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Ideology also affected different units in different ways. Neither the 121 st nor the 123 rd ID treated the civilian population and captured prisoners-of-war as brutally as the 126 th ID. In the case of the 121 st ID, it seems that the pious and conservative culture of East Prussia helped inure the troops to Nazi ideological sentiments. The majority of the men from the 123 rd ID arose from the socialist and communist stronghold of Berlin. Years of socialization in such a milieu were not immediately wiped away by the Third Reich, a fact reflected in the division commanders scathing order abolishing a non- commissioned officers club as it ““remind[ed] one of the evil times after 1918” and the rather indifferent attitude to military discipline found within the division. 1406 While Catholicism should have seemingly acted in a similar manner for the Rhenish- Westphalian 126 th ID, it apparently was less effective in diluting the Nazi message. The viciousness of the 126 th ID easily surpassed that of their comrades, despite most external factors – intensity of fighting, the nature of terrain, and Corps, Army and Army Group leadership – remaining equal. Such behavior can be at least partially explained, however, by looking at a unit’s area of origin and its relationship to the Nazi regime. Ernst Nolte’s characterization of the German-Soviet war as “the most monstrous war of conquest, enslavement and annihilation” has stood the test of time. 1407 This study has analyzed the causes of the German Army’s brutal behavior in the Soviet Union by examining the activities of three infantry divisions. While ideology certainly played a role in the Army’s waging of a savage war, it affected various divisions in different ways, and, at least in the case of these three divisions, never functioned as the primary means of cohesion. The Wehrmacht’s recourse to terror fitted into the Prusso-German Army’s tradition of military necessity. Increasingly radicalized by both the advent of total war 1406 123 ID Kommandeur, An die Herren Kommandeure, 26.11.1940, BA-MA RH 26-123/2. 1407 Ernst Nolte, Der Faschismus in seiner Epoche, (Munich, 1963), p. 436. This is perhaps in spite of Nolte’s later efforts to shift focus to the Soviet Union’s own atrocities. 373
and the onset of the National Socialist dictatorship, internal Army impulses played the predominant role in the German Army’s descent into barbarism. 374
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Copyright by Jeffrey C. Rutherford
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Soldiers into Nazis? The German Inf
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Acknowledgements This dissertation
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Soldiers into Nazis? The German Inf
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Table of Contents List of Tables ..
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List of Tables Table 1: Casualties
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List of Illustrations Illustration
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fulfill numerous duties outside of
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Communism [is] an enormous danger f
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“systematic starvation of million
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national-socialist German Volk,”
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German Army had “finally [become]
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Heer, the exhibition claimed that
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the taboo:” the Army’s particip
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seriously implicated in National So
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June 1941, only nine were Security
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official doctrine and kept alive th
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looms large. Fundamentally, this me
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was seen as desirable, either due t
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would have been fought as a particu
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method in looking at the German Arm
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northernmost Army Group have receiv
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which these crimes were committed a
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the content of even one letter, to
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to the exigencies of the Cold War,
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indispensable source for investigat
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SECTION ONE: REGIONAL COHESION AND
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a series of wars fought in the Balt
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emaining 40% of the population was
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ecently as May 1928, the NSDAP rece
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As the preceding discussion intimat
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moderate Left following a successfu
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IV. CONCLUSION While the Weimar Rep
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The system ran into major difficult
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The importance of regional homogene
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“equivalent of its initial streng
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alternative existed between the Shi
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In an attempt to gauge the effectiv
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trained reserves. 219 90,000 of the
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Monthly Casualties 3000 2500 2000 1
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Monthly Casualties 3000 2500 2000 1
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to lead offensive operations. 240 T
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Replacements began entering the 126
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Number of Men 140 120 100 80 60 40
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46% of the troops were native to Mi
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flank such as the 123 rd ID, did ex
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attle for the Volkhov Pocket as 4,8
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A similar rollercoaster pattern als
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Number of Men 180 160 140 120 100 8
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Number of Men 1600 1400 1200 1000 8
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An astounding number of over 12,000
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dilution of the units’ bonds. Reg
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groups of men constituted only 44%
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men, since March. 290 From August t
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Numbers of Men 2500 2000 1500 1000
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one soldier who had any ties to the
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a large scale - this is something n
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Westphalian 254 th ID related a sim
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of the 1,567 replacements received
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winter of 1941/1942. This meant tha
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propaganda has been overstated in e
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In addition to receiving military i
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and political commissars were to be
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Führer against the center of this
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Army men were quickly changing into
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with the behavior of the men earlie
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however, they were well aware of th
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1; a report sent to II Corps indica
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fortifications. 388 The medic in th
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While the German Infantry learned t
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only a few lean pigs - what will we
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quotations reveals ideological warr
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In what seemed to be a universal re
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measures” in “hopes [of] stop[p
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as artillery, supply and communicat
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intensified as the fighting neared
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marks. 460 Lt. W. was far more scor
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east of the Leningrad encirclement,
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however, was limited to the tempora
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of artillery approximate that of th
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are near the end of their physical
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first netted 93 prisoners as well 2
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“thoroughly positive” attitude
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operation. 522 The Rhinelanders con
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in attempts on rear-area connection
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In comparison to the logistical sit
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proper winter equipment, reporting
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While the 123 rd ID struggled to se
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in the 123 rd ID carried out severa
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Army were assigned to cooperate wit
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only limited to defensive combat.
