Hitler Gradually Consolidated Power, Part Four/Final

Note: Hitler, Mussolini, Franco and other fascists have used rallies to spread hate, to keep their supporters motivated and to get their own extremely weak egos the affirmation they so desperately needed. Trump has used his own rallies for such things, but he has also turned non partisan events with the Boy Scouts, law enforcement, the military and business people into political events for himself. Fascists LOVE chants, and the chants of "Duce! Duce! Duce!" for Mussolini, "Sieg heil! Sieg Heil! Sieg heil! for Hitler, have been turned by Trump into audiences chanting, "Lock her/them up!," depending upon the target of his remarks at the moment.
 
For "Part Three," here is the link: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2019/05/hitler-gradually-consolidated-power_23.html

As I noted in "Part Three," just before President Paul von Hindenburg died in August 1934, Hitler had the cabinet issue a new law combining the chancellorship with the presidency for when the 86 year old president passed away. With Hitler now Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, all military personnel were gathered in their various locations, where they swore an oath to Adolf Hitler, personally, not to Germany or to the German people. This oath proved to be a major problem for many in the military, including the highest officers, who saw disloyalty to Trump.... I mean Hitler, as "treason," although now Trump is doing the same thing, by declaring it is treason to investigate him.

By late 1941 his armies in Russia were halted before the gates of Moscow, Leningrad (the name for St. Petersburg for much of the communist era), and the naval fortress of Sevastopol in the Crimea, and Hitler, never one to take responsibility for his own decisions, replaced the commander-in-chief of the army, Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch. Hitler replaced him with himself! So Hitler was now Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht (armed forces), commander-in-chief of the armed forces and commander-in-chief of the army. When would he fire a captain and take charge of a company himself?

Hitler's power was complete and throughout his time in leadership, he and the Nazis used fear to keep people in line by using the powers of the German state to punish enemies and make examples of anyone who dared to challenge Hitler's policies, or threatened the regime in any way, just as Sturmabteiling (SA) leader Ernest Röhm and other SA leaders were murdered or sent to concentration camps, and young brother and sister Hans and Sophie Scholl, and their friend Christoph Probst, were beheaded for distributing antiwar and anti-Nazi leaflets. As the German military was staggered by defeats on a continuing basis beginning in late 1942, and more and more disturbing reports of terrible atrocities swirled around, the oath to Hitler became a shield to hide behind for many military personnel, but not all, and some gallant officers actually joined with existing anti-Hitler and anti-Nazi Germans to come up with a way to rid Germany and the world of Hitler, in hopes of saving their country. *

During the course of the war, Nazi "political officers" (Nationalsozialistische Führungsoffiziere= National Socialist Leadership Officers) were put into units to help ensure the troops were following Nazi ideology of being strong in the face of adversity and to make strict and harsh treatment of designated groups, like Jews and Gypsies, acceptable. After the failed attempt to kill Hitler in July 1944, the traditional military salute was replaced by the Nazi salute in the armed forces,** and the head of the infamous SS, Heinrich Himmler, was put in charge of the Replacement Army (Ersatzheer), a part of the German army, not the Nazi SS. As the war neared its end on German soil, the Nazis couldn't break their old habits, and they formed special squads to look for and execute Germans for abandoning the war effort and going against the Nazi slogan of "final victory" (Endsieg), even when Allied or Soviet troops were advancing just blocks away through the ruins of German cities and towns. In those closing weeks and days of the war, tens of thousands of people, military and civilian, and from all sides, were killed or maimed just to keep Hitler's nasty ass alive. This was the man who called himself a "genius." Let's see... what American fascist leader has recently claimed to be a "genius?"    

* For a bit more on the German resistance to Hitler, here is the link: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2011/08/german-question-part-one-hundred-fifty_29.html 

** The Nazi salute was/is called "Hitlergruß" in German (Hitler greeting), and it was always used in Nazi organization, but the German armed forces had used the traditional military salute. Wouldn't Trump LOVE to have a salute named for him? I have a salute FOR him, an extended middle finger! 

WORD HISTORY:
Swirl-While the origin of this word is in question, it seems likely to be related to "swarm," a word from the Germanic roots of English. This likelihood means the word goes back to Indo European "swer/suer," which meant, "to buzz;" and was likely used for bees and other insects (thus, "swarm"). I can find no Old Germanic form, but it "could" have been derived from a form of "swarm" later, and there were/are forms of words in Germanic like Old Norse "sverra," meaning "to swirl, to whirl", and "swarra," "to whiz," Swedish dialectal "svirra," "to crackle (of fire)," Danish "svirre," "to buzz or to whiz," Norwegian "svirla" "whirl," German "surren," "to buzz, to whir," and German also has "schwirren," meaning "to buzz, to whir," but it seems to have been taken from Low German "swirren" about 250 to 300 years ago, which referred to the sound made by a swarm of insects, and Dutch "zwirrelen," "to swirl, to whirl." The noun form "swirl" first seems to have been used in the first part of the 1400s, as "swyrl," in Lowland Scots English,^ and it "might" be a borrowing from the Dutch verb, as it meant "an eddy, a whirlpool," or from the Norwegian dialect form.

^ "Lowland Scots" is now classified by linguists as a separate language from English, although it developed from English, and is, therefore, a Germanic language, not a Gaelic language from Celtic, like Scottish Gaelic (also called, "Scots Gaelic").

Cross of Iron, Sam Peckinpah's Tale of War

While I kept some of my original article from 2016, this is essentially a new article as of May 11, 2020.


When I grew up in the 1950s and 1960s, movies and television had lots of Westerns and war stories. The production codes of those times very much limited how realistic these stories could be, and thus they were often romanticized well beyond the grim truth. Sam Peckinpah was one of the directors to break down the walls of romanticized and glamorized stories that were really horror stories. It's tough for some to get a handle on how showing graphic violence is "antiwar," but by showing how devastating, horrible and gruesome war really is, it might just give people encouragement to pressure warmongers to put the brakes on, and to keep war as a last option; although of course, the warmongers can take a gun and go off to war on their own or as part of some "merry band" and fight one another. This 1977 movie isn't really so much about Germans fighting Russians; rather, it is Peckinpah showing the soldiers of any nation who fight and often die or are wounded, versus the "higher ups," and the "medal scavengers," as he calls them in one scene of the film. I've got to believe Peckinpah saw Sergeant Steiner as himself, as Peckinpah was not one to toe the mark. Some thought the film was overkill (no pun intended ... okay, it WAS intended), but that was Peckinpah's point, the film doesn't say "war is hell," it screams, "WAR IS HELL AND NOBODY WINS!" "Cross of Iron" is one of the greatest war films ever made, but it is graphic and it should certainly dispel anyone's idea of war being some glamorous endeavor. I guess that's what makes it so great.
     
