Ostkrieg

by Stephen G. Fritz

  25. Messerschmidt, “Die Wehrmacht,” 237–38.

  26. Frieser, “Der Zusammenbruch im Osten,” 592–94, 601; Wegner, “Im Schatten der ‘Zweiten Front’?” 129–30; Overy, Why the Allies Won, 332; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 215; Zetterling, “Loss Rates on the Eastern Front,” 900–902.

  27. Frieser, “Der Zusammenbruch im Osten,” 594–95; Hubert Van Tuyll, “D-Day in the East,” 222–24; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 150; Mawdsley, Thunder in the East, 306.

  28. Frieser, “Der Zusammenbruch im Osten,” 586–87, 596–603; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 214–15; Mawdsley, Thunder in the East, 307–8.

  29. Overmans, Deutsche militärische Verluste, 238, 278; Boog, “The Strategic Air War,” 293, and “Die strategische Bomberoffensive”; Tooze, The Wages of Destruction, 649; Blank, “Wartime Daily Life,” 475–76.

  30. Kershaw, Hitler: Nemesis, 705; Longerich, “Joseph Goebbels,” 287–96.

  31. “Führen wir einen totalen Krieg?” Das Reich, 2 July 1944; Longerich, “Joseph Goebbels,” 297–99; Beyer, “Pläne der faschistischen Führung zum totalen Krieg”; Speer, Inside the Third Reich, 396–97.

  32. Kershaw, Hitler: Nemesis, 707–8, 711–13; TBJG, 22 June 1944, 23–25 July 1944; Hancock, National Socialist Leadership, 127–38; Speer, Inside the Third Reich, 398–407; Tooze, The Wages of Destruction, 637–38; Müller, “Der Zusammenbruch des Wirtschaftslebens,” 75.

  33. Kershaw, Hitler: Nemesis, 712–15; Hancock, National Socialist Leadership, 152–58, and “Employment in Wartime”; Herbert, Fremdarbeiter, 270–73, and Hitler’s Foreign Workers, 359–64; Müller, “Der Zusammenbruch des Wirtschaftslebens,” 53, 69–71; Kunz, “Die Wehrmacht,” 13–17, 25–27.

  34. Müller, “Der Zusammenbruch des Wirtschaftslebens,” 53, 74–84; Tooze, The Wages of Destruction, 627–39; Allen, The Business of Genocide, 232–39; Herbert, “Labour and Extermination,” 187–91. For a good short discussion of the various miracle weapons, see Evans, The Third Reich at War, 660–75.

  35. Tooze, The Wages of Destruction, 627–39, 648–51; Boog, “The Strategic Air War in Europe,” 118; Müller, “Albert Speer und die deutsche Rüstungspolitik,” 432; Blank, “Wartime Daily Life,” 462–64; Mierzejewski, The Collapse of the German War Economy, 103–76; Overy, Why the Allies Won, 127–32, 331–32.

  36. Tooze, The Wages of Destruction, 642–48; Aly, Hitler’s Beneficiaries, 110–17, 132–34; Müller, “Der Zusammenbruch des Wirtschaftslebens,” 60–62, and “Albert Speer und die deutsche Rüstungspolitik,” 476–77, 492–93.

  37. Steinert, Hitler’s War, 262, 264–73; Kershaw, Hitler: Nemesis, 698–705; Evans, The Third Reich at War, 702–4; Blank, “Wartime Daily Life,” 458–74.

  38. Steinert, Hitler’s War, 273–86; Evans, The Third Reich at War, 675–78; Mam-mach, Der Volkssturm, 150; Seidler, Deutscher Volkssturm, 374; Kunz, “Die Wehrmacht,” 14–16, 26–27; Müller and Ueberschär, eds., Kriegsende 1945, 154–72; Fritz, “ ‘This is the way wars end,’ ” and Endkampf, 115–58. For the best account of the Volkssturm in English, see Yelton, Hitler’s Volkssturm.

