by Ian Kershaw
in German Army 20, 47–9, 60, 61, 66–72, 100–101, 105, 119–21, 125–7, 140, 151–5, 157, 159, 194–6, 206, 207, 210–11, 214, 256–8, 260–66, 270–71, 283, 310–15, 320, 394
in German Navy 265, 360–61
in SS 153, 210
Morgenthau Plan (US) 149–50
Mortain 55–6
Mosel river 254, 255, 260, 262
Mülheim 297
Müller, General Friedrich-Wilhelm 203
Munich 162, 317, 343
Allied bombing 236, 238
Paul Giesler as Gauleiter 214, 344
Münster 227
Murr, Wilhelm (Gauleiter of Württemberg) 278, 325
Mussolini, Benito 7
deposition of (July 1943) 13, 47, 296, 364, 399
see also Italy
Musy, Jean-Marie, Himmler’s attempted deal with, to exchange Jews for cash 229–30
Mutschmann, Martin (Gauleiter of Saxony) 125, 237
Narev river 169
National-Zeitung (newspaper) 89
von Natzmer, Lieutenant-General Oldwig 369, 374
Naumann, Werner 75
Nazi atrocities 98, 107, 117, 121, 124, 155–6, 176, 331–6, 394
committed by German troops 98, 107, 112
in Poland 123, 174, 251
post-capitulation attempts to deny responsibility for 380
see also terror tactics
Nazi Party (Nationalsozialistiche Deutsche Arbeiterpartei) (NSDAP) 6, 119, 161–4
in Austria 317–18
Bormann as administrative head 20–22, 40, 41, 42, 53, 75, 162, 215–16, 217–18, 319, 321, 392
civilian population, control of 83–4, 88, 91, 96, 98, 105–6, 142, 145–6, 162–3, 180, 206, 207–8, 392–3; see also administrative systems
civilian population’s support for 9, 10, 73–4, 207–8, 209, 210, 212–13, 239–40, 258–60, 261, 273–6, 389; decline in 64–5, 68, 101, 104, 105, 107, 126–7, 150–51, 163, 190, 193–4, 195, 209, 213–14, 215–22, 258, 261, 312–13, 315, 389–90; post-capitulation attitudes to 380; see also opposition to below
Dönitz administration and 360
execution of members of, in Bromberg 216–17
German Army’s hostility towards 214, 261, 312
German resistance to 149
the Goldfasane (Golden Pheasants) 64, 318–19
Greiser affair and 215–16
leadership 11, 20, 51–3, 134, 216–22, 277, 321–9, 342–3; fragmentation of 280–92, 294–5, 317–18, 336–42; Hitler, support for 20, 51–3, 144–5, 278–9; negotiated peace, search for 280–86; see also individual names
Robert Ley as Party Organization Leader 51
loyalty rallies 31
membership 73, 74
opposition to 14, 20, 64, 74, 104, 105, 107, 310, 380–82; see also civilian population’s support for above
organizational structure 72–3
post-capitulation: arrests among 380; de-Nazification process 380; dissolution of 319; suicide by members of 355–6, 357
power held by 11, 21–2, 41, 42–4, 73–5, 101, 276–9, 391, 392–3
power struggles within 38–44, 76–9, 83, 89, 90, 323
in pre-war Germany 11, 13, 21
propaganda see propaganda
religion, attitude to 21
terror tactics 3–4, 5, 8–9, 10, 14, 37, 84, 162, 207–8, 216–25, 273, 296, 318, 321–9, 391–2, 393
Völkischer Beobachter (Party newspaper) 6, 115, 186, 188, 345
Wehrmacht and 45–51, 52, 70, 71, 90, 268
see also Hitler, Adolf
negotiated peace, support/search for 6–7, 12, 15, 18, 27, 55, 87, 280–86, 291–2, 336, 352, 387, 396–7
Neiße river 252, 301, 302
Nemmersdorf 110, 111, 173
Red Army atrocities committed in 110, 111, 112–14, 176, 394; Nazi propaganda based on 114–17, 120, 122
Netherlands 130, 131, 256, 263, 299, 328, 366–7
Blaskowitz as C-in-C 362, 363
Dönitz as Reich President and 362–3
Dutch Underground Movement 362
Seyß-Inquart as Reich Commissar 258; Allied negotiations with 358–9, 363
Wehrmacht flooding of coastal areas 362
Neuengamme concentration camp 330, 331–2, 333
Neumann, Balthasar 238
von Neurath, Konstantin 360
newspapers see individual titles; press/media
Nijmegen 58, 254
Nogat river 174
North Sea 299
see also Baltic area
Norway 120, 299, 338
