Ostkrieg

by Stephen G. Fritz

  59. Wegner, “Vom Lebensraum zum Todesraum,” 18, and “The War against the Soviet Union,” 1207–8; Halder, War Diary, 28 March, 12 June 1942, 612, 623; TBJG, 21 March 1942; Citino, Death of the Wehrmacht, 50–51.

  60. Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 848–49, 860–62, 869, 1210, “Vom Lebensraum zum Todesraum,” 20–21, and “Hitlers zweiter Feldzug,” 653, 655, 658; Tooze, The Wages of Destruction, 586–87; Reinhardt, Moscow—the Turning Point, 403, 425; Speer, Inside the Third Reich, 215; Kroener, “The Manpower Resources of the Third Reich,” 1100–1112.

  61. Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 848–49, 860–62, 869, 1207, “Vom Lebensraum zum Todesraum,” 20–21, and “Hitlers zweiter Feldzug,” 653, 655, 658; Halder, War Diary, 12 June 1942, 623; Tooze, The Wages of Destruction, 586–87; Reinhardt, Moscow—the Turning Point, 403, 425; Speer, Inside the Third Reich, 215; Kroener, “The Manpower Resources of the Third Reich,” 1100–1112; Goebbels, “Wofur?”

  62. Hayward, “Hitler’s Quest for Oil,” 108–9, and Stopped at Stalingrad, 18–22; TBJG, 24 May 1942; Jochmann, Monologe im Führerhauptquartier, 5 August 1942, 328–29; Tooze, The Wages of Destruction, 586; Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 850–58, 869, “Vom Lebensraum zum Todesraum,” 18–19, and “Hitlers zweiter Feldzug,” 654–55. As early as 1928, Hitler claimed that Russian oil deposits had the same importance in the twentieth century as iron and coal deposits had in previous centuries. See Hitler, Second Book, 157.

  63. Hayward, “Hitler’s Quest for Oil,” 108–9; Tooze, The Wages of Destruction, 586; Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 858, 869, “Vom Lebensraum zum Todesraum,” 18–19, and “Hitlers zweiter Feldzug,” 654–55; TBJG, 24 May 1942; Kershaw, Hitler: Nemesis, 514–17. According to Goebbels, Hitler once again explicitly mentioned the liquidation of the Jews as a further consequence of the war (TBJG, 24 May 1942).

  64. Tooze, The Wages of Destruction, 557–58; Reinhardt, Moscow—the Turning Point, 423–24; Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 843–44, 858, 861, 1208, “Hitlers zweiter Feldzug,” 655–56, and “The Road to Defeat,” 116–17. As late as 23 November 1942—ironically, the day the ring around Stalingrad was closed—Himmler proclaimed in a speech that the east would be “colonies today, settlement area tomorrow, and Reich the day after tomorrow.” Quoted in Wegner, “Hitlers zweiter Feldzug,” 656.

  65. Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 863–69, 872, 904–27, and “Vom Lebensraum zum Todesraum,” 22–24; Halder, War Diary, 21 April 1942, 613–14; Citino, Death of the Wehrmacht, 152–53.

  66. Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 871–82, 895, and “Vom Lebensraum zum Todesraum,” 22; Warlimont, Inside Hitler’s Headquarters, 239–40; Citino, Death of the Wehrmacht, 152–53; Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, 15–16. On the demodernization of the Wehrmacht, see Bartov, Hitler’s Army, chap. 1.

  67. Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 871–82, and “Vom Lebensraum zum Todesraum,” 22. See also Mierzejewski, “A Public Enterprise in the Service of Mass Murder.”

  68. TBJG, 23, 26 April 1942; Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 882–903, “Vom Lebensraum zum Todesraum,” 23–24, and “Hitlers zweiter Feldzug,” 658–59; Kershaw, Hitler: Nemesis, 509. By 1 May 1942, the Soviet armed forces were back up to an overall strength of roughly 11 million soldiers, with about 5.6 million in the field army. See Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, 46–47.