  39. Frieser, “Der Zusammenbruch im Osten,” 604–12.

  40. Ibid., 612–19; Kershaw, Hitler: Nemesis, 738; TBJG, 23–24 October 1944.

  41. Frieser, “Der Zusammenbruch im Osten,” 619–22; Glantz, “The Failures of Historiography,” 803–5; Evans, The Third Reich at War, 562; Steinert, Hitler’s War, 287–90; Zeidler, “Die Rote Armee auf deutschem Boden.”

  42. Frieser, “Der Zusammenbruch im Osten,” 623–28.

  43. Ibid., 629–35, 666–67; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 226–27.

  44. Frieser, “Der Zusammenbruch im Osten,” 635–64, 670; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 228–29; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 403–9.

  45. Frieser, “Der Zusammenbruch im Osten,” 668–78; Kershaw, Hitler: Nemesis, 747. See also Grier, Hitler, Dönitz, and the Baltic Sea, esp. chap. 7.

  46. Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 216–17; Mawdsley, Thunder in the East, 338–41; Schönherr, “Die Rückzugskämpfe in Rumänien und Siebenbürgen,” 731–43; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 346–50.

  47. Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 217–18; Mawdsley, Thunder in the East, 341–42; Schönherr, “Die Rückzugskämpfe in Rumänien und Siebenbürgen,” 743–46; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 349–50.

  48. Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 218–21; Mawdsley, Thunder in the East, 342–43; Schönherr, “Die Rückzugskämpfe in Rumänien und Siebenbürgen,” 746–815; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 350–56.

  49. Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 221–23; Mawdsley, Thunder in the East, 347–48; Ungvary, “Kriegsschauplatz Ungarn,” 849–83; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 359–64.

  50. Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 224–25; Mawdsley, Thunder in the East, 348–49; Ungvary, “Kriegsschauplatz Ungarn,” 883–902; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 378–86.

  51. Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 233–36; Mawdsley, Thunder in the East, 347–48; Ungvary, “Kriegsschauplatz Ungarn,” 902–43; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 359–64.

  A possible explanation for Hitler’s obsession with counterattacking in Hungary might be found in a remark to Goebbels at the beginning of March: “The preconditions for entering discussions [for a separate peace] with one side or the other is that we have a military success. Stalin must first be dealt a blow [muß erst Federn lassen] before he will have anything to do with us” (TBJG, 5 March 1945; Lakowski, “Der Zusammenbruch der deutschen Verteidigung,” 524).

  10. Death Throes

  1. Lakowski, “Der Zusammenbruch der deutschen Verteidigung,” 491–93; Domarus, ed., Hitler: Reden und Proklamationen, 1:1312–17, 2:1935, 2162–67; Kershaw, Hitler: Nemesis, 740, 753–55; Wegner, “Hitler und die Choreographie des Untergangs,” and “Die Choreographie des Untergangs,” 1192–1209; Mawdsley, Thunder in the East, 362.

  2. Overmans, Deutsche militärische Verluste, 238.

  3. Lakowski, “Der Zusammenbruch der deutschen Verteidigung,” 494–97; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 410–14.

  4. Lakowski, “Der Zusammenbruch der deutschen Verteidigung,” 495–506; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 236; Mawdsley, Thunder in the East, 335; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 418.

  5. Lakowski, “Der Zusammenbruch der deutschen Verteidigung,” 510–15; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 236–41; Mawdsley, Thunder in the East, 333–36; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 417–20.

  6. Lakowski, “Der Zusammenbruch der deutschen Verteidigung,” 496, 502–6; Kershaw, Hitler: Nemesis, 756–57; Guderian, Panzer Leader, 383–88; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 241–42; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 417–18.

  7. Lakowski, “Der Zusammenbruch der deutschen Verteidigung,” 516–18; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 242–44; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 420–22; Le Tissier, Zhukov at the Oder, 29–41.

  8. Lakowski, “Der Zusammenbruch der deutschen Verteidigung,” 518–19, 531–37; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 247–48; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 422, 428–29; Le Tissier, Zhukov at the Oder, 29–41.

  9. Lakowski, “Der Zusammenbruch der deutschen Verteidigung,” 520–23; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 244–45; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 421–22; Guderian, Panzer Leader, 392–94; Le Tissier, Zhukov at the Oder, 29–41.

