Ostkrieg

by Stephen G. Fritz

  95. Frieser, “Die Schlacht im Kursker Bogen,” 200, 204–8; Töppel, “Die Schlacht bei Kursk,” 397; Guderian, Panzer Leader, 312; Warlimont, Inside Hitler’s Headquarters, 334; Sokolov, “The Battle for Kursk,” 88, and “The Cost of War,” 187.

  8. Scorched Earth

  1. Wegner, “Die Aporie des Krieges,” 211–12, and “Hitler und die Choreographie des Untergangs,” 493–94.

  2. Boberach, ed., Meldungen aus dem Reich, 30 May 1943; Wegner, “Die Aporie des Krieges,” 212–14.

  3. Wegner, “Die Aporie des Krieges,” 212–14, and “Hitler und die Choreographie des Untergangs,” 495–98; TBJG, 2 March 1943; Browning, Ordinary Men, xv.

  4. Wegner, “Die Aporie des Krieges,” 214, and “Hitler und die Choreographie des Untergangs,” 506–7; Friedländer, Nazi Germany and the Jews, 2:473–75; TBJG, 17–18 April 1943; Kershaw, Hitler: Nemesis, 583; Herf, The Jewish Enemy, 192–213.

  5. Friedländer, Nazi Germany and the Jews, 2:473–77; TBJG, 8, 10, 13 May 1943; Kershaw, Hitler: Nemesis, 582–84, 588–89; Herf, The Jewish Enemy, 213–15.

  6. Kershaw, Hitler: Nemesis, 604–6; TBJG, 7 October 1943; Noakes and Pridham, eds., Nazism: A Documentary Reader, 3:1199–1200; Breitman, The Architect of Genocide, 242–43. For the full text of Himmler’s 4 October speech, see “Himmler’s Summation, October 4, 1943,” in Dawidowicz, ed., A Holocaust Reader, 130–40. Both the German and the English text of the specific references to the Jews, as well as an audio recording of Himmler’s 4 October speech, are available at http://www.holocaust-history.org/himmler-poznan (accessed 19 January 2010).

  7. Kershaw, Hitler: Nemesis, 626–28; TBJG, 18 April 1944; Friedländer, Nazi Germany and the Jews, 2:613–15, 617–19; Evans, The Third Reich at War, 616–17.

  8. Kershaw, Hitler: Nemesis, 601, 626–28; TBJG, 10, 23 September 1943, 18 April 1944; Friedländer, Nazi Germany and the Jews, 2:613–15, 617–19; Evans, The Third Reich at War, 617–18; Wegner, “Hitler und die Choreographie des Untergangs,” 506–8.

  9. Tooze, The Wages of Destruction, 625, 627–28.

  On the aerial war over Germany, see Boog, “The Strategic Air War,” 15–256.

  10. Wegner, “Die Aporie des Krieges,” 214–18; Friedrich, The Fire, 9–10, 16–17, 128–29, 144, 366; TBJG, 25, 29 July, 2, 6 August, 8, 10, 12–13, 21, 23 September, 1, 20 December 1943; Blank, “Wartime Daily Life.”

  11. Rass, “Menschenmaterial,” 367–71; Wegner, “Die Aporie des Krieges,” 262–64.

  12. Tooze, The Wages of Destruction, 629–31; Herbert, “Labour and Extermination,” 188–92; Heinrich Himmler, “Speech to High-Ranking Wehrmacht Officers” (“Rede vor den Teilnehmern des politisch-weltanschaulichen Lehrgangs”) at the SS Ordenburg Sonthofen, 24 May 1944, NARA, RG 242, T-175, roll 94, frames 4648–56; Typed Copy, with Himmler’s Handwritten Corrections, NARA, RG 242, T-175, roll 94, frame 4647; Typed Copy, with Himmler’s Handwritten Corrections, NARA, RG 242, T-175, roll 145, frames 3270–93; Final Copy for the SS Archive, NARA, RG 242, T-175, roll 94, frames 4609–46; Incomplete Audio Recording, NARA, Tape 242-11; Mazower, Hitler’s Empire, 309–16; Fings, “Slaves for the ‘Home Front,’ ” 233–74.

  13. Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 175.

  14. Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 277, 360–62; Wegner, “Die Aporie des Krieges,” 218–20, and “Hitler und die Choreographie des Untergangs,” 496–506; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 153–54.