Many years ago I bought a paperback book called, "Cross of Iron," by Willi Heinrich, who was born in Heidelberg, and who was a former soldier in both Hitler's Wehrmacht and later in the West German Bundeswehr. The book, originally translated into English and published as "The Willing Flesh" in the 1950s, is a novel about a platoon of German soldiers fighting in the Soviet Union in 1943. The story is set in the Taman Peninsula in the southern part of the Soviet Union, an area where the author served during World War Two (he was wounded several times). I don't remember exactly, but I believe I hadn't had the book very long, when along came the movie by that title, "based" upon the book. The film was directed by Sam Peckinpah, who is best known for directing "The Wild Bunch," starring William Holden.

Cast (I'm using the English translation of the German military ranks and the cast is more extensive than what I'm listing here):

Corporal, then Sergeant Rolf Steiner ......................................... James Coburn
Captain Stransky ........................................................................ Maximilian Schell
Colonel Brandt ........................................................................... James Mason
Captain Kiesel ............................................................................ David Warner
Corporal Krüger ......................................................................... Klaus Löwitsch
Private Kern ............................................................................... Vadim Glowna
Lieutenant Triebig ...................................................................... Roger Fritz
Private Anselm ........................................................................... Dieter Schidor
Eva .............................................................................................. Senta Berger
Private Maag ............................................................................... Burkhard Driest
Corporal "Schnurrbart" (nickname means "Mustache") ............. Fred Stillkrauth
Lieutenant Meyer ........................................................................ Igor Galo
Zoll .............................................................................................. Arthur Brauss
Private Dietz ................................................................................ Michael Nowka

The film opens with the title, cast and credits displayed over snippets of a series of real German propaganda and military newsreel films showing children in the Hitler Youth, young people in cheering crowds, soldiers receiving medals, Hitler in various poses and soldiers fighting as bombs explode around them. In the background, the German children's song "Hänschen Klein" ("Little Hans") is playing. The first line of the song is, "Hänschen Klein ... ging allein ... in die weite Welt hinein" (Little Hans goes alone into the wide world).  

Corporal Steiner, who is later promoted to sergeant, is a highly respected, cynical, anti-authority soldier, who is well liked by the other men of his platoon. Steiner and the men are largely weary and disillusioned by the war and all the horrors they've seen and experienced; horrors that never seem to end, either in real life or in their minds, and these soldiers are gradually worn down by it all. The men are committed to each other, not to political beliefs and Nazi ideology in their struggle to stay alive against the advancing Red Army. Early on the men capture a teenage Russian soldier and bring him back to their camp, in spite of standing orders to execute Russian prisoners. Upon arrival with the Russian boy, the new company commander, Captain Stransky, orders the prisoner executed per the standing order. Steiner refuses, but one of the men speaks up and says he will do it, saying this only to deceive the captain, as they take the boy with them and hide him in their quarters. Stranksy is an aristocratic Prussian officer who pulled strings to be sent to the Russian front, as he is obsessed with winning the Iron Cross* so it can adorn his uniform and he can show it off to his family and others. He had been stationed in France, which was relatively quiet at that point in the war, as the Allied invasion didn't come until the next year; thus in 1943, there was little chance to win an Iron Cross while in France. The Iron Cross has already been won by Steiner and others; in fact, Colonel Brandt, the cynical regimental commander, offers to give one of his own medals to Stransky, so little meaning the medal has for the colonel; and further, when Stransky tells Steiner that he has been promoted to sergeant, Steiner is totally unimpressed and he stands there expressionless. So Steiner and Colonel Brandt each has a medal they see as meaningless, and Stransky wants to be awarded the same medal, a situation that is highly unlikely, as Stransky cringes every time a Russian shell explodes in or around the unit's position. Stransky knows that Steiner is a tough soldier, and that he himself can never be like Steiner, so he must win the Iron Cross in another way.

Later, in what Steiner wants to be an act of humanity, he takes the Russian teenager and releases him right near the front line, only to see the boy shot and killed by Russian soldiers as he heads toward the Russian lines. The boy's killing deeply affects Steiner. War makes humanity difficult, even when it's something seemingly as simple as releasing a prisoner. The boy's killing was by Red Army soldiers moving up to launch an attack on the German positions, which they do. German casualties mount, and one of the officers, Lieutenant Meyer, is bayoneted while rallying his men in a counterattack to throw the Russians back. As all of this happens, Stransky remains in his bunker, emerging only to shout, "We're winning, we're winning," and he then dashes back into his bunker as his forehead is scratched by flying debris. On a call with Colonel Brandt, Stransky makes sure to tell the colonel he is wounded. Steiner suffers a severe concussion and Corporal Schnurrbart is wounded and both end up in a hospital, where Steiner can't get the images of his dying men and of the Russian boy out of his head. He hallucinates at times. A general comes to the hospital to see which men he can send back to the battered front. In a tragic, but great scene, the general goes to shake the hand of one of the wounded who is in a wheelchair, but the man has lost his right hand, and the soldier then offers the general the remnants of his left arm. The general stares and defiantly the soldier sticks up his leg, if the general wants to shake it, but the general moves on and orders that 65% of the hospitalized men be sent back to duty within three days. Steiner looks on in amazement. He develops a brief relationship with his nurse, which gives him an escape from all that has gone on, but in the end, he chooses to return to his unit, instead of taking convalescent leave in Germany.

Upon return to his unit, Steiner is introduced to a Nazi, a former member of an SS Einsatzgruppe,** named Zoll, who has been placed in the platoon by Stransky. Steiner bluntly tells Zoll, "I don't care what you believe or what you've done. Your duty is to us, the platoon and me. Fulfill those duties, or you will have a bayonet up your ass. Clear?" While Steiner was in the hospital, Stransky claims HE led the attack to throw back the Russians and he is nominated for the Iron Cross. Stransky names Lieutenant Triebig and Sergeant Steiner as witnesses that he led the attack. Stransky has found out that Triebig is gay (then "homosexual" was the term used), and he blackmails Triebig for his support, with Triebig signing a statement literally lying about Stransky's role in the battle that day. With Stransky coming from the Prussian aristocracy, he's accustomed to getting his way by influence or money, and he has a talk with Steiner to get him to sign the paper. Steiner asks Stransky why "the worthless piece of metal" is so important to him, and Stransky tells him that he would not be able to face his family if he returns home without the Iron Cross. Steiner bluntly tells him he doesn't think Stransky deserves an Iron Cross. Other men in the unit testify that Lieutenant Meyer led the counterattack against the Russians and that neither Captain Stransky nor Lieutenant Triebig were seen. When Colonel Brandt questions Steiner, the sergeant says Lieutenant Meyer led the attack and that Stransky was not present. Triebig doesn't really give Colonel Brandt a direct answer about Stranky leading the attack, but rather he tries to dodge such an answer, even though he signed the paper with the statement saying Stransky led the counterattack. Colonel Brandt tells Triebig it is contemptible to steal the laurels of a man who was killed in action (Lieutenant Meyer), but that's what Stransky is willing to do for glory. Steiner, sick of the arguing and lying over medals, won't reaffirm his statement about Stransky not being seen during the battle.