  69. Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 882–903; Thomas, “Foreign Armies East,” 280–82; Reinhardt, Moscow—the Turning Point, 421–26; Müller, “The Mobilization of the German Economy,” 722–24, 751–52; Tooze, The Wages of Destruction, 558, 587–89; Harrison, Soviet Planning in Peace and War, 63–65, 81–82; Hayward, “Hitler’s Quest for Oil,” 117–21; TBJG, 26 April 1942; Kershaw, Hitler: Nemesis, 509. See also Harrison, “The Volume of Soviet Munitions Output,” and “Resource Mobilization for World War II”; Sokolov and Glantz, “The Role of Lend-Lease,” 567–86; and Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, 46–50. For a later reassessment of Soviet strength, see Halder, War Diary, 3 August 1942, 651–52.

  70. Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 902.

  6. All or Nothing

  1. Hayward, Stopped at Stalingrad, 3–4, 7–9, 27–31; Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 929–30; Jochmann, ed., Monologe im Führerhauptquartier, 5–6 July, 17 October 1941, 39, 91; Dallin, German Rule in Russia, 253–66; Citino, Death of the Wehrmacht, 52.

  2. Hayward, Stopped at Stalingrad, 31–66, and “Von Richthofen’s ‘Giant Fire-Magic,’ ” 98–99; Citino, Death of the Wehrmacht, 52–70; Glantz, “Forgotten Battles of the German-Soviet War: Pt. 6,” 121–70, and “Prelude to German Operation Blau,” 171–78. See also Manstein, Lost Victories, 204–59.

  3. Hayward, Stopped at Stalingrad, 67–78, and “Von Richthofen’s ‘Giant Fire-Magic,’ ” 99–102; Ziemke and Bauer, Moscow to Stalingrad, 262–63; Citino, Death of the Wehrmacht, 70–71.

  4. Hayward, Stopped at Stalingrad, 67–78, and “Von Richthofen’s ‘Giant Fire-Magic,’ ” 99–107; Citino, Death of the Wehrmacht, 70–71; Ziemke and Bauer, Moscow to Stalingrad, 263–64 (Manstein quote 264); Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 930–31. A Fliegerkorps normally had between 350 and 600 aircraft. See Hayward, “Von Richthofen’s ‘Giant Fire-Magic,’ ” 121–22 n. 21.

  5. Ziemke and Bauer, Moscow to Stalingrad, 264–66; Hayward, Stopped at Stalingrad, 70–78, and “Von Richthofen’s ‘Giant Fire-Magic,’ ” 107–8; Bock, War Diary, 28 April, 5 May 1942, 467, 469–70; Citino, Death of the Wehrmacht, 70–71. The bustard is a black game bird that inhabits the Crimea in great numbers but is largely harmless—perhaps a snide reference to the Germans’ Soviet opponents.

  6. Ziemke and Bauer, Moscow to Stalingrad, 266–67; Hayward, Stopped at Stalingrad, 78–81, and “Von Richthofen’s ‘Giant Fire-Magic,’ ” 112–15; Citino, Death of the Wehrmacht, 73–75; Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, 72–77. Colonel Grodeck, in fact, was severely wounded in one of the friendly fire incidents and would die of his wounds a few days later. Citino, Death of the Wehrmacht, 75.

  7. Ziemke and Bauer, Moscow to Stalingrad, 267–69; Hayward, Stopped at Stalingrad, 81–86, and “Von Richthofen’s ‘Giant Fire-Magic,’ ” 115–21; Citino, Death of the Wehrmacht, 75–77; Glantz, “Prelude to German Operation Blau,” 178; Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 932–34. Some Soviet troops reaching the far shore seemed to have been fired on by their own troops, while prisoners reported rumors of a Stalin order demanding that they fight on from the cover of the numerous caves on the peninsula (Ziemke and Bauer, Moscow to Stalingrad, 269).

  8. Weinberg, A World at Arms, 411; Citino, Death of the Wehrmacht, 77–79; Hayward, Stopped at Stalingrad, 86–91; Ziemke and Bauer, Moscow to Stalingrad, 309–10; Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, 85–87; Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 935–37.

  9. Citino, Death of the Wehrmacht, 77–79; Hayward, Stopped at Stalingrad, 86–91; Ziemke and Bauer, Moscow to Stalingrad, 309–10; Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, 87–88; Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 935–37.