  10. Lakowski, “Der Zusammenbruch der deutschen Verteidigung,” 523–26; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 245–47; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 423–27.

  11. Lakowski, “Der Zusammenbruch der deutschen Verteidigung,” 537–50; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 248; Mawdsley, Thunder in the East, 376–78; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 429–33.

  12. Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 249–50; Mawdsley, Thunder in the East, 367–70; Lakowski, “Der Zusammenbruch der deutschen Verteidigung,” 527–31; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 439–44.

  13. Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 249–50; Mawdsley, Thunder in the E
ast, 367–70; Lakowski, “Der Zusammenbruch der deutschen Verteidigung,” 527–31; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 439–44.

  Stalin also seemed to have been reminded by Zhukov of the Soviet experience in 1920 in front of Warsaw when, in its haste to break through and spread the Bolshevik Revolution to Germany, the Red Army under Tukachevsky (and with Stalin serving as political commissar) left its flanks exposed. The overextended forces were routed in a counterattack by Marshal Pilsudki and driven back in disorder. Stalin was also aware, as was Hitler, of the disaster that had befallen czarist forces in front of Berlin in 1760. Zhukov, Memoirs, 571–76.

  14. Lakowski, “Der Zusammenbruch der deutschen Verteidigung,” 568–88; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 250–51; Mawdsley, Thunder in the East, 378–81; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 439–44.

  15. Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 444–48; Guderian, Panzer Leader, 412–15; Lakowski, “Der Zusammenbruch der deutschen Verteidigung,” 550–68; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 251–52, 254–55; Mawdsley, Thunder in the East, 370–74.

  16. Kershaw, Hitler: Nemesis, 741, 746, 751–52, 762; Domarus, ed., Hitler: Reden und Proklamationen, 2:2180–84; Echternkamp, “At War, Abroad and at Home,” 75–78; Diary entry of 28 January 1945, in Breloer, ed., Mein Tagebuch, 359–60; TBJG, 2 December 1944; Steinert, Hitler’s War, 288, 294–95, 298–300, 304.

  17. Kershaw, Hitler: Nemesis, 762–63; Zeidler, “Die Rote Armee auf deutschem Boden,” 714–17; Overy, Russia’s War, 260; Evans, The Third Reich at War, 710–11; Merridale, Ivan’s War, 312–20; Naimark, The Russians in Germany, 69–83; Lehndorff, Ostpreußisches Tagebuch, 18–25; Kardorff, Berliner Aufzeichnungen, 228–29, 231; Andreas-Friedrich, Battleground Berlin, 1–19, 36–37, 54–57, 60–61, 83–84; Johr, “Die Ereignisse in Zahlen,” 47–48, 58–59; Grossmann, “A Question of Silence”; A Woman in Berlin, passim.

  18. Zeidler, “Die Rote Armee auf deutschem Boden,” 705–9, 719–23, and Kriegsende im Osten, 105–34; Overy, Russia’s War, 260; Evans, The Third Reich at War, 707–8; Merridale, Ivan’s War, 300–306.

  19. Zeidler, “Die Rote Armee auf deutschem Boden,” 681, 710–12, 721–22, and Kriegsende im Osten, 135–67; Evans, The Third Reich at War, 708–10; Merridale, Ivan’s War, 320–26; Andreas-Friedrich, Battleground Berlin, 17.

  20. Merridale, Ivan’s War, 312–20; Grossmann, “A Question of Silence,” 46, 51; Naimark, The Russians in Germany, 69–83, 108, 133; Evans, The Third Reich at War, 710–12; Zeidler, “Die Rote Armee auf deutschem Boden,” 715–16.

  21. Kunz, “Die Wehrmacht,” 28–29, 34; Longerich, “Davon haben wir nichts gewußt!” 325; Bajohr and Pohl, Der Holocaust als offenes Geheimnis, 65–67; Echternkamp, Kriegsschauplatz Deutschland, 86; Kershaw, Hitler: Nemesis, 759, 763–66, and The “Hitler Myth,” 220–25; Evans, The Third Reich at War, 683–86; Steinert, Hitler’s War, 281, 285, 287–88, 293–95, 298–300, 308.

