malnourishment were high; groups from the ghetto were periodically taken away and shot or deported to extermination camps. An example of this is the Lithuanian city of Kaunas; the Jews of Kaunas were concentrated in a ghetto and sent, thousands at a time, to be slaughtered in the 7th and 9th forts (watch towers) of Kaunas.

In small rural areas, or in battle zones, the Jews were quickly led to their deaths in nearby woods and mass graves, which were often dug by the victims. An example of such a case is the town of Dovno in Ukraine.

In big cities, mainly in the battle zones, the Nazis would create a small local committee of 8 to 12 important Jews, known as the Judenrat, who would be required to summon the local Jews for "relocation". The Jews (including the Judenrat delegates) would then be marched to previously prepared trenches or natural pits and shot. Examples are the massacre at Babi Yar and the Ponary massacre.

Alternatives to execution by firearms existed. The gas vans used by Einsatzgruppe D and Einsatzkommando Kulmhof in the death camp Chelmno are an example. Another, occasionally used in smaller towns, was to lock the Jews in abandoned buildings, which were then set alight or blown up, though this was rather rare.

Typically, those who were gathered would then be sent to designated sites outside the cities and towns. Usually these massacre sites were graves dug in advance, shallow pits, or deep ravines (including one at Babi Yar, just outside Kiev), where executioners were already waiting with orders to kill them with machine guns or pistol shots to the head. The killers would also seize the clothing and other belongings of the victims, and some victims were forced to strip naked just before their execution. Once dead, the victims would be buried with hand shovels or bulldozers. Some victims were only injured, not killed, and were buried alive. A few managed to climb out of the grave and recount this.[104][Full citation needed]

The Einsatzgruppen were assisted by other Axis forces, including designated members of the Wehrmacht, including general Walther von Reichenau and the Waffen-SS. In the Baltic states and Ukraine, they also recruited local collaborators - Hiwis - to assist in the killing.

The Jäger Report

Map titled "Jewish Executions Carried Out by Einsatzgruppe A" from the Stahlecker's report. Marked "Secret Reich Matter," the map shows the number of Jews shot in the Baltic region, and reads at the bottom: "the estimated number of Jews still on hand is 128,000."

The Einsatzgruppen kept track of many of their massacres, and one of the most infamous of these official records is the Jäger Report, covering the operation of Einsatzkommando 3 over five months in Lithuania. Written by the commander of Einsatzkommando 3, Karl Jäger, it includes a detailed list summarizing each massacre, totaling 137,346 victims, and states "…I can confirm today that Einsatzkommando 3 has achieved the goal of solving the Jewish problem in Lithuania. There are no more Jews in Lithuania, apart from working Jews and their families." Jäger escaped capture by the Allies when the war ended, assumed a false identity, and was able to assimilate back into society as an agriculturist until his report was discovered in March 1959. Arrested and charged, Jäger committed suicide in June 1959 in prison in Hohenasperg while awaiting trial for his crimes.

Plans for the Middle East

A 2006 study by the German historians Klaus-Michael Mallman and Martin Cueppers says that an Einsatzgruppe was created in 1942 to kill Jews in the British Mandate of Palestine. An Einsatzgruppe was standing by in Athens, Greece, and was prepared to go to Palestine, once German forces arrived there, to kill the roughly half a million Jews in the Mandate. The mobile killing unit was to be led by SS Obersturmbannfuehrer Walter Rauff. The plan was for the 24 members of the death squad to enlist collaborators from the local Arab population so that the “mass murder would continue under German leadership without interruption.” The group never left Greece, however, because the Germans were defeated at the Battle of El Alamein by the allied forces.[105]

Disestablishment and post-war

By 1942, the permanent killing centers of Auschwitz, Sobibor, Treblinka, and other Nazi extermination camps had been established thus significantly reducing the need for active killing groups in the field. The Einsatzgruppen were still active, however, and as late as the fall of 1943 were still participating in massacres.

By 1944, the Red Army had begun to push German forces out of Eastern Europe, and the Einsatzgruppen began shutting down activities to begin a retreat along with the regular forces. By late 1944, most personnel of the Einsatzgruppen had also been folded into Waffen-SS combat units or had been transferred to the permanent death camps. Even so, on paper, the SS was still fielding Einsatzgruppen into 1945; there was also some discussion amongst SS leaders on the subject of merging the Einsatzgruppen into the new Werwolf units, which were being founded for the purposes of guerilla fighting in occupied Germany. "Werwolf" during or after the war was never an effectual force; by the time of the fall of Nazi Germany in 1945 there were no longer any active Einsatzgruppen units in operation.

The ultimate authority for the Einsatzgruppen, answerable directly to Heinrich Himmler and Adolf Hitler, were the SS and Police Leaders who oversaw all Einsatzgruppen activities and reports in their given area. At the close of World War II, the majority of SS and Police Leaders who had overseen activities in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union simply disappeared, were executed for war crimes, or committed suicide prior to their capture. As for the lower ranking members, a large number of them were killed in combat, were captured in combat and executed (on the Eastern Front) or were imprisoned and died in Russian camps. The lower ranking members who returned to Germany or to other countries were not formally charged (due to their large numbers) and simply returned to civilian life.

At the conclusion of World War II, senior leaders of the Einsatzgruppen were prosecuted in the Einsatzgruppen Trial, part of the Subsequent Nuremberg Trials held under United States military authority, variously charged with crimes against humanity, war crimes, and membership in the SS (which had been declared a criminal organization). Fourteen death sentences and five life sentences were among the judgments, although only four executions were carried out, on June 7, 1951, and the rest of these sentences were commuted.

Organization (1941)

Main article: Einsatzkommando

Arthur Nebe Otto Rasch at the Nuremburg trials

The Einsatzgruppen were deployed as follows:

Einsatzgruppe A (commanded by SS-Brigadeführer Dr. Franz Stahlecker) was assigned to the Baltic area,

Einsatzgruppe B (SS-Brigadeführer Arthur Nebe) to Belarus, Einsatzgruppe C (SS-Gruppenführer Dr. Otto Rasch) to north and central Ukraine, and

Einsatzgruppe D (SS-Gruppenführer Dr. Otto Ohlendorf) to Moldova, south Ukraine, the Crimea, and, during 1942, the north Caucasus.[5]

Of the four Einsatzgruppen, three were commanded by holders of doctorate degrees, of whom one (Rasch) held a double doctorate.