  15. Wegner, “Die Aporie des Krieges,” 218–20, 246–50, and “Hitler und die Choreographie des Untergangs,” 496–506; Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 361–62; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 216–17.

  16. Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 277; Wegner, “Die Aporie des Krieges,” 222–25, 246–56; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 163–65, 211–16; Messerschmidt, “Die Wehrmacht,” 224, 228, 232–33.

  17. Kershaw, Hitler: Nemesis, 603, 617–19; TBJG, 21 July 1943, 4 March 1944; Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 361–62; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 163–65; Wegner, “Die Aporie des Krieges,” 222–23.

  18. Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 361–62; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 163–65; Wegner, “Die Aporie des Krieges,” 221–22; Manstein, Lost Victories, 458–69.

  19. Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 297–301; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 158–60; Mawdsley, Thunder in the East, 274.

  20. Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 301–5; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 167–68.

  21. Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 344–57.

  22. Ibid., 357–58; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 160–62, 166.

  23. Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 357–59; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 166–67; Mawdsley, Thunder in the East, 274.

  24. Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 168–69, 172; Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 362–63.

  25. Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 171; Wegner, “Die Aporie des Krieges,” 256–57; Rass, “Menschenmaterial,” 378–85.

  26. Letters of Erwin Kolbenhoff, 10 August, 24 September 1943, and Albert Pretzel, 21 September 1943, in Latzel, Deutsche Soldaten, 155; Letter of Helmut Pabst, 10 September 1943, in Bähr and Bähr, eds., Kriegsbriefe, 259–60; Fritz, Frontsoldaten, 149–50; Letters of Hans-Jochen Bauer, 17 September 1943, and Hans Olte, 10 October 1943, in Latzel, Deutsche Soldaten, 74, 144; Wegner, “Die Aporie des Krieges,” 258–59.

  27. Wegner, “Die Aporie des Krieges,” 259–60; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 171–72; Evans, The Third Reich at War, 491–92.

  28. Wegner, “Die Aporie des Krieges,” 261–63; Rass, “Menschenmaterial,” 365–71, 379–83.

  29. Wegner, “Die Aporie des Krieges,” 258–61, 264–69; Rass, “Menschenmaterial,” 375, 384–85; Gerlach, “Verbrechen deutscher Fronttruppen in Weißrußland,” 101–8. See also the letters of 17 September and 12 October 1943 by Hans-Jochen Bauer in Latzel, Deutsche Soldaten, 144.

  30. Evans, The Third Reich at War, 492, 499; Letters of O’Gefr. A. G., 1 March 1942, Uffz. A. N., 15, 29 May 1943, and Uffz. O. D., 16 August 1944, in Manoschek, “Es gibt nur eines für das Judentum,” 52, 69, 74; Wegner, “Die Aporie des Krieges,” 230–31. See also Müller, “Nationalismus in der deutschen Kriegsgesellschaft,” 9–92.

  31. Rass, “Menschenmaterial,” 63–204, esp. 192–204, and “Social Profile,” 694–705; Evans, The Third Reich at War, 496–97. On the importance of primary group loyalty, see Shils and Janowitz, “Cohesion and Disintegration in the Wehrmacht.”

  32. Rass, “Menschenmaterial,” 63–204, esp. 88–134, and “Social Profile,” 716–21; Fritz, Frontsoldaten, 187–218, and “ ‘We are trying . . . to change the face of the world’ ”; Kühne, “Gruppenkohäsion und Kameradschaftsmythos in der Wehrmacht”; Evans, The Third Reich at War, 498–501. For a discussion of camaraderie, see Fritz, Frontsoldaten, 156–86. On a dissenting view of primary group stability, see Bartov, Hitler’s Army.

  33. Wegner, “Die Aporie des Krieges,” 228–29; Förster, “Ideological Warfare in Germany,” 582–647; Evans, The Third Reich at War, 498–99; Fritz, Frontsoldaten, 199–202.

  34. Wegner, “Die Aporie des Krieges,” 234–39; Evans, The Third Reich at War, 501–3; Fritz, Frontsoldaten, 91–97, 239–40, 251 n. 44, 252 n. 49, and Endkampf, 116–18; Messerschmidt and Wüllner, Die Wehrmachtjustiz im Dienste des Nationalsozialismus, 50, 63–89, 102–3, 132–68, 305–14.

  35. Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 172–74; Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 364.

  36. Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 172–74; Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 367–70.

  37. Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 184–85; Mawdsley, Thunder in the East, 277–78; Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 334–35, 364–67, 370–73.

