THE DEATH THROES OF THE THIRD REICH

By 1945 it had long been clear that Nazi Germany had lost the war – so why did so many of its soldiers refuse to surrender?

- WORDS PETER CADDICK-ADAMS

The end of the Second World War in Europe was messy, often chaotic, and certainly not as planned or as tidy as many history books have implied. German resistance was eccentrically patchy and dependent on whether the defenders were diehard Nazis or not.

In April 1945, many Germans only half-heartedly committed to defending their territory - even Nazi officials could be found guilty by flying courts martial of the crime of Wehrkraftzersetzung (undermining military morale) and shot or hanged. “The German Volk are determined to wipe out such cowardly, selfish and disloyal traitors, and will not shrink from expunging their families from the community of those who fight with honour,” ranted SS-Gruppenführer Max Simon, who annotated death lists with instructions to “hang them, leave bodies on display”.

Consequently, across Germany some residents welcomed the Western Allies as liberators. However, many in uniform fought on because it never occurred to them not to. A very high proportion of officers were descended from generations of illustrious forebears for whom surrender was not a word in their military lexicon. To capitulate would not only let down one’s Fatherland but also one’s family. National Socialism didn’t enter into the equation.

Others were motivated by fear of the party faithful, or because through involvement in war crimes or the Holocaust they saw no future for themselves but death. The challenge for the Allies was that no one knew the calibre of the opposition - diehards or pushovers - until they were encountered.