German soldiers after WWII

[UglyCasanova]

I hate reddit and its stupid format but I did stumble upon this after browsing Wikipedia and doing some Google searching. Interesting reading a German's take on how they view their WWII vets.

Here the GI's came home as heroes and have been regarded (rightfully imo) as such, but I just got to wondering what ever became of all of the Nazi soldiers after the surrender? I know about the Nuremburg trials and the fate of the Nazi leadership, but what about the soldiers themselves? It's just not something you really ever hear anything about.

 

[TheVrolok]

Good reads.

 

[BlitzPuppet]

Nice quote from Hannah Reitsch's last interview:

And what have we now in Germany? A land of bankers and car-makers. Even our great army has gone soft. Soldiers wear beards and question orders. I am not ashamed to say I believed in National Socialism. I still wear the Iron Cross with diamonds Hitler gave me. But today in all Germany you can't find a single person who voted Adolf Hitler into power... Many Germans feel guilty about the war. But they don't explain the real guilt we share – that we lost.

 

[Kaido]

Huh. I had never really thought about it that much. First response is really good, thanks for the link.

Have you heard of TopiAma? Their formatting is a little better. I love reading about different perspectives & viewpoints; here's a good one with a former Russian soldier from WWII:

http://www.topiama.com/r/2928/iama-94-year-old-wwii-veteran-who-was-conscripted

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

I hate reddit and its stupid format but I did stumble upon this after browsing Wikipedia and doing some Google searching. Interesting reading a German's take on how they view their WWII vets.

Here the GI's came home as heroes and have been regarded (rightfully imo) as such, but I just got to wondering what ever became of all of the Nazi soldiers after the surrender? I know about the Nuremburg trials and the fate of the Nazi leadership, but what about the soldiers themselves? It's just not something you really ever hear anything about.

Just a note, but Nazis were a political party, most soldiers were just rank and file grunts with no Nazi affiliation. They were conscripted to fight for their country. No different than US soldiers going to Vietnam.

They were sons, brothers and soldiers who ended up on the wrong side of politics out of no volition of their own.

Not to say the SS and Nazis weren't total shitbags, they were. But the average soldier wasn't a Nazi.

 

[Pocatello]

I wonder how many of them made it to South America. Overall, I prefer the new Germany compare to when Germany had the best trained arm forces in the world.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Don't talk about the war!

 

[Mai72]

When the war ended the worst part was being captured by the USSR. They were raping and brutalizing German women. I read that the Germans would throw themselves at the Americans because we were more civilized. To be captured by the Russians meant torture.

 

[sandorski]

I have known 2 German WW2 Vets in my life. One was a friend of my father who was an alcoholic VW Dealership mechanic and was in the Army. I don't know anything about his WW2 experience, but he was in trouble a few times with the law as he had a tendency to get violent. He was financially successful, but one time he had some issues with his backyard pool and he basically took the contractors family hostage as a result. I say basically because he wasn't convicted of it, so whatever happened he likely released the family before it became a criminal act or something.

The other was an Air Force Vet who worked support, refueling/rearming Aircraft. We were in the same room of a hospital for a few days and he talked quite a bit about his experience. One thing that stood out was that he couldn't say the word "Jew" at first and after he became more comfortable with me to where he could say it, it was uncomfortable for him to do so. I didn't perceive it to be out of hatred or disdain, but more out of shame and embarrassment for what had happened to them. Another thing that stood out was a story he told of a Leave he went on. He and some of his unit were heading to Paris for a good time when they came by some farmers in the field gathering up hay. They decided instead of going to Paris they would help out the farmer and spent their Leave doing that. It was this experience that made him see the pointlessness of the war. By his voice I could tell it was sincere and that he felt something special for that particular point in time, like it was an oasis in a world of madness.

 

[BlitzPuppet]

When the war ended the worst part was being captured by the USSR. They were raping and brutalizing German women. I read that the Germans would throw themselves at the Americans because we were more civilized. To be captured by the Russians meant torture.

This is what happened to Erich Hartmann, cept they handed him over to his Russian captors a few days later...circumventing what he had hoped to avoid.

His biography speaks of Russian soldiers raping German women, who plead for them to stop, yet could not do anything to get them to do so. A few days/weeks later Russian generals arrived who were approached by the Germans bringing reports of the raping of German women. The Russian Generals warned everyone to stop or there would be stiff penalties for those who went against their wishes. The raping continued once more, but was stopped once the Russian Soldiers started to be hanged for doing so.

 

[norseamd]

Which just goes to show that women can be just as evil as men when it comes to pure evil. Not only that but it seems she was nothing more than a test pilot so for her to say this is appalling. Also she has problems with men growing a beard which is funny considering she was not able to grow one.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

As a kid we had friends who were German-Canadians, whose great-grandfather was apparently raised in the Hitler Youth and served in the SS as a soldier briefly. What I heard was that he (and his wife? not sure if he was already married) wanted to leave Germany considering everything that happened, but they weren't allowed to move to America because of their former Nazi affiliation, so they moved to Canada instead. Don't know if this was a relatively common thing.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Which just goes to show that women can be just as evil as men when it comes to pure evil. Not only that but it seems she was nothing more than a test pilot so for her to say this is appalling. Also she has problems with men growing a beard which is funny considering she was not able to grow one.

Is this in the right thread?

 

[Markbnj]

And what have we now in Germany? A land of bankers and car-makers. Even our great army has gone soft. Soldiers wear beards and question orders. I am not ashamed to say I believed in National Socialism. I still wear the Iron Cross with diamonds Hitler gave me. But today in all Germany you can't find a single person who voted Adolf Hitler into power... Many Germans feel guilty about the war. But they don't explain the real guilt we share – that we lost.

