WEHRMACHT: Misunderstood Monsters?

[Ballsopt]

There seems to be a rather extensive fan club of the wehrmacht here that borders holocaust denial, so i thought i’d set things straight and give a more balanced presentation of those good ol’ boys of yore that you guys seem so fond of.

A list of the atrocities committed by the Wehrmacht.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_crimes_of_the_Wehrmacht

heres a couple smidgens:

Mass rapes

Rapes were committed by Wehrmacht forces on women and girls during the Invasion of Poland.[4]

Rapes were also committed against Polish women and girls during mass executions carried out primarily by the Selbstschutz, which were accompanied by Wehrmacht soldiers and on territory under the administration of the German military; the rapes were done before shooting female captives.[9]

Szymon Datner, Polish-Jewish communist and former partisan, asserted, thousands of Soviet female nurses, doctors and field medics fell victim to rape when captured during the war, and often had been murdered afterwards.[10]

The Wehrmacht also ran brothels where women were forced to work.[11][12] Ruth Seifert in War and Rape. Analytical Approaches writes: “in the Eastern territories the Wehrmacht used to brand the bodies of captured partisan women - and other women as well - with the words “Whore for Hitler’s troops” and to use them accordingly.”[11]

The OKW was aware of the problem and urged to preserve the army’s credit. A soldier who committed a rape, and who was subsequently discovered to have and court-martialed, was usually convicted to four years of prison.[13] The German penal code was also valid for the soldiers in war.[14]

they just happened to be there!

Invasion of Poland
See also: Częstochowa massacre

Wehrmacht units killed thousands of Polish civilians during the 1939 September campaign through executions and terror bombing of cities. After the end of hostilities, during the Wehrmacht’s administration of Poland, which went on until October 25, 1939, 531 towns and villages were burned, and the Wehrmacht carried out 714 mass executions, alongside mass incidents of plunder, banditry and murder. Altogether, it is estimated that 16,376 Poles fell victim to those atrocities. [COLOR=‘Yellow’]Approximately 60% of these crimes were committed by the Wehrmacht.[3] Wehrmacht soldiers frequently engaged in massacres of Jews on their own rather than just assist in rounding up Jews for the SS.[4] In the summer of 1940, Reinhard Heydrich, the chief of the Reich Main Security Office (including the Gestapo) noted that “compared to the crimes, robberies and excesses committed by the army (Wehrmacht), the SS and the police don’t look all that bad”.[5]

waitaminnit, they don’t sound so smallfry after all! sounds like someone’s grampa has been feeding them lies and “enhanced” truths.

well gosh, I’m curious as to what all of the Wehrmacht fanboys have to say about all this.

[Shadi]

sad…

[Bolteh]

In before the “wikipedia…”

[wheybags]

Waitwat.
Where is this fanclub of which you speak?

[Bolteh]

Probably those on these boards that had/have relatives that served under the Wehrmacht during Hitler’s reign and said something like “My grandfather wasn’t a monster, he was a German that happened to be in the army at the time”.

Ballsopt here is telling those people that their grandfather was a monster and a rapist because he was in the Wehrmacht.

[Ham_Solo]

The russians did equally fucked up shit. I never met anyone who is a “Wehrmacht-Fanboy”. Denial of holocaust is prosecuted in germany, and I haven’t seen denial of other crimes done in the war by any side on this board. Got any examples?

[baconeggs]

Every single fucking army did stuff like this in WW2, regardless of what US war films show.

[Jeannotvb]

Wehrmacht soldiers were not monsters. They were the regular armed forces of Germany in world war two, they are not to be mistaken with Hitler’s Waffen SS politically indoctrinated elite military force.
Many wehrmacht soldiers were against the prosecution of the jews and others.

When Germany launched operation Barbarossa, a lot of civilians from the east were happy because they were finally released from the grasp of the Soviet Union. It was the SS (death squads) who were sent in to capture or kill the ones deemed ‘not worthy’ to Hitler and the Nazi’s.