German occupation 366, 367; Lindemann as C-in-C 367
NSDAP see Nazi Party
NSFOs (Nationalsozialistischer Führungsoffizier) (National Socialist Leadership Officers) 46–7, 50, 52, 69, 91, 1–1, 140, 205, 211–12, 313, 327, 394
‘Guidelines for’ 47
Reinecke as head of army NSFOs 68
NSV (Nationalsozialistische Volkswohlfahrt)
(Welfare Organization) 32, 74, 76, 148, 163, 177, 183, 277
see also welfare provision
Nuremberg 24, 300
Allied bombing 189, 236
American capture of 300, 319–20
Oder river 167, 168, 173, 174, 176, 181, 188, 204, 212, 247, 250, 251–2, 256, 268, 270–71, 301, 302
German defence of 288–9
Ohlendorf, Otto 359
Ohnesorge, Wilhelm (Reich Post Minister) 275
oil supplies see fuel supplies
OKH (Oberkommando des Heeres) (Army High Command) 169–70, 197, 198, 199–200
see also German Army, leadership
OKW see Wehrmacht High Command
Operation Bagration 17, 92–6
Operation Barbarossa (June 1941) see Soviet Union, German invasion of
Operation Cobra 55
Operation Goodwood 52
Operation Market Garden 58, 388
Oppenheim 255
Oppenhoff, Franz (American-appointed Mayor of Aachen) 279
Oradour-sur-Glane, Waffen-SS atrocities committed in (June 1944) 121
Organisation Todt (OT) 37, 102, 143, 184
Oshima, Hiroshi (Japanese ambassador to Germany) 163
OSS (Office of Strategic Services) (US secret service) 285, 363
Oster, Colonel Hans 328
Ostpreußen (ice-breaker) 319
Ostwall (Eastern Wall) 101–5
von Oven, Wilfred 40, 147, 243
Palmnicken massacre (January 1945) 184–6, 234
Panzer Division Kurmark 251
see also 116th Panzer Division
Panzerfaust (German bazooka) 267, 305, 357
Paris, liberation of (August 1944) 56
partisan/resistance fighters (German) see Werwolf
Patton, General George 58–9, 131, 160, 254, 369, 370
Pauly, Max 331–2
Peiper, SS-Obersturmbannführer Joachim 155–6
Penzberg 344
Pforzheim 236
Pillau 174, 178–9, 183, 184, 251
Ploesti oilfields 94
Plön 358
Donitz in (April 1945) 338, 339, 342, 346
OKW in (April 1945) 339, 342
Poland 96
Hans Frank’s escape from 214
Galicia 93
German occupation 98, 101, 102, 167, 181–2, 214–15, 263
Arthur Greiser’s escape from 214, 215
Kraków 172, 214
Łód´z ghetto 123, 174
Nazi atrocities in 123, 174, 251
Posen 168, 174, 214–16
Red Army offensive (summer 1944) 93
Red Army invasion (October 1944) 15, 112, 167, 169, 171, 174, 176, 181, 203
Warsaw 93, 96, 172, 174, 203, 236, 251
see also Polish . . .
police force 23, 67, 73, 74, 84, 85, 149, 190, 208, 216–17, 219, 276, 296, 320, 333, 335, 391
decentralization 226
suicide by members of (April 1945–on) 356
see also militar
y police; SS
Polish Home Army 93
Polish Jews 117, 123, 214
numbers killed 214
Polish troops, in Red Army 174
see also Poland
political prisoners 228, 328, 333, 382
see also communists
Pollex, Colonel Curt 154, 155, 269–70
Pomerania 104, 174, 177–8, 183, 204, 247, 250, 270, 284, 366, 388
Posen 168, 174
Gauleiter Greiser’s flight from 214–16
postal services 75, 76, 145, 275
power supplies 137, 139, 140, 148, 162, 190, 193, 275, 276, 294, 345
see also coal supplies
Prague uprising (May 1945) 370
press/media 6, 75, 76, 103, 222, 242, 276, 345
criticism of 186–7
see also individual newspaper titles
prisoners of war 107, 109
Allied 160, 243; American 156; German murder of 156
Geneva Convention on 259
German, in Allied hands 32, 56, 70, 71, 154, 160, 196, 211, 226, 255, 260–61, 267–9, 270, 306, 315, 369; in Australia 306; in Soviet hands 94, 252, 368, 369, 371; from Army Group Centre 375; deaths among 375
in Germany 18, 83, 104, 125, 143, 237, 238, 254, 381–2
propaganda 7, 9–10, 20, 23, 24, 31, 61, 72, 105, 106, 121, 140, 142, 157, 159, 186, 187, 212, 242, 259, 279–80, 318, 345, 390