The German high command for that part of the Russian front decides to pull back quickly, with no rear guard for the retreat. Stransky and Triebig do not inform Steiner and his men of the retreat, and they are left all alone, with a widening gap between the platoon and the withdrawing main German forces. The Red Army attacks the platoon, complete with tanks, and a vicious battle takes place. Steiner and several of his men are able to get away, but they must now find their way to the German lines. Meanwhile, Colonel Brandt receives orders that Stransky is to be sent to Paris within a week (presumably arranged by Stransky through his connections, now that he will get his medal), and Brandt knows that if Steiner won't speak up, Stranky will get the Iron Cross and, "strut all around Paris, the arrogant, unbloodied bastard."

As the platoon moves on to try to reach the German lines, they come upon some Red Army forces, including a women's military unit. The platoon takes several women prisoners inside a house. Steiner takes the women's uniforms to disguise some of his men so that they can get through the Russian lines by deception. Being around the women stirs the hormones of some of the men, bringing one German to shout, "This isn't a brothel; this is a war!" Steiner witnesses the death of one badly wounded young Russian woman, but he begins to reestablish some order in his men. While Steiner is outside, one of the women plays up to young Private Dietz, which allows her to get close to him, and she then stabs and kills him. Meanwhile, Zoll (the Nazi) begins roughing up one of the women and he takes her into the stable area for sex. She bites him, ah, not on the ear, and Zoll screams as blood covers his pants. Steiner runs in and then gets the other women prisoners and leaves them alone with Zoll, and they beat him to death.

Back at the German lines, the Red Army is pounding the German forces, and Colonel Brandt arranges to have the more intellectual Captain Kiesel evacuated. Kiesel is Brandt's adjutant and he doesn't want to leave, even as he and Brandt discuss his evacuation as shells explode, machine guns rattle and men fall dead all over. Brandt tells him, "For many of us Germans, the exterminator is long overdue, but I've decided you are worth saving." While Kiesel says there are better people than himself, Colonel Brandt explains that when Germany is defeated, the "new" Germany that develops will need men like him. Kiesel goes to be evacuated.

When Steiner and his men get to the Russian lines, he has those dressed in Red Army uniforms hold guns on those still in German uniforms, as if they are marching German prisoners off. Corporal Krüger, one of those in Russian uniform, is fluent in Russian and he speaks to a small party of Russian troops who stops them. All goes well at first, but the Russians see those dressed in Red Army uniforms are wearing German boots. A firefight breaks out and the Germans kill the Red Army soldiers. Steiner and his men make it to the front line, and Steiner has a radio message sent to the German front line telling them he will be coming in with several Russian prisoners, so there should be no shooting. He will use the password "demarcation." Stransky and Triebig are informed of the message, and both men see their chance to be rid of Steiner. Stransky tells Triebig that no one could ever question him if he fired on a number of men dressed in Russian uniforms in the early morning light. He then orders Triebig to "take care of it," and he reminds Triebig that his connections could get Triebig transferred to quiet Biarritz in southwestern France. Triebig goes to the front line, but he doesn't tell the men stationed there about the message or password. Steiner and his men begin to approach the German positions with those in Red Army uniforms with hands behind their heads. The men shout "demarcation" and "Steiner is coming in." Russian artillery fire picks up and Russian troops can be seen, which only confuses the situation even more, as the German troops at the defensive position believe a trick is afoot. The German troops open fire on Steiner's men, and the desperate cries of the men cannot be heard over all of the firing. Triebig urges the troops to keep firing as he shouts, "It's a trick!" Finally Steiner can be seen and the German troops know there has been a terrible mistake that has taken the lives of all but two of Steiner's men. Triebig tries to get away, but Steiner follows after him and shoots him repeatedly, and when Triebig still shows life, Steiner pumps more bullets into him.

The Red Army attacks as Steiner sets off to find Stransky, who is panicked by the German collapse as he tries to get out per the order for him to be transferred to Paris. As Steiner makes his way to Stransky's office, Red Army men are breaking through everywhere and artillery shells are crashing all over. He finds Stransky putting on his coat and he gets a gun and hands it to Stransky. At first Stransky aims it at Steiner's back, but he then says he'll go with Steiner, and show him "how a Prussian officer can fight." Steiner answers, "Then I'll show you where the Iron Crosses grow." When they go outside the German troops have broken and are fleeing. Colonel Brandt comes out with a gun and tries to halt the rout, leading the German troops to stand their ground as the intense shelling continues. Once again the German children's song "Hänschen Klein" begins playing in the background as Steiner and Stransky try to get away from the advancing Red Army soldiers. Stransky stops to reload, as Steiner calls to him to get going, but Stransky is unnerved and is unfamiliar with how to even reload his gun. Steiner begins to laugh hysterically, which continues until real still photos of Germans killing civilians pop onto the screen, followed by a still photo from Vietnam, then what "appears" to be a photo from the Middle East and one from Africa (remember this film is from 1977, when the Vietnam War was still fresh in the minds of many and when tensions in the Middle East were very high, and areas of Africa were engaged in warfare.) Steiner's laughter starts again and a real photo of children behind barbed wire is shown. Steiner's laughter stops with him saying, "Oh shit," but what it means is unclear. Is it just exasperation? Is he looking at Red Army troops closing in on him and he's about to die? German writer Bertolt Brecht's quote comes onto the screen as the final touch, "Don't rejoice in his defeat, you men. For though the world stood up and stopped the bastard, the bitch that bore him is in heat again." 

As I mentioned earlier, in my opinion, this is one of the greatest war films ever made, but I say that from the "big picture" viewpoint, as the main plot is not really believable to me. The idea that a colonel in any army couldn't use testimony from numerous men in a military unit, and the spoken testimony of someone like Steiner against Stransky's lying claim of leading an attack, just doesn't hold water with me. Likewise with Triebig's lying to help Stransky. Later too, near the end, as Stransky is hurrying to get out so he can head to Paris, Colonel Brandt tells him on the telephone that the situation is bad and he needs him to stay, but Stransky, a captain, says he has his orders to leave for Paris. Again, this just doesn't fit; however, I forgive the movie its shortcomings. Also the ending has gotten criticism, as Steiner kills Triebig, Stransky's underling, but he allows Stransky to live, although we don't know for certain what happens to either Stransky or Steiner. Maybe those down the chain pay the price, while those above don't necessarily pay? I don't know.    

* The Iron Cross (German: Eisernes Kreuz) was a decoration awarded for some special military action, including bravery, or in very rare cases, for some special non combat service to the German military. It was awarded in second class and in first class.

** The Einsatzgruppen (plural), literally "action groups," were execution units that followed behind the German forces in the Soviet Union, killing Russian Jews and other civilians. They were murderers! There were other such units earlier in the war too. 

The photo is of the Hen's Tooth DVD

 WORD HISTORY:
Medal-This word, distantly related to "mid" and "middle," and more closely related to "medial" and "medium," goes back to Indo European "medhyos," which had the notion, "amidst, in the middle, between two points." This gave Latin "medius," meaning, "middle," which then produced "medialis," meaning "in or of the middle;" thus also, "average," and this produced "medialia," one of its plural forms, which meant "halves, small halves." This then became "medalia," which meant "half the amount of a denarius" (a Roman coin), and this was rendered in Italian as "medaglia," and then borrowed by French as "médaille." English borrowed the word in the latter part of the 1500s. The verb form, meaning "to manufacture medals," developed in the mid 1800s in English, and the verb form, meaning "to win a medal in an event, often in the Olympics," developed in the 20th Century.