The Russians treated the Germans with no respect whatsoever, they just killed them or threw them into camps. It is no wonder that the Germans did the exact same to the Russians. I doubt there were any ‘rules’ on the eastern front, it was probably what religious people would refer to as “hell on Earth”.

Another example of a German soldier who saw nothing in Hitlers ideas was Field Marshall Erwin Rommel (a.k.a Desert Fox) from the Afrika Korps.
He was given orders on multiple occasions to kill jews, orders which he happily ignored. He fought both in WW1 and WW2 and was part of a plot to stop Hitler.
Many Germans were like him, respectable and damn good soldiers.

Many wehrmacht soldiers are still alive today, they live like normal people, they also contribute to world war two documentary’s or interviews. I actually own a book called “Tigers in the mud” written by the Tiger tank ace Otto Carius.

If you want to call these people monsters, fine, go ahead, go pay them a visit and tell them that. :meh:

[_rot_fodder]

@baconeggs

Every single fucking army did stuff like this in WW2, regardless of what US war films show.

Thanks bacon, I was just about to say that.

[mattemuse]

I started the original flamewar on this issue (slowclap.gif) but I won’t be participating in this one. Let the trolling begin!

[Someonerandm]

Who is this mystery person in the “Wehrmacht” fanclub?

[Deathmonkey7]

@Jeannotvb: Indeed this is true. Although it still doesn’t warrant a ‘fan club’ for the Wehrmacht. Even if they were ‘respectable soldiers’ they still fought for a man who conducted genocide.

[Jeannotvb]

@Deathmonkey7

Indeed this is true. Although it still doesn’t warrant a ‘fan club’ for the Wehrmacht. Even if they were ‘respectable soldiers’ they still fought for a man who conducted genocide.

And Deathmonkey7 would stand up against Hitler and go to a camp where he would spend many years in agonazing pain (or get shot) for desertion just to show that he has good morals?

Who are we to judge the actions of Russians/Germans/Americans (or any nation for that matter) in those times.

[Mr.Shadow]

@Jeannotvb

And Deathmonkey7 would stand up against Hitler and go to a camp where he would spend many years in agonazing pain (or get shot) for desertion just to show that he has good morals?

Who are we to judge the actions of Russians/Germans/Americans (or any nation for that matter) in those times.

I agree with Jeannotvb. If you have the choice to either die in pain, or fight and possibly survive, you’d choose the latter one.

[hercule_poirots_nuts]

interesting fact: unit 731 was actually a cool and fun thing for sexy and great people

[theriddlen]

Many Wehrmacht soldiers survived. And their sometimes their grandchildren … well, let’s just say that this is Polish prime minister

And this is german picture from 1939, showing some soldiers. The smiling guy on front may be his grandfather

[Shadi]

damn they really look like each other…

[CatzEyes93]

@mattemuse

I started the original flamewar on this issue (slowclap.gif) but I won’t be participating in this one. Let the trolling begin!

WHAT? what?! bro… I am seriously dissappoint!

[Ballsopt]

@baconeggs

Every single fucking army did stuff like this in WW2, regardless of what US war films show.

and?
I just think certain posters here try to alleviate the blame from them too much. And i’m a bit disturbed by all of the internet fanclubs drooling over their medals and “heroic” acts.
just setting things straight in a form everyone can see and get needlessly mad and defensive over

[Jeannotvb]

@Ballsopt

and?
I just think certain posters here try to alleviate the blame from them too much. And i’m a bit disturbed by all of the internet fanclubs drooling over their medals and “heroic” acts.
just setting things straight in a form everyone can see and get needlessly mad and defensive over

If you actually studied some of the battlefields that took place in world war two besides that which you have learned from watching American movies then you might understand why a lot of people look up to the military achievements of Germany and/or the Soviet Union in world war two. Most of the sites clearly state that they are non-political. People who don’t want to face the facts are better off sticking to watching movies and playing Call of Duty… Just ignore the “HEIL HITLER 88 GLORY TO THE THIRD REICH” fucktards.