Hitler's Deserters

In postwar Germany it took almost 60 years to recognize Nazi injustice, overturn military court-martial verdicts, and rehabilitate the reputations of deserters. In this long-awaited study, the renowned military historian Douglas Carl Peifer provides a multifaceted survey of desertion in the Third Reich. It offers intriguing insights into the social, legal, and political roles of the military and its gradual re-evaluation after 1945.

Auteur
Douglas Carl Peifer is a Professor of Strategy and History at the US Air War College. His teaching and research interests focus on European history, contemporary European security issues; the World Wars; and mutiny, desertion, and dissent. Peifer's books include Choosing War: Presidential Decisions in the Maine, Lusitania, and Panay Incidents; Genocide, Airpower, and Intervention; and The Three German Navies. His articles have appeared in Contemporary European History, European Security, German Studies Review, Journal of Military History, Naval War College Review, Orbis, War and Society, and War in History.

Texte du rabat

The German military executed between 18,000 and 22,000 of its personnel in World War II on the charges of desertion and "undermining the military spirit." Who were the soldiers, sailors, and airmen who had been condemned to death on these charges? Why had they deserted? Was there an archetypal deserter? What was the balance between consent and coercion in maintaining military discipline? This book addresses these questions as well postwar debates over whether Wehrmacht deserters should be treated as cowards, victims, or role models worthy of rehabilitation.

Résumé
The first English language account of deserters from the German army during World War II The German military executed between 18,000 and 22,000 of its personnel in World War II on the charges of desertion and "undermining the military spirt." This book examines who these Wehrmacht deserters were, why they deserted, what punishment they could expect, and how German military justice operated. The German army was not apolitical, but rather a pillar of the Nazi state. Although much attention has been devoted to officers within the military who resisted Hitler--particularly those associated with the July 1944 attempt on Hitler's life--far less attention has been paid to those who refused military service or deserted during the war. While providing a full account of what constituted desertion, how it was punished, and how many were convicted for the crime, the book makes the Wehrmacht deserter its main subject. It examines their motivations and the paths they took to evade military service, ranging from hiding in the Third Reich, deserting at the front line, or fleeing to neutral Switzerland or Sweden. After the Second World War, Germans began a generation-long debate about the status that should be accorded Wehrmacht deserters. The topic would be debated between the two Germanies and engaged survivors and perpetrators, playwrights, and judges, those who had stayed in the ranks and those who had not. Was the Wehrmacht a coward, a victim, or a role model? The book's discussion of this postwar debate has no equivalent in English, as it explains how and why Germany finally decided to overturn military court-martial verdicts from the Second World War fifty years after its conclusion.