  10. Ziemke and Bauer, Moscow to Stalingrad, 310–12; Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 937–38; Hayward, Stopped at Stalingrad, 95–102; Citino, Death of the Wehrmacht, 79–80; Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, 88–90.

  11. Ziemke and Bauer, Moscow to Stalingrad, 319–21; Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 938–39; Hayward, Stopped at Stalingrad, 102–13; Citino, Death of the Wehrmacht, 80–81.

  12. Ziemke and Bauer, Moscow to Stalingrad, 321; Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 939–41; Hayward, Stopped at Stalingrad, 115–19; Citino, Death of the Wehrmacht, 81–84; Weinberg, A World at Arms, 413.

  13. Citino, Death of the Wehrmacht, 85–93; Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 942–45; Hayward, Stopped at Stalingrad, 120–21; Ziemke and Bauer, Moscow to Stal
ingrad, 272–73; Bock, War Diary, 25, 30 April 1942, 465–66, 468.

  14. Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, 37–45; Knjazkov, “Die sowjetische Strategie,” 39–46; Citino, Death of the Wehrmacht, 89–91; Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 947; Ziemke and Bauer, Moscow to Stalingrad, 269–72.

  15. Erickson, The Road to Stalingrad, 344; Bock, War Diary, 5 May 1942, 469–70; Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, 33–37, 45, 77–79; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 99–101, 111–14; Citino, Death of the Wehrmacht, 90–91, 94–97. David Thomas, on the other hand, asserts that Foreign Armies East interpreted Soviet intentions at Kharkov as being defensive in nature. See Thomas, “Foreign Armies East,” 281–82.

  16. Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, 77–82; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 114–15; Citino, Death of the Wehrmacht, 95–100; Ziemke and Bauer, Moscow to Stalingrad, 273–76; Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 947–48; Hayward, Stopped at Stalingrad, 121–23; Bock, War Diary, 12 May 1942, 475.

  17. Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, 77–82; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 114–15; Citino, Death of the Wehrmacht, 95–102; Ziemke and Bauer, Moscow to Stalingrad, 273–76; Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 947–48; Hayward, Stopped at Stalingrad, 121–23.

  18. Bock, War Diary, 16 May 1942, 479–80; Citino, Death of the Wehrmacht, 102–4; Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, 81–82; Ziemke and Bauer, Moscow to Stalingrad, 278–79; Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 948–49; Hayward, Stopped at Stalingrad, 123–25.

  19. Citino, Death of the Wehrmacht, 104–6; Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, 82–83; Ziemke and Bauer, Moscow to Stalingrad, 278–82; Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 948–49; Hayward, Stopped at Stalingrad, 123–25.

  20. Bock, War Diary, 26 May 1942, 488; Citino, Death of the Wehrmacht, 107–15; Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, 82–85; Ziemke and Bauer, Moscow to Stalingrad, 279–82; Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 949–50; Hayward, Stopped at Stalingrad, 125–26. Evan Mawdsley puts permanent Soviet losses (i.e., killed, missing, and taken prisoner) at 170,000. See Mawdsley, Thunder in the East, 119.

  21. Hayward, “The German Use of Air Power at Kharkov”; Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 950–51; Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, 90–98.

  22. Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 951–54; Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, 98–102; Bock, War Diary, 31 January, 14, 17–19, 22, 24 June 1942, 416, 498–500, 502–4.

  23. Müller, Hitlers Ostkrieg, 105; Benz, “Der Generalplan Ost,” 45–50; Mazower, Hitler’s Empire, 180–84, 286; Tooze, The Wages of Destruction, 469–73; Kershaw, Hitler: Nemesis, 434, 516–17; TBJG, 24, 30 May 1942. See also Pringle, The Master Plan; Hutton, Race and the Third Reich; Heinemann, “Rasse, Siedlung, deutsches Blut”; Ehrenreich, The Nazi Ancestral Proof, and “Otmar von Verschuer”; and Bloxham, The Final Solution, 1–32, 170–211.

