Valhalla's Warriors: A History of the Waffen-SS on the Eastern Front 1941-1945Dog Ear Publishing, 2007 - 284 pages They were the soldiers sworn by an oath of loyalty to follow Hitler into a maelstrom of genocidal barbarity. They were the elite of the German military in World War Two. They were the Waffen-SS. On June 22, 1941, before dawn, German troops invaded Russia. The Barbarossa campaign included some of the greatest episodes in military history: it also allowed Hitler's ideological warriors, the Waffen-SS, to give full vent to their ideological way of war. It provided the killing ground in which some of the worst atrocities seen by humanity were committed. In Valhalla's Warriors, author Dr. Terry Goldsworthy, meticulously chronicles what has become one of the most famous fighting elites in World War Two. Discovering the truths behind the legend by drawing on hundreds of sources - including first hand accounts of Waffen-SS veterans - and spanning five years of research Dr. Goldsworthy leads the reader through the events that occurred on the Eastern Front, both on the front lines and behind. This book is an exploration of the Waffen-SS, and by necessity of evil. The Waffen-SS are commonly regarded as the elite of Germany's armed forces during World War II. They gained much of this reputation whilst fighting on the Eastern Front in Russia. Germany's war against the Soviet Union in World War II, in particular the role of the Waffen-SS forms much of the subject matter of this book. The death and destruction during this conflict would result not just from military operations, but also from the systematic killing and abuse that the Waffen-SS directed against Jews, Communists and ordinary citizens. This book provides a clear, concise history of the Waffen-SS campaign of conquest and genocide in Russia by looking at the actions both on and behind the front lines. By drawing on the best of military and Holocaust scholarship, this book dispels the myths that have distorted the role of the Waffen-SS, in both the military operations themselves and the unthinkable crimes that were part of them. The conventional wisdom that the Waffen-SS in World War II fought a relatively clean fight, unsullied by the atrocities committed by the Nazis, is challenged-and largely demolished. Focusing on the Eastern Front, the book contends that the Nazi vision of a racial-ideological death struggle against Slavic hordes and their Jewish-Bolshevik commissars resonated with soldiers of the Waffen-SS, steeped in traditional anti-Semitic and racist dogmas. In doing so this book clearly shows that the Waffen-SS was an organisation that committed widespread atrocities, and were truly soldiers of evil. Dr. Terry Goldsworthy is a Detective Senior Sergeant with over 23 years policing experience in Australia. He specialises in the investigation and management of homicides, rapes, armed robberies and other serious crimes as well as general crime. Dr. Goldsworthy has completed a Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Laws, Advanced Diploma of Investigative Practice and a Diploma of Policing. As a result of his law studies Dr. Goldsworthy was admitted to the bar in the Queensland and Federal Courts as a barrister in 1999. Dr. Goldsworthy then completed a Master of Criminology at Bond University. He later undertook his PhD at Bond University focusing on the concept of evil and its relevance from a criminological and sociological viewpoint. In particular Dr. Goldsworthy looked at the link between evil and armed conflicts using the Waffen-SS as a case study. Dr. Goldsworthy has had a number of journal articles published in journals such as the Australian Police Journal and also the Journal of Behavioural Profiling. He has also contributed a chapter to the tertiary textbook, Serial Crime, published by Academic Press. |
Contents
11 | |
41 | |
Combat operations of the WaffenSS | 57 |
Antipartisan and Einsatzgruppen operations | 80 |
The ConcentrationCamps | 120 |
The WaffenSS as a criminal organisation | 145 |
An examination of WaffenSS actions | 163 |
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Common terms and phrases
6th SS actions atrocities Bach-Zelewski battalion Brigade brutal camp system civilians combat command committed concentration-camps conflict Corps crimes criminal death Dirlewanger Division Der SS Eastern Front Einsatzgruppen elite enemy evil acts executed extermination Felix Steiner fen-SS fighting Führer genocide German Army German soldiers Grenadier Division gruppenführer Halliley Hausser Heinrich Himmler Himmler HSSPF ideological indoctrination International Military Tribunal involved Jews Karl Wolff killing Leibstandarte SS Adolf MacLean murder Nazi Party Nuremberg Military Tribunal Ohlendorf orders organisation Panzergrenadier partisans Paul Hausser Pohl political post-war Prinz Eugen prisoners racial Regiment Der SS Reichsführer-SS responsibility role served shot SS Adolf Hitler SS and Police SS Division SS Mountain SS officers SS Panzer Division SS soldiers SS-Artillery Regiment SS-Brigadeführer SS-Gruppenführer SS-Junkerschulen SS-Obergruppenführer SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment Stein Steiner Sydnor Totenkopf Division troops volunteers Waffen Waffen-Grenadier Division Waffen-Grenadier Regiment Waffen-SS Waffen-SS divisions Waffen-SS officers Waffen-SS soldiers Waffen-SS units Wegner Wehrmacht Wiking WVHA Yerger
Popular passages
Page 195 - The authority of the legitimate power having in fact passed into the hands of the occupant, the latter shall take all the measures in his power to restore, and ensure, as far as possible, public order and safety, while respecting, unless absolutely prevented, the laws in force in the country.
Page 89 - The inhabitants of a territory which has not been occupied, who, on the approach of the enemy, spontaneously take up arms to resist the invading troops without having had time to organize themselves in accordance with Article 1, shall be regarded as belligerents if they carry arms openly and if they respect the laws and customs of war.
Page 82 - No general penalty, pecuniary or otherwise, shall be inflicted upon the population on account of the acts of individuals for which they cannot be regarded as jointly and severally responsible.
Page 67 - Conventions, it is especially forbidden -- a. To employ poison or poisoned weapons; b. To kill or wound treacherously individuals belonging to the hostile nation or army. c. To kill or wound an enemy who, having laid down his arms, or having no longer means of defence, has surrendered at discretion; d.
Page 88 - The laws, rights, and duties of war apply not only to armies, but also to militia and volunteer corps fulfilling the following conditions: 1. To be commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates; 2. To have a fixed distinctive emblem recognizable at a distance; 3. To carry arms openly; and 4. To conduct their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war.
Page 89 - To be commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates; 2. To have a fixed distinctive emblem recognizable at a distance; 3. To carry arms openly; and 4. To conduct their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war. In countries where militia or volunteer corps constitute the army, or form part of it, they are included under the denomination "army.
Page 195 - According to the views of the high contracting parties, these provisions, the wording of which has been inspired by the desire to diminish the evils of war, as far as military requirements permit, are intended to serve as a general rule of conduct for the belligerents in their mutual relations and in their relations with the inhabitants.
Page 194 - The fact that a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court has been committed by a person pursuant to an order of a Government or of a superior, whether military or civilian, shall not relieve that person of criminal responsibility unless: (a) The person was under a legal obligation to obey orders of the Government or the superior in question; (b) The person did not know that the order was unlawful; and (c) The order was not manifestly unlawful.
Page 36 - Police, supported by your men, who helped them a great deal. Exactly the same thing happened in Poland in weather 40 degrees below zero, where we had to haul away thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands ; where we had to have the toughness — you should hear this but also forget it again immediately — where we had to have the toughness to shoot thousands of leading Poles...
Page 71 - Only through the continuous and untiring work of all involved did we succeed in catching a total of 56,065 Jews whose extermination can be proved. To this should be added the number of Jews who lost their lives in explosions or fires but whose numbers could not be ascertained.