  38. Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 373–74, 379–83; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 174–81, 185.

  39. Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 374–75; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 186–87; Guderian, Panzer Leader
, 316–22.

  40. Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 375–78, 385; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 187–89; Mawdsley, Thunder in the East, 274; Overmans, Deutsche militärische Verluste, 278.

  41. Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 305–8; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 189–92.

  42. Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 308–31; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 192–96, 205–7, 303–9; Hastings, Armageddon, 112–13.

  43. Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 331–38, 420–22; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 207. Not until 5 April was the siege of Kovel finally broken.

  44. Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 278–79; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 197. On the demotorization of the Wehrmacht, see Bartov, Hitler’s Army, 12–28.

  45. Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 198–205; Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 283–84.

  46. Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 213–16, 248–49; Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 284–85.

  47. Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 249–51; Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 284–88.

  48. Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 251–57; Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 288–89.

  49. Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 289–91; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 255–58.

  50. Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 257–65; Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 291–93.

  51. Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 282, 284–85, 290, 294–95; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 297–98; Mawdsley, Thunder in the East, 274.

  52. Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 385–86.

  53. Ibid., 387–90; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 218–22; Manstein, Lost Victories, 493–96.

  54. Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 390–93; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 222–26; Manstein, Lost Victories, 496–509.

  55. Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 393–97; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 226–28; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 186–87; Mawdsley, Thunder in the East, 277.

  56. Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 397–400; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 228–31; Buchner, Ostfront, 16–18; Manstein, Lost Victories, 514–16. For the best, most comprehensive treatment of the battle of Cherkassy-Korsun in English, see Nash, Hell’s Gate, and “No Stalingrad.”

  57. Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 400–402; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 228–29; Buchner, Ostfront, 16–18; Manstein, Lost Victories, 516.

  58. Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 402–3, 405; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 231–32; Manstein, Lost Victories, 516.

  59. Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 403–4, 406–8; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 232–33; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 187–88; Mawdsley, Thunder in the East, 278–79; Nash, “No Stalingrad,” 126.

  60. Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 408–16; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 234–37; Buchner, Ostfront, 35–37, 39–40; Nash, “No Stalingrad,” 129–31.

  61. Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 416–19; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 237–38; Manstein, Lost Victories, 217; Nash, “No Stalingrad,” 73, 149–50.

  62. Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 335–37, 419–24; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 244–47, 272–78; Manstein, Lost Victories, 520–23.

  63. Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 424–31; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 277, 279–80, 288–89. Ziemke claims that only fifty-three men made it out of the pocket.

  64. Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 432–34; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 273–76.

  65. Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 432–34; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 277–79.

  66. Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 434–38; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 276–80.

  67. Manstein, Lost Victories, 530–38; Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 438–39.

  68. Manstein, Lost Victories, 538–43; Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 439–40; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 280; Kershaw, Hitler: Nemesis, 629–30.

  69. Manstein, Lost Victories, 538–40, 542–44; Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 436, 440–44; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 280–82.

  70. Manstein, Lost Victories, 544–48; Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 442–44, 448–49; Wegner, “Die Aporie des Krieges,” 221–25, and “Die Kriegführung des ‘als ob,’ ” 1171–73; TBJG, 31 March, 1, 5, 23 April, 18 May 1944; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 281–82, 286; Kershaw, Hitler: Nemesis, 616–19, 629–30. At the same time, the names of the army groups were altered, to Army Group North Ukraine and Army Group South Ukraine, a change meant less to reflect reality, since Ukraine had already been lost, than to stiffen the morale of the troops by implying that these areas would be retaken.

  71. Manstein, Lost Victories, 546–48; Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 444–45; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 282, 286, 288–91.

  72. Klaus Schönherr, “Der Rückzug der Heeresgruppe A,” 451–90; Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 445–47; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 291–95; TBJG, 18 April 1944; Kershaw, Hitler: Nemesis, 630–31.

  73. Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 309–11; Wegner, “Die Kriegführung des ‘als ob,’ ” 1165, 1171–73.

  74. Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 310; Wegner, “Die Kriegführung des ‘als ob,’ ” 1165–66; Frieser, “Der Zusammenbruch im Osten,” 499–500.

  75. Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 310–12; Wegner, “Die Kriegführung des ‘als ob,’ ” 1166–70. Wegner, using estimates from Foreign Armies East, notes that, on 1 July 1944, the Red Army disposed of 5,730,000 men on the Eastern Front, which meant that it had a surplus of troops (3,495,000) 1.5 times greater than the total number of German troops (2,235,000).