German Military Leaders/Nazi Era/von Manstein

"Field Marshal Erich von Manstein"

If you have only had limited interest in World War Two, you may not have heard of, or recall the name of, Erich von Manstein, but he is generally considered to have been one of the best German generals of the war, and there are those who argue he was THE best German general. The future general was born in Berlin to a German general of "Germanized" Polish heritage, and his true family name was Lewinski, but he was adopted by family agreement by von Manstein relatives of his mother, who were childless.

He served in World War One and remained in the treaty-limited army after the war, eventually serving as an officer with the General Staff, a high-level part of the army where many of the theories about the strategy and tactics of warfare, as well as planning, were developed. He was a staff officer to General von Rundstedt (a future field marshal) during the war in Poland in 1939. With France and Britain at war with Germany, the Germans were trying to develop a plan to score a major victory in western Europe. Von Manstein came up with such a plan (with input from others), the essentials of which were adopted by Hitler and the German high command. The plan entailed German armored and mobile forces advancing through the rough and forested terrain of the Ardennes (principally in Belgium), where they were least expected, and then making a run for the English Channel, cutting off the main body of French and British troops to the north.* The plan worked, and France was knocked out of the war. Von Manstein's prestige soared.

During the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, von Manstein at first commanded a Panzer corps in the northern area of Russia. Later that year he took command of the German 11th Army in southern Russia and was given the task of capturing the Crimea, including the famous Black Sea naval base fortress of Sevastopol.** The siege of the fortress brought together some of the heaviest artillery pieces ever produced, including an 800 mm railway gun, "Heavy Gustav," sometimes referred to as "Dora" (although Dora was actually a second such gun not present in the Crimea). This gun was so huge, it required hundreds of men to assemble it at its firing sight (it traveled disassembled), hundreds more to prepare its firing sight, rail lines, and loading operation, plus a few hundred more men in anti-aircraft (Flak) units to protect it from air attack. It took upwards of an hour to load one of its huge shells for firing. Its shells came in two types, high explosive and armor piercing (for piercing armor-plated fortifications), with the shells weighing between 5 and 7 tons, the "smaller" capable of being hurled at targets nearly 30 miles away. Also available were 600 mm mortars. The barrage unleashed by the Germans against Sevastopol in 1942 was so intense, it was reported that many a Soviet defender experienced ruptured blood vessels from the concussion of the shells exploding so closely together. The fortress fell to von Manstein's troops, after which the general was transferred to northern Russia to prepare for the capture of Leningrad, which had been cut off for the better part of a year. The attack never took place, and von Manstein was sent south again in late 1942 to take command of German forces attempting to break through to the encircled German army in Stalingrad. The attack failed, certainly hindered by Hitler's refusal to allow the surrounded garrison to launch its own attack to link up with von Manstein's approaching forces, and the Germans inside the embattled city surrendered in the early part of 1943.

Von Manstein's skill at preventing a complete disaster along the southern German front during this time period is seen by many as one of his greatest achievements. A skillful counterattack by von Manstein in late February of 1943 inflicted a punishing defeat on the, up until then, victorious advancing Soviet forces, and the German situation stabilized, setting up a major showdown in the summer of 1943. Manstein preferred other options, but Hitler wanted a major assault to "clip off" a huge Soviet bulge in the front lines around the city of Kursk. It was during this battle that the famous German tank, the Panther, was first used, although experts warned the ferocious, furious Führer the tank still had "bugs" to be worked out. Von Manstein's attack on the southern part of the "bulge" was essentially successful, but the northern attack failed. This failure, along with the Allied invasion of Sicily at that time,*** brought failure to the German offensive, and spelled the end of major German offensive operations on the Eastern Front for the rest of the war. From then on for the Germans, it was a matter of delaying inevitable defeat. Von Manstein's forces continued to withdraw across the Ukraine, but inflicted heavy losses on the Soviets. The field marshal's strategic withdrawals and his desire for a professional military man to be put in charge of the Eastern Front, instead of Hitler, came into serious conflict with the ferocious, furious Führer, and Hitler relieved him of command in late March 1944, and he did not command again. While aware of the plot against Hitler by a number of military officers, he did not participate, but he also kept the plotters' secret.

Von Manstein surrendered to the British and was held for trial in the late 1940s; the trial was held in the British occupation zone of Germany. The "political situation" of those times,**** brought much support from western military and political leaders, including Field Marshal Montgomery and Winston Churchill, as it was primarily the Soviets who wanted von Manstein put on trial. The field marshal had signed or counter-signed various orders that were then used to suppress the civilian population, including Jews, in the Soviet Union, and von Manstein acknowledged such, but played down his actual enforcement of these policies. He was acquitted of many of the charges against him, but was given a prison sentence, which brought howls of protest from his supporters. The sentence was commuted and, in fact, he was released after only a few years. He then served as an advisor to the then West German Army. He was highly respected within the German military (both Nazi era and post-war era) and even by his former foes. He died in the early 1970s.

* It was through this same area in December 1944 that Hitler launched another major offensive, which came to be known as "The Battle of the Bulge."

** The Crimea and the fortress of Sevastopol became famous during the war in the mid 1800s there, as press coverage was extensive for those times. This was the war where Florence Nightengale became famous for nursing the wounded. It was also the war of the famous, "Charge of the Light Brigade."

*** The invasion of Sicily forced Hitler to withdraw several key units from Russia and send them to Italy.

**** Generally speaking, the increased tensions between the "West" and the Soviet Union, and its satellite states in eastern Europe, lessened interest among many (but not all) in western Europe and America about the Nazi past of many German military people, as the battle had by then become "the West versus Soviet Communism."

WORD HISTORY:
Maw-Once a common word for "stomach" in English for humans and beasts, it is now more of a dialect or archaic term for the same, often used in America (not sure about Britain) for a pig's stomach. I see it occasionally in a grocery store meat case usually labeled "pork maw" or "hog maw." Its origin is uncertain, and it "could" be a Germanic invention. Old Germanic had "mago," which meant "stomach." This gave Anglo-Saxon (Old English) "maga," which then became "mawe," before the modern spelling. The loss of the "g" is not unusual, as for instance "morning" was once spelled "morgen," as it still is in close relative German, but even in German the 'g' is not always very prominent, depending upon the speaker.^ Forms of "maw" are common in the other Germanic languages: West Frisian "mage," Dutch "maag," Low German Saxon "Maag," some Low German dialects "Moag," standard German "Magen," Icelandic "magi," Norwegian and Swedish "mage," and Danish "mave."

^ Many years ago during trips to Wiesbaden, I stayed at a hotel where the owner, upon entering the dining area during breakfast, would say to everyone, "Guten MorGen," with a very prominent "g." I always got kind of a kick out of that. That means "good morning," by the way.