Silly statement, imo. The shame wasn't in losing. They followed a megalomaniacal nut. They were bound to lose. In fact they fought like tigers. To say the shame was in losing is to put the blame on the individual soldiers and the commanders they followed. The ultimate shame is in allowing themselves to get so worked up over their lot since being spanked in the first big one that they allowed themselves to be led, open-eyed and heads high, into a calamity of historic proportions. The rest of us should be thankful that Hitler was an unbalanced egomaniac, because if he hadn't been - if he had, for example, kept the peace with Stalin and consolidated his gains on the western front, maybe left Africa alone - things might have gone much differently.

 

[Accord99]

When the war ended the worst part was being captured by the USSR. They were raping and brutalizing German women. I read that the Germans would throw themselves at the Americans because we were more civilized. To be captured by the Russians meant torture.

Which is really no surprise given what the Germans did to Soviet POWs and civilians. Still, a German soldier captured by the Soviet Union was much more likely to survive than a Red Army soldier captured by Germany.

On the other hand, there's supposedly a saying from the war that goes like this:

"Better to have a Russian on your belly than an American over your head"

 

[BUTCH1]

Silly statement, imo. The shame wasn't in losing. They followed a megalomaniacal nut. They were bound to lose. In fact they fought like tigers. To say the shame was in losing is to put the blame on the individual soldiers and the commanders they followed. The ultimate shame is in allowing themselves to get so worked up over their lot since being spanked in the first big one that they allowed themselves to be led, open-eyed and heads high, into a calamity of historic proportions. The rest of us should be thankful that Hitler was an unbalanced egomaniac, because if he hadn't been - if he had, for example, kept the peace with Stalin and consolidated his gains on the western front, maybe left Africa alone - things might have gone much differently.

It's been said that WW2 started the day after the signing of the treaty of Versailles, almost every economic burden possible was placed on Germany, they were to pay reparations that crippled their economy and lent to a lack of pride to be German. Hitler was keen on this and used it extensively in his rise to power. Really I don't think the average German who joined the Nazi party had any idea what Hitler had in mind or else the might have opted not to support him. After he became Fuhrer no one dared cross him or the Nazi party, you would be shot for thinking otherwise.

 

[Remobz]

Which is really no surprise given what the Germans did to Soviet POWs and civilians. Still, a German soldier captured by the Soviet Union was much more likely to survive than a Red Army soldier captured by Germany.

On the other hand, there's supposedly a saying from the war that goes like this:

"Better to have a Russian on your belly than an American over your head"

Did you know that many German POW's did not return home until 5 to 10 years after the war was over.
A couple soldiers who were in the war from the beginning (1939) did not return home until the 1955 or thereabouts.

Can you imagine basically fighting for your life and witnessing TERRIBLE things for at least 15 years!! Wow!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_prisoners_of_war_in_the_Soviet_Union

Watch this war movie from the German POW point of view. It is a true story by the way.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=As+Far+as+My+Feet+Will+Carry+Me

 

[K1052]

It's been said that WW2 started the day after the signing of the treaty of Versailles, almost every economic burden possible was placed on Germany, they were to pay reparations that crippled their economy and lent to a lack of pride to be German. Hitler was keen on this and used it extensively in his rise to power. Really I don't think the average German who joined the Nazi party had any idea what Hitler had in mind or else the might have opted not to support him. After he became Fuhrer no one dared cross him or the Nazi party, you would be shot for thinking otherwise.

This oversimplifies it a bit. There were many factors in the Nazi rise to power and each one was at least as important as the punitive terms of Versailles. The chain of events that led to it has a lot of links. One can even argue that Great Depression resulting from our greed with stock speculation is equally culpable for clearing the path by kicking out the last props from under the Wiemar Republic.

 

[schmuckley]

Good read!

 

[Maximilian]

Nice quote from Hannah Reitsch's last interview:

I admire the honesty. Takes balls to go against the grain.

 

[DigDog]

german army was not "nazi". just like the US army is not the same as the republicans.

 

[Genx87]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disarmed_Enemy_Forces

Estimated 1.3 million German soldiers never returned from working to rebuild Europe and the Soviet Union.

 

[Vdubchaos]

German soldiers are no different than American soldiers that have been going to Corporate wars past 30-40 years or so.

They were simply caught up in some Government created crap.....and actually believed them.



We have people lining up TODAY.....and it's still happening.

Wait, did you think we went to war in the name of "freedom and terrorism"?

If that's the case, yes, you belong in the military.

 

[WelshBloke]

Huh. I had never really thought about it that much. First response is really good, thanks for the link.

Good riddance not only of the few people of that time that deserved the downfall and their own demise. But good riddance of the very idea that they fought for. The propaganda. The militarism. The heroism. The love of people and country that turned into hate for everything else. And, yes, the glorification of the soldier and the veteran.

That bit seems like a powerful warning to the present.

 

[Genx87]

It's been said that WW2 started the day after the signing of the treaty of Versailles, almost every economic burden possible was placed on Germany, they were to pay reparations that crippled their economy and lent to a lack of pride to be German. Hitler was keen on this and used it extensively in his rise to power. Really I don't think the average German who joined the Nazi party had any idea what Hitler had in mind or else the might have opted not to support him. After he became Fuhrer no one dared cross him or the Nazi party, you would be shot for thinking otherwise.

Eh the Nazi party was pretty outright in their goals and plans. That said I do agree for an avg German they may have joined the party for other reasons. In a single party state. The party becomes a pre-requisite for advancing in life. So of the several million party members it is possible a % of them didnt believe in the faith.

As an example I did contract work for a Polish woman who moved here 20 years ago. She was a teacher in Poland under the communists. She joined the communist party because that was the only way to become a teacher.