  22. Kunz, “Die Wehrmacht,” 29–33; Echternkamp, “The War, Abroad and at Home,” 49–60; Förster, “Ideological Warfare in Germany,” 648–69; Fritz, Frontsoldaten, 187–218, and “ ‘We are trying . . . to change the face of the world.’ ”

  23. Kunz, “Die Wehrmacht,” 33–41; Fritz, Endkampf, 115–58; Messerschmidt and Wüllner, Die Wehrmachtjustiz im Dienste des Nationalsozialismus, 87, 91, 130–33, 143; Kershaw, Hitler: Nemesis, 763–64; Evans, The Third Reich at War, 686–87; Müller and Ueberschär, eds., Kriegsende 1945, 161–64, 166, 169–73; Paul, “ ‘Diese Erschiessungen haben mich innerlich gar nicht mehr berührt.’ ”

  24. Kershaw, Hitler: Nemesis, 766–68; Evans, The Third Reich at War, 686–90; Blatman, “Die Todesmärsche,” 1063–92; Krakowski, “Death Marches”; Bauer, “The Death Marches”; Goldhagen, Hitler’s Willing Executioners, 327–71.

  25. Kershaw, Hitler: Nemesis, 784; Evans, The Third Reich at War, 714–15; Klemperer, I Will Bear Witness, 437, 453.

  26. Kershaw, Hitler: Nemesis, 784; Evans, The Third Reich at War, 714–15; Schwendemann and McEwan, “ ‘Drastic Measures,’ ” 599–600, 602, 611–12; Müller, “Der Zusammenbruch des Wirtschaftslebens,” 74–84.

  27. Schwendemann and McEwan, “ ‘Drastic Measures,’ ” 599–603, 612; Müller, “Der Zusammenbruch des Wirtschaftslebens,” 74–84, 106–19.

  28. Schwendemann and McEwan, “ ‘Drastic Measures,’ ” 603, 607–8; Müller, “Der Zusammenbruch des Wirtschaftslebens,” 85–86; Kershaw, Hitler: Nemesis, 785–86; Evans, The Third Reich at War, 716–17.

  29. Schwendemann and McEwan, “ ‘Drastic Measures,’ ” 605–7, 609–14; Müller, “Der Zusammenbruch des Wirtschaftslebens,” 87–106; Kershaw, Hitler: Nemesis, 785–86; Evans, The Third Reich at War, 717–18; TBJG, 28 March 1945.

  30. Mawdsley, Thunder in the East, 386–89; Fritz, Endkampf, 3–6, 10–22; Kershaw, Hitler: Nemesis, 771, 789; TBJG, 28 January 1945; Lakowski, “Der Zusammenbruch der deutschen Verteidigung,” 625–26; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 467–69.

  31. Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 256–57; Lakowski, “Der Zusammenbruch der deutschen Verteidigung,” 608–9, 616–18.

  32. Lakowski, “Der Zusammenbruch der deutschen Verteidigung,” 610–23; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 257–59; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 461–64; Le Tissier, Zhukov at the Oder, 107–36.

  33. Lakowski, “Der Zusammenbruch der deutschen Verteidigung,” 588–607; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 257–58; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 463–64; Guderian, Panzer Leader, 427–29; Le Tissier, Zhukov at the Oder, 43–98.

  34. Lakowski, “Der Zusammenbruch der deutschen Verteidigung,” 608–18, 621, 629, 631; Frieser, “Die Schlacht um die Seelower Höhen,” 141; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 258–59; Mawdsley, Thunder in the East, 389–90; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 470–71, 473.

  35. Lakowski, “Der Zusammenbruch der deutschen Verteidigung,” 619–31; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 258–61; Mawdsley, Thunder in the East, 389–90; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 470–71.

  36. Lakowski, “Der Zusammenbruch der deutschen Verteidigung,” 631–34; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 263; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 473–74; Le Tissier, Zhukov at the Oder, 157–90.

  37. Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 265–66; Lakowski, “Der Zusammenbruch der deutschen Verteidigung,” 633–36; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 474; Le Tissier, Zhukov at the Oder, 157–90; Beevor, The Fall of Berlin, 216–33.