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positions with the outcome of the b
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The division ordered the clearing o
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equired evacuation. The civilians n
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quartermaster of the 123 rd ID orde
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villagers, both under threats of vi
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five months later, Colonel-General
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Once again, each division had its o
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Cooperation between the German Army
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frequently stripped of any possessi
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126 th and especially the 123 rd ID
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individual soldiers did circumvent
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were “undesirable . . . on espion
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authorities deemed anyone who “su
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etc., etc.” 692 These degrading m
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odied males led to a labor shortage
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Individual soldiers claimed that th
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direction of Petersburg, to turn ba
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economic agencies believed that the
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the troops’ discipline caused by
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there are in Leningrad increases th
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The population’s mood in the comb
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lack of transport capacity limited
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hanged for cannibalism in February
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the question of sustenance [for civ
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Einsatzgruppe A also noted that the
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the food it could lay its hands on.
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the exhaustion felt by the 121 st I
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day of the entire Eastern Campaign,
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This cracking morale was caused in
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Volkhov River. 821 The East Prussia
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possessed little chance of success,
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worsened daily. No supply, constant
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on every man through fortification
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without break. 850 Within two weeks
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than part of an ideological war aga
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ehind us is nothing more than furth
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The 126 th ID informed XXXVIII Corp
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celebration. 883 According to the 4
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feelings such as these translated i
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Secondly, as the latter entry notes
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foot were able to traverse the corr
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good spirits, though in individual
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The Germans began to recruit as wel
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terrain, which provided partisans w
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destroy a section of Novgorod-Luga
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the inside. 956 Troops operating un
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Since 12.3.42 290 ID Rgts-Staff and
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Regiment, prepared to meet the resc
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well as prisoners-of-war for these
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January as it did not possess the n
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“emergency measures” in those v
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ehavior and ruthlessly exploiting t
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“special meaning . . . due to the
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the deaths of only two partisans fr
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Wehrmacht. 1027 The individual sold
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Chapter 8: “From One Mess to Anot
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altogether, 27.9.42 was one of the
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surrounding population. Division co
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had their passes marked “A” whi
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were soon washed away as the 121 st
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The 121 st ID certainly shoulders r
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ordered Manstein to take command of
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the Hilfswilligen for voluntary and
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The 121 st ID also worked closely w
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the High Command, they do demonstra
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SECTION FOUR: RETREAT - SCORCHED EA
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etreat, participating in what perha
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Soviet pressure on the southern fro
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and successful combat.” 1128 The
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and seizure of all men ages 16-65 w
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the Demiansk pocket thought to be r
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Chapter 10: “War and fire . . . t
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was bought at a steep price. The 12
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superior at Corps that the division
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Division to ship its Jagd-Kommando
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eported the shooting of six partisa
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Page 339 and 340: thirty-five villages. 1233 While a
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Page 343 and 344: In addition to the implementation o
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Page 351 and 352: problem. 1292 In the monthly report
Page 353 and 354: 126 th ID’s commander commented o
Page 355 and 356: Improper treatment, inadequate care
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Page 359 and 360: Chapter 11: “Even from far away,
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Page 371 and 372: e pulled out of the line before it
Page 373 and 374: do not want to hear the screams of
Page 375 and 376: Chapter 12: Conclusion Sometime nea
Page 377 and 378: and the machinery of the Holocaust
Page 379 and 380: immediate military crisis in the po
Page 381 and 382: participation in the Reich Labor Ac
Page 383 and 384: favor of the application of force,
Page 385: The importance of ideology in expla
Page 389 and 390: Illustration 2: The German Assault
Page 391 and 392: Illustration 4: Front Line 31.12.41
Page 393 and 394: Illustration 6: The Soviet Winter O
Page 395 and 396: Illustration 8: The Eastern Front,
Page 397 and 398: Archival Sources: Bibliography I. B
Page 399 and 400: XVII Army Corps: RH 24-17/111, RH 2
Page 401 and 402: MSg 2/2779: Geschichte der 21. Inf.
Page 403 and 404: V. Geheimes Staatsarchiv PK (GStA),
Page 405 and 406: Guderian, Heinz, Panzer Leader, New
Page 407 and 408: Absolon, Rudolf, Die personelle Erg
Page 409 and 410: -------, et. al., Germany and the S
Page 411 and 412: -------, “Die Weltanschauuliche E
Page 413 and 414: -------- (ed.), Besucher einer Auss
Page 415 and 416: Jacobson, Hans-Adolf, “The Commis
Page 417 and 418: -------, “What is the History of
Page 419 and 420: Overmans, Rüdiger, Deutsche milit
Page 421 and 422: Sheehan, James, “What is German H
Page 423 and 424: -------, (ed.) Deserteure der Wehrm
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