  76. Wegner, “Die Kriegführung des ‘als ob,’ ” 1177–78; Frieser, “Der Zusammenbruch im Osten,” 493–97; Kershaw, Hitler: Nemesis, 637–40; Steinert, Hitler’s War, 234–35, 240–41.

  77. Frieser, “Der Zusammenbruch im Osten,” 493–96.

  78. Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 311–12; Wegner, “Die Kriegführung des ‘als ob,’ ” 1177–78; Frieser, “Der Zusammenbruch im Osten,” 495, 498; Kershaw, Hitler: Nemesis, 632–40; TBJG, 6 June 1944; Tooze, The Wages of Destruction, 626–34; Weinberg, A World at Arms, 656–66, and “German Plans for Victory.”

  79. Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 311–12; Wegner, “Die Kriegführung des ‘als ob,’ ” 1174–75, 1177–79; Kershaw, Hitler: Nemesis, 631, 633; Speer, Inside the Third Reich, 346; Frieser, “Der Rückschlag des Pendels,” 449–50, and “Der Zusammenbruch im Osten,” 498–501.

  9. Disintegration

  1. Frieser, “Der Zusammenbruch im Osten,” 501–5.

  2. Ibid., 501–5; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 313–14; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 195–96.

  3. Frieser, “Der Zusammenbruch im Osten,” 501–5; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 313–14; Baker, “Explaining Defeat,” 139–40; Mawdsley, Thunder in the East, 298–99.

  4. Frieser, “Der Zusammenbruch im Osten,” 505–7, 536–37; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 316–18; Baker, “Explaining Defeat,” 133; Glantz and Orenstein, eds., Belorussia 1944, 7; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 196–99.

  5. Frieser, “Der Zusammenbruch im Osten,” 504–5; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 313–14; Baker, “Explaining Defeat,” 140–41.

  6. Frieser, “Der Zusammenbruch im Osten,” 526–30; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 315; Baker, “Explaining Defeat,” 136–37; Niepold, Battle for White Russia, 56–64; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 198.

  7. Frieser, “Der Zusammenbruch im Osten,” 530–35, 593; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 315; Baker, “Explaining Defeat,” 136–38; Niepold, Battle for White Russia, 33–34, 44; Glantz and Orenstein, eds., Belorussia 1944, 41–42, 47–48, 55–64; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 201–2.

  8. Frieser, “Der Zusammenbruch im Osten,” 507–15; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin,
315–16.

  9. Frieser, “Der Zusammenbruch im Osten,” 518–25; Baker, “Explaining Defeat,” 140–42.

  10. Frieser, “Der Zusammenbruch im Osten,” 517–18; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 314–16; Baker, “Explaining Defeat,” 134–35.

  11. Frieser, “Der Zusammenbruch im Osten,” 537–39; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 319–20; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 201–5; Mawdsley, Thunder in the East, 299–300.

  12. Frieser, “Der Zusammenbruch im Osten,” 539–43; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 320–21; Niepold, Battle for White Russia, 110, 146–47.

  13. Frieser, “Der Zusammenbruch im Osten,” 545–46; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 320–21.

  14. Frieser, “Der Zusammenbruch im Osten,” 546–48; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 321–22.

  15. Frieser, “Der Zusammenbruch im Osten,” 543–45; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 321, 323; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 206–7.

  16. Frieser, “Der Zusammenbruch im Osten,” 548–49; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 324–25.

  17. Frieser, “Der Zusammenbruch im Osten,” 550–52; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 324–25; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 207.

  18. Frieser, “Der Zusammenbruch im Osten,” 552–57; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 324–25; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 207–8.

  19. Frieser, “Der Zusammenbruch im Osten,” 556–60; Messerschmidt, “Die Wehrmacht,” 236; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 325–28, 336–39.

  20. Frieser, “Der Zusammenbruch im Osten,” 556–63; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 335–36; Below, Als Hitlers Adjutant, 378–80; Kershaw, Hitler: Nemesis, 649–51.

  21. Frieser, “Der Zusammenbruch im Osten,” 563–72; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 337–39.

  22. Frieser, “Der Zusammenbruch im Osten,” 565, 570–82.

  23. Ibid., 582–87; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 341–42.

  24. Frieser, “Der Zusammenbruch im Osten,” 585–87; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 340–42. For a recent account of the Warsaw Uprising, one that criticizes Stalin for deliberately allowing the Poles to be crushed, see Davies, Rising ’44.