anti-American/British 238–9, 257, 279–80
anti-Bolshevik 98, 187, 195, 223–4, 313, 356, 394
anti-Jewish 123–4, 208
as counter-productive 115–17, 208, 209, 213, 222–3, 256–7
on Dresden bombing 238–9
Kolberg (propaganda film) 147–8, 250, 276
loyalty rallies 31
on Red Army atrocities 112–17, 118, 120
Special Action of the Party Chancellery speakers 256–8
in support of Nazi Party 258
verbal 222–3, 256–8
see also Soviet propaganda
Prussia see East Prussia
public opinion 18, 20, 99, 106–7
on von Stauffenberg assassination plot 31–3
see also Hitler, German allegiance to; morale
von Pückler-Burghaus, SS-Gruppenführer Carl Graf 370
racial enemies concept 9–10, 184, 208
‘inferiors’ 208, 226
see also Jews
Rahn, Rudolf (German ambassador to Italy) 364, 366
railways 22, 63, 64, 65, 66, 76, 102, 103, 135, 139, 151, 152, 173, 177–8, 184, 211, 213, 239, 275, 299
Allied bombing, effect on 79, 82, 136, 137, 140, 143
see also transport
Rastenburg see Wolf’s Lair
Ratibor 252
Ravensbrück concentration camp (for women) 330, 334, 336
raw materials, supplies of 80, 93, 94, 131, 244
distribution 135–6
see also coal supplies; iron/steel production
Red Army
American Army, meeting up with (April 1945) 339
in Austria 301, 316
Berlin, advance on 168, 173, 174, 175, 250, 253, 293, 294, 300–302, 308, 315–21, 324; encirclement of 337–47
in Bohemia (Czechoslovakia) 370, 373–4
drunkenness among 189
German civilians’ fear of 11, 12, 18, 91, 98–100, 105, 107, 108, 112–14, 117–18, 119, 120–22, 164–5, 177–84, 223–4, 270, 271, 273, 313, 324, 245, 349, 355, 356–8, 394, 395
German civilians, treatment of 176–86; labour camps, deportation to 181
Germany, offensive against (Summer 1944) 17, 24, 27, 28, 32, 33, 46, 49, 75, 92–6, 102
Germany, invasion of (October 1944–on) 17, 110–22, 123, 131, 132, 165–6, 167–206, 219, 247, 250–53, 259, 393–4; aims/objectives 168; Guderian on 110; maps of 175, 248, 249; troop numbers 168, 169; see also Berlin, advance on above
Hitler on 118
Hungary, invasion of (1944) 131, 132, 151, 170, 284, 316
looting by 357
Poland, advance into (1944) 15, 112, 167, 169, 171, 174, 176
Polish troops in 174
strategic planning 388
superiority of 168, 170–71
troop numbers 168, 169, 301
see also Soviet Union
Red Army atrocities 98, 180–81, 188, 357–8, 370, 394
at Nemmersdorf 110, 111, 112–14, 176, 394; Nazi propaganda based on 114–17, 120, 122
Hitler on 118
Jews, treatment of 394
Nazi propaganda on 112–17, 118, 120
Red Cross see German Red Cross; Swedish Red Cross
refugees see evacuation, of civilian population
Regensburg 342–3
Das Reich (newspaper) 239
Reich Chancellery 25, 38, 39, 40, 42, 162
Allied bombing (February 1945) 242
building 24, 295
Führer bunker see Hitler, Adolf, in Berlin
Reich Iron Federation 136
Reich Labour Service 71
Reich Press Office/News Agency 115
Reichsbahn 138, 140
see also transport
Reichsverteidigungskommissare (Reich Defence Commissars) (RVKs) 22, 41–2, 43, 52, 76, 88, 89, 101, 102, 103, 225–6, 290–91
Reinecke, General Hermann 46–7
as head of army NSFOs 68
Reinefarth, SS-Brigadeführer Heinz 251, 252
Reinhardt, Colonel-General Georg-Hans 33, 111, 114, 119
on eastern front 168, 171, 196–200, 202; dismissal (January 1945) 200, 202, 221, 310
Guderian and 197, 198, 199, 200, 205
Hitler and 196–8, 200; on his death 349
religion
Christian beliefs 72
Nazi Party attitude to 21
Nazi Party, Christian attitudes to 381
Remagen 254, 263, 278
Renduli´c, Colonel-General Lothar 202–3, 251, 263, 368
surrender 369, 370
Replacement Army 23, 25–6, 29–30, 35, 82, 84–5, 206
Himmler as C-in-C 35–8, 40, 353, 396
see also German Army