German Military Leaders/Nazi Era/Rommel

"Field Marshal Erwin Rommel"

No doubt about it, this is the most famous German general of World War Two in western Europe and in the United States. Rommel was born in Württemberg, then a kingdom within the German Empire. As an officer in the Alpine troops in World War One, he served primarily in Italy, a country then allied with Britain and France. Rommel remained in the treaty-limited army after the war, where he developed many ideas about tactics for tanks and infantry, which he set down in writing in a couple of books, which became highly popular in military circles inside and outside of Germany.*

About a year before the invasion of Poland, Rommel was named commander of Hitler's personal escort battalion, an army unit which provided protection for Hitler in his military travels. During the war in Poland, Rommel, recently promoted to major-general (Generalmajor), commanded Hitler's military headquarters. When German forces launched their offensive in western Europe, Rommel was in command of a panzer division (the 7th), which was one of the units that helped break through Belgian and French lines to cut off British forces. What was to become Rommel's famed "lead from the front" style, started in this campaign, as he often personally led hard charging attacks that demoralized enemy troops. His division was dubbed "the Ghost Division," since Rommel pushed it so hard, it seemed to burst upon rear area enemy positions from nowhere. The downside was, he was so often right up front, he was out of communication with his command staff, as well as with his superiors.

By early 1941, the defeat of Mussolini's army in Libya (then an Italian colony) by British and Commonwealth forces, brought a German commitment of military forces to help their struggling ally avoid the entire loss of Libya.** Called the "German Africa Corps" (Deutsches Afrikakorps), the corps would become one of the most famous units of the war on any side. Rommel's take charge attitude and his ability to assess a situation to exploit enemy weaknesses, brought a surprise German-Italian offensive success just weeks after his arrival in Libya. The offensive carried the Axis forces back across Libya, clear to the Egyptian border, trapping some Allied forces in the port city of Tobruk. The Allies then launched an attack of their own which broke the siege of Tobruk and caused Rommel to retreat to his original starting point. This was not the end, however, as Rommel launched a new attack of his own in 1942, throwing the Allies back, capturing Tobruk, driving deep into Egypt, and threatening to capture the Suez Canal. Stiffening Allied resistance, lack of supplies and sheer exhaustion halted Rommel's offensive at the little railway station of El Alamein in Egypt. The capture of Tobruk brought Rommel promotion to field marshal by Hitler.

Rommel had met, and was befriended by, Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels in the late 1930s. The desert war captured the imagination of the German public and Goebbels made Rommel a household name throughout Germany and occupied Europe with many newsreels depicting the combat in North Africa. Rommel, by then dubbed "the Desert Fox" (Der Wüstenfuchs***), became a hero to many a German, and a much feared opponent among Allied troops, although the fear also had a certain admiration to it. One British commander was so alarmed by Rommel's reputation with British troops, that he ordered his commanders to quash Rommel's "bogeyman" image among their soldiers.

By late October of 1942, the Allied forces, now under the command of General Bernhard Montgomery, launched a devastating attack on the German-Italian positions in and around El Alamein. After terrible losses of men and equipment, and in spite of Hitler's order to hold his positions,**** Rommel ordered a retreat. Thousands of Axis prisoners were taken by the Allies. Meanwhile, the Americans and British forces landed troops in the French North African colonies of French Morocco and Algeria, which were far to the rear of Rommel's retreating army. Hitler and Mussolini rushed troops to Tunisia, another French colony sandwiched between Rommel's retreating forces in Libya and the Allied forces which had just landed. French resistance to the landings was relatively light, and the struggle then centered on Tunisia. While Rommel inflicted a punishing defeat on the Americans at a place called "Kasserine Pass" in February 1943, the German and Italian forces surrendered in May 1943. The war in North Africa was over.

Rommel was given command of some forces in Greece and then in northern Italy before being transferred to France to take command of the area seen as the most likely for the anticipated Allied invasion. He found the German fortifications wanting, and he immediately set upon a course to strengthen those defenses, especially along the beach areas, as he believed the Allied landing had to be crushed on the beaches as they attempted to land, not after they had already landed. This idea was not universally accepted among other German generals, including Field Marshal von Rundstedt, the overall commander of German forces in western Europe. Rommel wanted all sorts of mines and obstacles along the water's edge to hamper the landings, so that his forces could then finish off the survivors (he also had obstacles placed further inland to prohibit or hamper paratroop or glider landings). He also wanted German armored forces (the Panzer divisions) stationed close to the beaches so that they could quickly be dispatched to mount attacks on any Allied troops who made it ashore, before they could be reinforced. Other generals argued the armor should be kept further back until a definite location of the landings was determined. Remember, the Germans did not know exactly where the Allies would land in France. In the end, there was sort of a compromise, as one Panzer division, interestingly stationed in Normandy (which came to be the site of the invasion), was moved relatively close to the beaches, but others were kept further back. This was complicated by the fact that these divisions could not be committed to any attack without the direct personal permission of the fanatical, ferocious, furious Führer.

On June 6, 1944, the Allies landed in Normandy during a brief lull in a period of bad weather (rain, wind, choppy seas). Rommel was away in Germany for his wife's birthday, having been convinced the Allies would not dare to cross the English Channel under such weather conditions. While some German forces, especially in the area known as "Omaha Beach," put up stout resistance, with Rommel away, the German reaction to the invasion was (thankfully) slow to develop. Hitler and others believed the Normandy landings were a ruse to draw German forces there, to allow an easier major landing somewhat further north. With the Allies having gained a foothold in France, the battle became a slogging match for almost two months; the Germans trying to contain the Allies in Normandy. In mid July, Rommel's car was strafed by Allied aircraft, the car crashed and the field marshal was severely injured. This was the end of Rommel's days of command, as he was hospitalized for quite some time and then sent home to recuperate. Just three days after the strafing of Rommel's car, a bomb, planted by an army officer, Klaus von Stauffenberg, exploded in Hitler's military headquarters in northeastern Germany (Rastenburg, East Prussia). The fanatical, ferocious, furious Führer, now VERY furious, survived the attack, and the Gestapo sought out anyone involved in the slightest way in the plot. Under interrogation and torture, Rommel's name was mentioned a few times by officers in custody, and by October 1944, Hitler dispatched some army officers to Rommel's home in southwestern Germany, where the field marshal was convalescing. Rommel was given the choice of taking his own life, with protections for his wife and son, or of being arrested, put on trial, and then executed, with no protection for his family. He chose to die, and after just a short time to say goodbye to his wife and son, Rommel got into a car accompanied by the other officers. The car traveled a short distance and Rommel took poison. Hitler and the Nazis could ill afford the true story to come out about such a prominent general, so it was announced by the Nazi press that Rommel had died of his wounds. He was given full military honors, and Hitler did keep his word about Rommel's family.*****

After the war, Rommel was held in high regard, even by his former enemies. His eventual opposition to Hitler, which only came out after the war, only enhanced his stature. He is best remembered as "the Desert Fox," during the war in North Africa, a war, that while brutal like all war, was not consumed by hatred, ideology or racism, such as happened in the Soviet Union, especially. Rommel forbade the execution of any captured troops of Jewish heritage or of legitimate Allied commandos, which ran counter to Hitler's orders.

