Synopses & Reviews
In Nazi eyes, the Soviet Union was the "wild east," a savage region ripe for exploitation, its subhuman inhabitants destined for extermination or helotry. An especially brutal dimension of the German army's eastern war was its anti-partisan campaign. This conflict brought death and destruction to thousands of Soviet civilians, and has been held as a prime example of ordinary German soldiers participating in the Nazi regime's annihilation policies.
Ben Shepherd enters the heated debate over the wartime behavior of the Wehrmacht in a detailed study of the motivation and conduct of its anti-partisan campaign in the Soviet Union. He investigates how anti-partisan warfare was conducted, not by the generals, but by the far more numerous, average Germans serving as officers in the field. What shaped their behavior was more complex than Nazi ideology alone. The influence of German society, as well as of party and army, together with officers' grueling yet diverse experience of their environment and enemy, made them perceive the anti-partisan war in varied ways. Reactions ranged from extreme brutality to relative restraint; some sought less to terrorize the native population than to try to win it over. The emerging picture does not dilute the suffering the Wehrmacht's eastern war inflicted. It shows, however, that properly judging ordinary Germans' role in that war is more complicated than is indicated by either wholesale condemnation or wholesale exoneration.
This valuable study offers a nuanced discussion of the diversity of behaviors within the German army, as well as providing a compelling exploration of the war and counterinsurgency operations on the eastern front.
Review
"Ben Shepherd's excellent study of the Nazi invasion of Russia during World War II is well reasoned and carefully argued. He illuminates the complex sequence of events and ideas that led to the development of a 'culture of brutality' in the Wehrmacht." Dennis Showalter, Colorado College
Review
"Shepherd in no way exonerates the Wehrmacht. The conduct of all German officers he examines was ferocious, even criminal though some were more brutal than pragmatic, and some more pragmatic than brutal. But in highlighting the diversity and fluidity of the Wehrmacht's response to the partisan threat, he illuminates both the mercurial nature of warfare and a particularly savage aspect of the most savage war yet waged." Benjamin Schwarz, The Atlantic Monthly (read the entire Atlantic Monthly review)
Synopsis
Shepherdenters the heated debate over the wartime behavior of the Wehrmacht in a detailed study of the motivation and conduct of its anti-partisan campaign in the Soviet Union. This valuable study offers a nuanced discussion of the diversity of behaviors within the German army, as well as providing a compelling exploration of the war and counterinsurgency operations on the eastern front.
About the Author
Ben Shepherd is Reader in History at Glasgow Caledonian University.
Glasgow Caledonian University
Table of Contents
Introduction: Toward a War of Extermination
1. "Success Comes Only through Terror": The German Experience of Antiguerrilla Warfare
2. "Jew-Bolsheviks," Civilians, and Partisans: The Opening Phase, 1941
3. Bloodshed Mushrooms: The Escalating Security Campaign, 1941
4. The Rules Change: Partisan Surge and German Response, 1942
5. More of the Sugar, Less of the Whip: The Battle for Popular Support, 1942
6. Locusts in Field Gray: The Dead Zones Campaign, 1943
7. Fear in the Forest: The War at Close Quarters, 1942 and 1943
Conclusion: Reap as You Sow, 1943 and 1944
Appendix A. Larger Antipartisan Operations Carried Out by the 221st Security Division, December 1942-April 1943
Appendix B. Atrocities Committed by the 221st Security Division's Subordinate Units, March 1942-August 1943
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations and Translations
Notes
Bibliography of Primary Sources
Index
Maps and photographs follow page 128