  24. Aly and Heim, Architects of Annihilation, 130–85; Mazower, Hitler’s Empire, 189–98, 216; Benz, “Der Generalplan Ost,” 45–50; Müller, Hitlers Ostkrieg, 11–82; “Reflections on the Treatment of Peoples of Alien Races in the East,” Memorandum by Himmler given to Hitler on 25 May 1940, Document NO-1880, Prosecution Exhibit 1314, Nuremberg Trial Documents, in Bauer, A History of the Holocaust, 353–54.

  25. Heiber, “Der Generalplan Ost”; Roth, “ ‘Generalplan Ost’—‘Gesamtplan Ost’ ”; Madajczyk, “Synchronismus,” 844–45; Benz, “Der Generalplan Ost,” 49–51; Mazower, Hitler’s Empire, 204–7, 210; Bloxham, Final Solution, 22–23. See also the relevant documents in Madajczyk and Biernacki, eds., Generalplan Ost.

  26. Aly, “Final Solution,” 218–21; Aly and Heim, Architects of Annihilation, 263–64; Mazower, Hitler’s Empire, 207–11, 217–19; Madajczyk, “Synchronismus,” 845–47; Benz, “Der Generalplan Ost,” 52–53; Erhard Wetzel, “Stellungnahme und Gedanken zum Generalplan Ost des Reichsführer SS,” 27 April 1942, in Heiber, “Generalplan Ost,” 300, 308, 313; Schubert, “Die Bereitstellung von Menschen für die Eindeutschung neuer Siedlungsräume im Osten.”

  27. Mazower, Hitler’s Empire, 210–11; Madajczyk, “Synchronismus,” 847–48, 852–53; Müller, Hitlers Ostkrieg, 108; Benz, “Der Generalplan Ost,” 52–53; Speer, Spandau, 47–50; Tooze, The Wages of Destruction, 526.

  28. Mazower, Hitler’s Empire, 205–6, 285–86, 384–87; Tooze, The Wages of Destruction, 467–68, 525–28, 540–48; Herbert, “Labour and Extermination,” 175; Browning, “A Final Hitler Decision?” On the forced labor roundups, see also Müller, “Die Zwangsrekrutierung von ‘Ostarbeitern,’ ” 772–83, and “Menschenjagd”; Streit, “Sowjetische Kriegsgefangene”; and Eikel, “ ‘Weil die Menschen fehlen.’ ”

  29. Aly and Heim, Architects of Annihilation, 275–76; Mazower, Hitler’s Empire, 211–12; Madajczyk, “Synchronismus,” 849–50; Müller, Hitlers Ostkrieg, 106.

  30. Aly and Heim, Architects of Annihilation, 276–77; Mazower, Hitler’s Empire, 213–14; Madajczyk, “Synchronismus,” 849–50; Tooze, The Wages of Destruction, 468–69.

  31. Aly and Heim, Architects of Annihilation, 276–78; Mazower, Hitler’s Empire, 213–14; Madajczyk, “Synchronismus,” 849–50; Herbert, “Labour and Extermination,” 179; Wasser, “Die ‘Germanisierung’ im Distrikt Lublin.” The culmination of this exchange came on 27 February 1943 in the “factory operation,” when 1,689 of the 2,757 Berlin Jews rounded up were killed immediately after being sent to Auschwitz. See Krausnick, “The Persecution of the Jews,” 359.

  32. Aly and Heim, Architects of Annihilation, 276–78; Mazower, Hitler’s Empire, 214–16; Tooze, The Wages of Destruction, 468; Madajczyk, “Synchronismus,” 849–50; Wasser, “Die ‘Germanisierung’ im Distrikt Lublin.”

  33. Himmler, speech of 16 September 1942, in Madajczyk and Biernacki, eds., Generalplan Ost, 172; Himmler, speech of 23 November 1942, in Wegner, Hitlers politische Soldaten, 48; Mazower, Hitler’s Empire, 219–20; Madajczyk, “Synchronismus,” 850–52; Müller, Hitlers Ostkrieg, 110; Gerlach, Krieg, Ernährung, Völkermord, 210–37.