* If you've seen the movie "Patton," you may recall General Patton shouting, upon defeating Rommel's forces in one battle, "Rommel, you magnificent bastard, I read your book!!!" While this was only a scene in a movie, it has much truth in it, because many of the successful commanders of the war read the works of military men from other countries in an effort to learn anything and everything they could about strategy and tactics.

** Rommel and the German forces were actually under the overall command of the Italians, which caused some friction, especially due to Rommel's independent personality. In late 1941, a German command structure was implemented for southern Europe and North Africa under the command of Albert Kesselring, but North Africa remained under overall Italian command.

*** German "Wüste," meaning "desert, wasteland," is closely related to English "waste," which we also use in the context of "barren, desert" land in the compound "wasteland." For those studying German, the noun is feminine; thus, "die Wüste," but when combined with the masculine noun "Fuchs" (fox), it becomes "der Wüstenfuchs," as German compounds take the grammatical gender of the last word in compounds. Aren't you glad English gave up using gender a long time ago?

**** In typical Hitlerian nonsense, the fanatical, ferocious, furious Führer ended his order to Rommel to hold fast with, "Ihrer Truppe aber können Sie keinen anderen Weg zeigen als den zum Siege oder zum Tod." (You can but show your troops no other path than the one to victory or death.")

***** Rommel was never all that involved in the plot to actually kill Hitler. He wanted Hitler arrested and put on trial for Germans to see the criminality of the nutcase-in-chief, and so as not to make the fanatical, ferocious, furious Führer a martyr. The major plotters decided that a live Hitler, even one under arrest, would be too much of a threat to German unity, as fanatical Nazis would resist, possibly bringing about a civil war. They wanted and needed someone of Rommel's stature to aid them with the German public, once Hitler, and hopefully SS Chief Himmler, and or Hitler's designated successor, Hermann Göring, had been killed.

WORD HISTORY:
Arm (2)-This is the noun meaning "weapon," which is more commonly used in the plural, "arms." This goes back to Indo European "ar," which had the notion of "fit or join together." This gave its Latin offspring^ "arma," which meant "tools, tools of war; thus, 'weapons.' " Old French, a Latin-based language, had "armes," which was then borrowed into English with the same spelling during the early 1200s. It was a couple of hundred years before the English spelling "arms" developed. The verb form, meaning "to supply or equip with weapons," was borrowed in the 1200s from French "armer," which traces back to Latin "armare," a derived form of "arma," mentioned above. In English the verb was initially spelled "armen," before the modern spelling.

^ Latin is an Indo European language related to English, but further down the family tree, although English and many other non Latin-based languages have borrowed much vocabulary either directly from Latin or from one of the Latin-based languages; in the case of English, from French.

German Military Leaders/Nazi Era/Guderian

"Colonel General Heinz Guderian"

Guderian (pronounced goo-dair-ee-on) was born in the region then known as "West Prussia," which is now part of Poland. He served in World War One and remained in the Versailles Treaty-limited army after the war, where he eventually became involved with mobile warfare tactics, which included armored forces. It was in this field of mobile and armored warfare that Guderian made his lasting mark, as he read anything and everything he could lay his hands on about the subject. He developed theories of armored warfare and set them down in writing in a book in the 1930s. The German army used much of Guderian's thinking to organize their, then still to become famous, Panzer forces, along with much of his overall view of warfare, later dubbed "Blitzkrieg" ("lightning war").*

Guderian was able to implement some of his theories when he commanded a corps during the German invasion of Poland in 1939. By the spring of 1940, Guderian led the forces that broke through the French lines and drove to the English Channel, trapping the predominantly British forces at Dunkirk. When Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in the summer of 1941, Guderian commanded a force dominated by tanks and motorized infantry, and his units made dramatic advances in the push toward Moscow. Hitler ordered Guderian to halt his advance on the Soviet capitol, and to turn his forces southward to help capture Kiev in the Ukraine. This brought the general into conflict with Hitler, as he disagreed with Hitler's order, although he carried it out, and a huge German victory was scored at Kiev, but at the expense of time for the continued advance on Moscow. By the time the offensive resumed, winter was approaching, and the respite had given the Soviets time to bring in reinforcements. The German drive was halted just outside Moscow, and the Soviets launched an offensive of their own in the winter conditions. Guderian was dismissed by Hitler and sent home. He wasn't recalled to service until the spring of 1943, when he was made "Inspector General of Panzer Troops," where he developed tactics and helped in tank design. By this point, Guderian was deeply disappointed at how German armored divisions had been so watered down, although they could still pack a powerful punch.**

After the unsuccessful attempt on Hitler's life in July 1944, Guderian was made "Chief of the Army General Staff" (Chef des Generalstabs des Heeres) which had major responsibilities for the war against the Soviets, the "Eastern Front." It was during this time that Guderian got involved in several heated confrontations with Hitler,*** ending with his dismissal in March 1945, just prior to the final Soviet assault on Berlin. The general was taken into custody by the Americans in 1945 and held for a couple of years, but he was not put on trial, although there was evidence of war crimes committed in Poland and the Soviet Union under his command. This is not to defend Guderian, or any other German general for that matter, but the same could be said for just about all German military commanders under Hitler. It has to be stated for the record, however, Guderian did support Hitler and the Nazi system (although with some disagreements), and he did not support the military people involved in the plot to kill Hitler. Guderian suffered from heart problems and died in 1954.

* Part of Guderian's ideas involved the use of motorized infantry and motorized artillery to give support to advancing tanks.

** One of the criticisms of Hitler's handling of the military was that he loved to create new units, rather than keep existing, experienced units up to strength.

*** If I remember correctly, Guderian and others said that during one of these violent arguments, Hitler's face turned purple, he was so angry with Guderian. Such was the ferocious, furious Führer.

WORD HISTORY:
Out-This common word goes back to Indo European "ud," which meant "up, out." This gave its offspring, Old Germanic, "ut," which then gave Anglo-Saxon (Old English) "ut," which then later became "out." The verb form in Old English was "utian," and meant "drive out, expel." German has "aus"^ Low German "ut" (some Low dialects have "üt"), Dutch "uit," Frisian "út," Danish "ud," Icelandic "út," Norwegian and Swedish "ut."

^ One of the distinguishing features of High German came after the Germanic dialects that became English had already taken root in England, this being the "t" eventually becoming an "s." This sound shift did not occur in Low German, Dutch, Frisian or English, only in Old High German. The German "au" is pronounced like English "ou," or the "ow" in "how."