resistance movement, in Germany 149, 387
see also Stauffenberg, plot to assassinate Hitler
Rhine river
Allied crossing of 253, 254, 255, 256, 260, 266, 268–9, 270, 271, 281–2, 297
German defence 288–9
Rhine/Ruhr industrial area 58, 81, 131, 136, 138, 139, 141, 149, 150, 222, 254, 255, 262, 287, 328
Allied bombing 235
Red Army capture of 305
von Ribbentrop, Joachim 90, 163, 358
Allies, his attempts to negotiate with 280–81, 282–3, 291
as Foreign Minister 20, 150, 163
Goebbels on 243–4, 282
Dönitz as Reich President and 361–2
von Richthofen Lieutenant Freiherr 53
Riga, German retreat from (October 1944) 95
Ritter von Greim, Colonel-General Robert 205
Röchling, Hermann 136
Roer river 131
Rohland, Walther 136, 149, 290, 304
Rokossovsky, Marshal Konstantin 169, 173, 183, 301
Romania 62, 93–4, 100
Rome, fall of (1944) 17
Rooks, Major-General Lowell W. 378
Röttiger, Hans 366
Ruckdeschel, Ludwig 322, 323
as Gauleiter of Bayreuth 342–3
Rügen 179
Ruhr see Rhine/Ruhr industrial area
von Rundstedt, Field-Marshal Gerd 28, 32, 49, 59, 130
as C-in-C West 69, 70, 130, 132–3, 160, 170, 263; dismissal (March 1945) 254
Russia see Soviet Union
Russian Army see Red Army
Russian revolution 7
RVKs see Reichsverteidigungs-kommissare (Reich Defence Commissars)
Saar industrial area 58, 61, 65, 132, 136, 140, 141, 255
Sachsenhausen concentration camp 328, 330, 332, 333, 337
von Salisch, SS-Standa
rdtenführer Carl 217
Sauckel, Fritz 83
Saur, Karl Otto 43, 83, 135, 137–8, 141, 160, 292, 346, 352
Saxony 125, 297
Scandinavia 256, 283, 361
see also Denmark; Finland; Sweden
Schellenberg, SS-Brigadeführer Walter 283, 284
Schepmann, Wilhelm (SA head) 85–6
von Schirach, Baldur
as Gauleiter of Vienna 317
as Hitler Youth Leader 118, 317
Schleswig-Holstein 361, 366–7
Schneidemühl 218–19
Schörner, Colonel-General (later Field-Marshal) Ferdinand 50, 51, 95, 221, 305, 395
on army deserters 219
as Army Group A (subsequently Army Group Centre) C-in-C 252, 301, 353, 368, 369–71; post-capitulation 373–5
as Army Group North C-in-C 94–5, 219, 259
brutality accusations against 374, 395
on disaffected army officers 221, 263
on Hitler’s suicide 348–9
imprisonment/trial in West Germany 203, 374
Soviet Union, captivity in 374
Schulz, General Friedrich 299, 305, 316
Schulze-Fielitz, Günther 137
Schutszstaffel (Protection Squad) see SS
Das Schwarze Korps (SS newspaper) 210
Schweinfurt ball bearing works 291
von Schweppenburg, General Geyr 28
von Schwerin, General Gerd Graf 63
Schwerin von Krosigk, Lutz Graf (Finance Minister) 241–2, 278, 360
Berlin, evacuation from 341
in the Dönitz cabinet 360, 377, 378
scorched earth policy 64, 112, 141, 288
Dönitz’s reversal of 367
Hitler’s Nero Order on (March 1945) 290–91, 303, 309, 367; Speer’s opposition to 290–91, 303, 309
industry, German plans for immobilization/destruction of 42, 80, 81, 82, 140–41, 286–7, 288, 289, 290–91
see also economic collapse
secret weapons see armaments, miracle weapons
Seelow Heights 302
Seldte, Franz (Labour Minister under Dönitz) 360
Seyß-Inquart, Arthur (Reich Commissar in Netherlands) 358
Allied powers, his negotiations with 358–9, 363
Sicherheitsdienst (SD; Security Service) 18, 25, 31, 61, 73, 99, 117, 191, 261, 271, 316, 356, 359, 380
Silesia 214, 252
evacuation of 182–3, 189–90, 262
Groß-Rosen concentration camp 232–3, 329
Silesian industrial area 167, 168, 172–3, 182, 187, 190, 195, 244, 252, 287
Simon, Gustav (Gauleiter of Koblenz-Trier) 65–6
Smend, Oberstleutnant Günther 29
Smith, General Walter Bedell see Bedell Smith
Sobibor extermination camp 214
Solingen 297, 314–15
Soviet air force 169, 173, 179, 180, 301