  34. Tooze, The Wages of Destruction, 528–31; Mazower, Hitler’s Empire, 307–9; Herbert, “Labour and Extermination,” 177–79; Schulte, Zwangsarbeit und Vernichtung, 103–25, 335–60, 392–94; Allen, The Business of Genocide, 19–56, 112–27; Kaienburg, Die Wirtschaft der SS, 114–38.

  35. Tooze, The Wages of Destruction, 523, 526–27, 531–33; Mazower, Hitler’s Empire, 310–18; Herbert, “Labour and Extermination,” 180–82; Schulte, Zwangsarbeit und Vernichtung, 208–32; Allen, The Business of Genocide, 133–201; Overy, Why the Allies Won, 180–207.

  36. Schramm, ed., Kriegstagebuch, 27 May 1942, 2, pt. 3:386–87; Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 958; Citino, Death of the Wehrmacht, 160–63; Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, 13–16.

  37. Citino, Death of the Wehrmacht, 155–59; Warlimont, Inside Hitler’s Headquarters, 231; Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, 532 n. 1; Ziemke and Bauer, Moscow to Stalingrad, 288–90; Halder, War Diary, 28 March, 20 June 1942, 612, 625.

  38. Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 958; Citino, Death of the Wehrmacht, 164; Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, 102–3; Ziemke and Bauer, Moscow to Stalingrad, 330–31; Jukes, Hitler’s Stalingrad Decisions, 31–33; Bock, War Diary, 20 June 1942, 501.

  39. Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, 102–3; Ziemke and Bauer, Moscow to Stalingrad, 330–31; Bock, War Diary, 25, 27 June 1942, 505, 507; Halder, War Diary, 24 June 1942, 627–28; Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 958–59; Citino, Death of the Wehrmacht, 164–65.

  40. Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, 37, 103–4; Knjazkov, “Die sowjetische Strategie,” 42–47; Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 957, 959–63; Ziemke and Bauer, Moscow to Stalingrad, 328–30, 332.

  41. Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 966–68; Citino, Death of the Wehrmacht, 165–67; Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, 122–46; Ziemke and Bauer, Moscow to Stalingrad, 333–37; B
ock, War Diary, 28–30 June, 1–4 July 1942, 508–15; Halder, War Diary, 28, 29 June, 1, 3, 6 July 1942, 629–32, 635.

  42. Bock, War Diary, 28, 30 June, 1–3 July 1942, 508–13; Halder, War Diary, 30 June, 1, 3 July 1942, 630–32; Hayward, Stopped at Stalingrad, 137–39; Citino, Death of the Wehrmacht, 167–71; Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, 156–57; Ziemke and Bauer, Moscow to Stalingrad, 337–39; Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 968–69.

  43. Bock, War Diary, 4–7 July 1942, 514–20; Halder, War Diary, 5–6 July 1942, 633–36; Hayward, Stopped at Stalingrad, 139–40; Citino, Death of the Wehrmacht, 172–74; Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, 149–63, and “Forgotten Battles of the German-Soviet War: Pt. 7”; Ziemke and Bauer, Moscow to Stalingrad, 339–44; Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 970–71.

  44. Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 971–73; Citino, Death of the Wehrmacht, 172–74; Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, 149–63; Ziemke and Bauer, Moscow to Stalingrad, 339–44; Bock, War Diary, 7–8 July 1942, 520.

  45. Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 973–77; Citino, Death of the Wehrmacht, 174–75; Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, 171–205; Ziemke and Bauer, Moscow to Stalingrad, 344–47; Bock, War Diary, 13 July 1942, 525–26.

  46. Bock, War Diary, 13, 15 July 1942, 526; Halder, War Diary, 13 July 1942, 639–40; Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 977–78; Citino, Death of the Wehrmacht, 176–80; Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, 190–95; Ziemke and Bauer, Moscow to Stalingrad, 347–51.

  47. Wegner, “The War against the Soviet Union,” 988–89; Glantz, To the Gates of Stalingrad, 195–96; Jukes, Hitler’s Stalingrad Decisions, 39; Halder, War Diary, 6 July 1942, 635; “Führerbefehl vom 9. Juli 1942 betr. Verlegung von Waffen-SS Verbänden in den Bereich des OB West,” in Schramm, ed., Kriegstagebuch, 9 July 1942, 2, pt. 4:1280–81.