German Military Leaders/Nazi Era/Jodl

"Colonel General Alfred Jodl"

Jodl* was born in Würzburg, then part of Franken (Franconia), since the end of World War Two a part of Bavaria. The dialect is not Bavarian, but Frankish. He was an artillery officer prior to achieving his most noted position as Chief of the Operations Staff of the Armed Forces (Chef des Wehrmachtführungsstabes) in 1939, which did the military planning. Like much of the military, Jodl supported Hitler's prewar expansion of the armed forces, and his position put him in close contact with Hitler throughout the war. I can't recall the specifics, but Jodl had a disagreement with Hitler in 1942 over operations in the Soviet Union, in which he used Hitler's own words to support his position. Hitler denied ever having said whatever it was, and thereafter ordered a stenographer present to record every word. Hitler had a long memory about people who opposed him, and he was never as close with Jodl after this, although the general remained loyal to Hitler. Jodl was much more respected by his fellow generals than was Field Marshal Keitel, his nominal superior, "perhaps," at least in part, due to the just mentioned confrontation he had with Hitler, although he too was seen as too close to Hitler, but he was also seen as competent.

Jodl signed the the surrender on behalf of the German military and government at the Allied headquarters in Reims, France in May 1945.** Like Keitel, Jodl countersigned many orders issued by Hitler, and he was put on trial at Nuremberg, with the most serious charges against him relating to the Hitler orders about the execution of Soviet commissars and Allied commandos. He was found guilty, sentenced to death and hanged at Nuremberg in October 1946, his request for a firing squad having been denied.

* Pronounced pretty much like "yodel," a word borrowed from German for the sing-song warbling and calling of the mountaineers of Switzerland, Austria, and Bavaria.

** The Soviets required a separate signing two days later, and Field Marshal Keitel did the signing for Germany then.

WORD HISTORY:
By-This goes back to Indo European "ambhi," which meant "around." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "umbi," with the same basic meaning. Old Germanic's offspring, West Germanic (English is West Germanic), kept the base word,^ but also separated the second syllable, which then gave Anglo-Saxon (Old English) "be/bi," which meant "near, about, around," and should not be confused with the verb "to be." It eventually changed to "by" and has remained so for hundreds of years. Common in the other West Germanic languages, German has "bei" (pronounced like the English word), Dutch has "bij," West Frisian has "by," Low German has bi/by/bie (depending upon dialect). Swedish, a North Germanic language has "bi," which it borrowed from Low German.

^ Old English had "ymbe," meaning "around, about," which has survived as "umb(e)" in some dialects in England and Scotland.

German Military Leaders/Nazi Era/High Level Generals

"High Level Generals"

This article will consist more of a narrative about events during the pre-war Nazi era, with some info and comments about the German generals involved.

When Hitler was appointed chancellor in January 1933, he was NOT in charge of the German armed forces, then known as the Reichswehr. Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg was the legal supreme commander ("Oberste Befehlshaber") of the Reichswehr, by virtue of his position as the elected president of Germany. When von Hindenburg died in August 1934, with virtually all opposition silenced, Hitler abolished the elected presidency and combined its functions into the chancellorship, thus making him the new supreme commander of the Reichswehr, which he renamed the "Wehrmacht" within a short time. He appointed Werner von Blomberg, then a colonel general (Generaloberst),* as commander in chief of the Reichswehr (later called the Wehrmacht), and promoted him to field marshal the very next year. Von Blomberg was born in Pomerania, then a province in northern Germany, and a part of Prussia, but since the end of World War Two a part of Poland, and he came from the "army" branch of the Wehrmacht. He had been the Defense Minister (later renamed the "War Minister") from the early days of Hitler's chancellorship. The expansion of the German Wehrmacht was undertaken by von Blomberg with great vigor, and he was seen by many as too close to Hitler, who seemed to genuinely like him. Von Blomberg, however, was in the way of high ranking Nazi Hermann Göring, who wanted von Blomberg's position for himself. In early 1938, von Blomberg married, with both Hitler and Göring as witnesses. Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS and police, provided Göring with evidence of the young lady's past, construed to be prostitution, but to my knowledge, never proven. Göring went to Hitler with the evidence, presenting it to Hitler with the idea that a scandal had to be avoided, especially since Hitler had been a witness at the marriage. Hitler told von Blomberg to get an annulment, but he refused, instead choosing to resign his office. This all tied into a manufactured scandal, this time involving the commander in chief of the army (Oberbefehlshaber des Heeres) , Werner von Fritisch.

Von Fritsch was born just outside Düsseldorf, an area later incorporated into Düsseldorf proper. He was a "Freiherr," which equates to "baron." He was favorable toward Hitler and the Nazis early in Hitler's rule, and he was appointed commander in chief of the army a couple of years thereafter, and he was promoted to colonel general. Von Fritisch gradually grew skeptical of Hitler's aggressive foreign policy, fearing the Führer would get the country into war before it could fully prepare. As with von Blomberg and almost simultaneously with the accusations about von Blomberg's new wife, Göring and Himmler accused von Fritsch of homosexual activities (this was before the "gay" terminology). The general resigned, but chose to fight the matter in court, where he was acquitted! Still a supporter of Hitler, von Fritsch served in Poland during that campaign in 1939. Not long before it ended, von Fritsch was hit by Polish gunfire and killed. The belief by many is that he wanted to die in battle to restore his damaged honor.

These events involving von Blomberg and von Fritsch gave Hitler an opportunity to expand his own power within the German military, as the move to "nazify" the Wehrmacht accelerated. Hitler, the supreme commander, did away with the War Ministry and set up the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, the High Command of the Armed Forces. He appointed Wilhelm Keitel** as Chief (Chef) of the Wehrmacht. Keitel was born near Braunschweig (Brunswick) in northern Germany. He was never all that popular or respected by his fellow generals, since he rarely opposed Hitler, and some made a play on his name with the German word "Lakai," which means "lackey,"*** and is pronounced "lahki," with a long "i," calling him "Lakeitel." Even when he was not in agreement with Hitler, he always quickly gave in. Keitel signed off (literally) on Hitler's military policies, and he was tried at Nuremberg as a major war criminal,**** where he was convicted, sentenced to death and hanged in late 1946. He wrote his memoirs in prison during the last weeks of his life. Since Hitler assumed many of the functions of the commander in chief of the Wehrmacht, Keitel really operated more as Hitler's chief of staff. Overall, in my opinion, Keitel was pretty inconsequential, since he failed to influence Hitler on military matters and policies, especially given Keitel's position in the military hierarchy. I'm not saying that would have been easy to do. I guess you could say though, Keitel was consequential by being inconsequential.

After von Fritsch resigned as commander in chief of the army, Hitler appointed Walther von Brauchitisch, who had been born in Berlin, and was a long time friend of Keitel, to replace von Fritsch. He was promoted to colonel general by Hitler at that time, and to field marshal after the defeat of France in 1940. Like many of the generals, he wasn't totally committed to the Nazis, but he loved the idea of expansion of the military, particularly the army, and the increased prestige this expansion helped to give Germany. Von Brauchitsch was on the periphery of serious opposition to Hitler, but he could never bring himself to cross over and commit to the circle of army conspirators against the regime, and he was against killing Hitler. While the Germans inflicted serious defeats on the Soviets during the opening months of the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, by December they had failed to take Moscow or to bring about a collapse of the Soviet military. This brought severe criticism of von Brauchitsch from Hitler, as the Führer was never one to take responsibility for his own decisions. In the midst of a major Soviet counteroffensive, von Brauchitsch suffered a hear attack, and was relieved of his command in December 1941. This brought about more intervention by Hitler, as he named HIMSELF as the new commander in chief of the army. So now Hitler was the supreme commander of the armed forces, had assumed most of the functions of commander in chief of the armed forces, and was the commander in chief of the army. Von Brauchitsch was basically respected within the military, and he was given high marks for operational planning, but he just couldn't stand up to Hitler, or to fully join the other side and oppose the Führer. He was to be tried for war crimes (not as a major criminal, see note below), but for signing off on Hitler's various orders early in the war. He died before his trial was held in 1948.