  38. Lakowski, “Der Zusammenbruch der deutschen Verteidigung,” 636–42; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 265; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 474–76; Le Tissier, Zhukov at the Oder, 39, 191–240; Mawdsley, Thunder in the East, 391; Beevor, The Fall of Berlin, 234–48.

  39. Lakowski, “Der Zusammenbruch der deutschen Verteidigung,” 643–49; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 265–66; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 475–76; Beevor, The Fall of Berlin, 249–60.

  40. Lakowski, “Der Zusammenbruch der deutschen Verteidigung,” 649–56; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 266–68; Tooze, The Wages of Destruction, 656.

  41. Lakowski, “Der Zusammenbruch der deutschen Verteidigung,” 656–59.

  42. Lakowski, “Der Zusammenbruch der deutschen Verteidigung,” 660–71; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 480–88; Le Tissier, Zhukov at the Oder, 141–50; Beevor, The Fall of Berlin, 280–338.

  43. Lakowski, “Der Zusammenbruch der deutschen Verteidigung,” 671–73; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 488–94; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 269–72; Beevor, The Fall of Berlin, 339–405.

  44. Lakowski, “Der Zusammenbruch der deutschen Verteidigung,” 671–73; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 488–94; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 269–72; Mawdsley, Thunder in the East, 392–93; Overmans, Deutsche militärische Verluste, 238; Wegner, “Die Choreographie des Untergangs,” 1192–1209; Andreas-Friedrich, Battleground Berlin, 13–14.

  45. Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 272–76; Lakowski, “Der Zusammenbruch der deutschen Verteidigung,” 673–74; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 498.


  46. Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 273–75, 300; Lakowski, “Der Zusammenbruch der deutschen Verteidigung,” 674–75.

  47. Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 283–84.

  48. Hartmann, “Verbrecherischer Krieg—verbrecherische Wehrmacht?” 17; Overmanns, Deutsche militärische Verluste, 238, 265, 278, 288, 333–36; Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 307; Blank, “Wartime Daily Life,” 474–76.

  49. Glantz and House, When Titans Clashed, 284–86, 292; Sokolov and Glantz, “The Role of Lend-Lease”; Erickson, “Soviet War Losses,” 256–58, 262–66; Sokolov, “The Cost of War,” 156–71; Korol and Glantz, “The Price of Victory”; Overy, Russia’s War, 288, 291–92; Mawdsley, Thunder in the East, 403–6; Ziemke, Stalingrad to Berlin, 500–504; Keegan, ed., Times Atlas, 203; Harrison, “The Economics of World War II: An Overview,” 10.

  50. Müller, “Das deutsche Reich und das Jahr 1945,” 699–720; Wegner, “Hitler und die Choreographie des Untergangs,” 511–18.

  Conclusion

  1. Tooze, The Wages of Destruction, 657–58.

  2. Ibid., 658; Fritzsche, Germans into Nazis, chaps. 1–2; Bloxham, The Final Solution, 135–36.

  3. Tooze, The Wages of Destruction, 662–64.

  4. Bloxham, The Final Solution, 170–79.

  5. Ibid., 180–83.

  6. Ibid., 181–85.

  7. Ibid., 92–110, 170–71, 182–85.

  8. Ibid., 158–59; Messerschmidt, “ ‘Harte Sühne am Judentum’ ”; Wette, The Wehrmacht, chaps. 1–2; Wegner, “ ‘Hitlers Krieg’?”; Gerlach, “Die Verantwortung der Wehrmachtführung.”

  9. For a nuanced assessment of the role of the Wehrmacht in Russia, see Hartmann, “Verbrecherischer Krieg—verbrecherische Wehrmacht?”; Hürter, “Konservative Akteure oder totale Krieger?”; Angrick, “Das Beispiel Charkow,” 117–24; Kunz, “Das Beispiel Charkow”; Eichholtz, “Der Krieg gegen die Sowjetunion”; Chiari, “Zwischen Hoffnung und Hunger.”

  On the road construction projects in Galicia, see Sandkühler, “Endlösung” in Galizien, 146–59; Kaienburg, “Jüdischer Arbeit.”