* There is no such rank in the American military, and while the various general ranks don't completely correspond between the two countries, it is essentially equivalent to a four-star general, and a field marshal is equivalent to a five-star general.
** Pronounced as one syllable with a long "i" sound, "kitl," not like the actor Harvey Keitel, who pronounces it in two syllables as, "ki-tel."

*** Both the English and German words are borrowed from French "laquais."

**** The most famous Nuremberg Trials were those of the upper leadership of the Nazi Party, the German government, and the German military, and usually called the "trial of the major war criminals" (and there were some acquittals). Most of these leaders never pulled a trigger at an execution, dropped poison gas canisters into gas chambers in concentration camps, or worked slave laborers to death or near death, BUT they developed plans to implement some or all of these policies, making all of these things (and more) possible. There were also trials of people who operated below these top leaders, as well as perpetrators of specific crimes, but just because they weren't termed "major war criminals," doesn't lessen the crimes they were charged with.

WORD HISTORY:
See-This goes back to Indo European "sekw/sek," which meant "to see, to follow with the eyes, to notice." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "se(k)hwanan," which meant "to see." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "seon" ("to see") which then became "sen," and then "seen," before the modern spelling.^ Common throughout the other Germanic languages: German has "sehen," Low German Saxon "sehn," West Frisian "sjen," Dutch "zien," Swedish, Danish, Norwegian "se," Norwegian also has "sjå" in some dialects, and Icelandic "sjá." Just to further show the close relationship between English and German, both West Germanic languages, English has "saw" for the past tense form of "see," while German has "sah(en)."

^ The West Germanic languages typically used "n," "an," or "en" on the end of verbs in their infinitive forms; thus meaning "to" + whatever the action meaning was, in this case, "to see." As you can tell, the other West Germanic languages have more commonly retained that form through time.

German Military Leaders/Nazi Era/Von Rundstedt

NOTE: As with the political leaders, these articles are not meant to provide comprehensive biographies, but rather some information I recall from my many years of study.

"Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt"

Von Rundstedt was from what is now the state of "Sachsen-Anhalt" (state capitol, Magdeburg), which lies somewhat southwest of Berlin in eastern Germany, and in von Rundstedt's time, it was a part of the German state of Prussia, within the German Empire (Reich). He came from a noble/aristocratic family; thus the "von" in his name. He joined the army, served in World War One and remained in the army, which was limited in size by the Versailles Treaty after the war.*

Von Rundstedt was never all that "taken with" Hitler, but like many Germans, he saw Germany's prestige being restored by Hitler, and let's face it, the desire to include "German areas," then outside of Germany, within Germany's borders became a potent issue. Hitler's successes made it difficult for opponents of the regime to gain supporters. Von Rundstedt was a general before Hitler came to power. Already in his mid 60s by the time the war started, von Rundstedt was a high level commander of German forces during the Polish campaign and then during the campaign against France. Hitler promoted him to field marshal after the German victory over France in 1940.

Von Rundstedt was highly respected within the German military and by the German public, but he was also noted for his sharp tongue, and his caustic remarks got him into trouble at times, but even then, Hitler would fire him, only to bring him back again. This first happened in Russia late in 1941, when von Rundstedt recommended the withdrawal of German forces to consolidate their positions for defense. "Withdrawal" was not a word Hitler ever wanted to hear, and von Rundstedt was relieved of his command of German forces in southern Russia. Just a few months later in the spring of 1942, Hitler recalled him and gave him command of all German forces in western Europe, a position he held until after the Allies invaded in Normandy during the "D-Day" operation. He was again relieved of his command by Hitler after answering a question as to what he thought should be done with, "Make peace you fools!" Just a month or two later Hitler reappointed him as the commander of German forces in western Europe, and he retained that position until about 6 or 7 weeks before the German surrender. What the Western Allies call the "Battle of the Bulge" was under von Rundstedt's overall supervision, but he had never favored this attack, especially with the unrealistic objectives set by Hitler (the main objective being for German forces to capture the Belgian port of Antwerp, during the winter).

While highly respected, even by the Allies, von Rundstedt was tainted by his association with Hitler. He was taken into custody by the Americans and was held in captivity until 1948 (his son died of throat cancer shortly before von Rundstedt's release). Plagued by heart problems from the early part of the war on, von Rundstedt died in 1953. There was controversy over the field marshal. Some felt he should have been tried for war crimes over involvement with Hitler's orders that excluded Soviet commissars from POW status, permitting them to be executed on the spot. Then there was an order excluding parachutists dropped behind German lines, but not involved in direct military operations; thus defining them essentially as saboteurs, and giving jurisdiction to the Gestapo, which should tell you what fate awaited them.

* Nobles and aristocrats made up the vast majority of officers in the German army back then, which is not surprising, due to the governance of Germany and its states by the nobility, with the Kaiser at the top, and simultaneously holding the title of "King of Prussia." After World War One, and the attempt at German democracy, the army remained in the hands of many men of noble/aristocratic birth, since they had the experience from the previous system. "If" democracy had flourished and continued, it is possible that time and a developing democratic tradition would have made the German officer corps far less class conscious as well. A good deal of this change happened under the Nazis, as aging officers began to retire, but then "political" considerations became important, and with the war, the officer corps necessarily expanded tremendously, which brought many non nobles to officer rank.

WORD HISTORY:
Field-This word goes back to Indo European "pel," with the notion of "flat land area." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "felduz," as the initial "p" became "f' in Germanic, as was common, and it still retained the same meaning, but which seems to have only continued into the West Germanic branch of Germanic. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "feld," with the meaning "open flat land," and later, "land designated as pasture or for farming," along with the modern spelling. The "open land" notion also gave English "battlefield," which spawned a verb form with the meaning, "troops and military equipment sent into battle," as in "Our army was able to 'field' 10,000 men." This verb form came about in the 1500s. Common in the other West Germanic languages; that is, the closest relatives of English, German and Low German Saxon have "Feld," some Low German dialects have "felt," Frisian has "fjild," and Dutch has "veld." North Germanic Swedish has "fält" and Danish has "felt," but they were borrowed from German. Words related to "field" are widespread in the Germanic languages, which include English "fold," an obsolete term (not the same word as "fold," as in "fold your clothes"), but they don't trace back to the specific West Germanic form, and they mean/meant "land, earth." They do trace back to the same Indo European root, so the idea of "land" is present.