has become a dear friend and colleague. His confidence in this project eased the transfer from thesis to book and his sponsorship for the forthcoming
Wehrmacht at War
series. Rick Russell and the team at Potomac Books have enabled the smooth transfer of my thesis into book form. Special thanks are deserved for Dr. Nick Terry, a close friend and the technical adviser of both the PhD thesis and this book. His research will change our opinion of German arms. Dr. Declan O’Reilly has regularly advised and confided his thoughts on my work with his scholarly criticism.
Finally, I wish to mention my family and friends. My parents, Pamela and Peter Blood, who have always encouraged and supported me. My extended family include Manny, Maria, Ricky, and Lenny, Mike and Chris Buckley, Gary Ward and Christina, Ian and Alison, sadly now departed, Ron and Mitzi Orner, Tim and Manass Wells, and, my godchildren, Charlie, James, and Emma.
BIBLIOGRAPHIC
ABBREVIATIONS
There is a full glossary of relevant German and Bandenbekämpfung terms in appendix 1 .
BA:
Bundesarchiv, Berlin (Lichterfelde).
BA-K:
Bundesarchiv (Koblenz).
BA-MA:
Bundesarchiv Militärarchiv (Freiburg).
BA-ZNS:
Bundesarchiv-Zentralnachweisstelle (Aachen).
BDC:
Berlin Document Centre, collection of pre-war crimes trial files.
BZ-IMT:
refers to NARA, RG238, T1270-1, Bach-Zelewski interrogations for the IMT.
BZ-USMT:
refers to NARA, RG238, M1019-4, Bach-Zelewski interrogations on behalf of USMT.
CMH:
Center for Military History, U.S. Army (Pennsylvania).
DDKH:
Der Dienstkalender Heinrich Himmlers 1941/42, Forschungsstelle für Zeitgeschichte in Hamburg (Hamburg, 1999). Heinrich Himmler’s appointments diary.
DDst:
Deutsche Dienststelle (Berlin), muster rolls for the Wehrmacht and SS.
FMS:
U.S. Army Historical Branch, Foreign Military Studies (German army).
IMT:
International Military Tribunal, Nuremberg, documents and evidence, 1945–1946.
IWM:
Imperial War Museum (London).
JNSV:
Justiz und NS-Verbrechen, German Trial Judgements (1945–99), found at http://www1.jur.uva.nl
NARA:
National Archive, Washington D.C., College Park Annex.
NCA:
Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, vols. 1–8, Supps. A and B. Office of U.S. Chief of Counsel for Prosecution of Axis Criminality, Government Printing Office (Washington 1946–48).
PRO:
Public Record Office, London (National Archives), series designations—HW, HS, WO and FO.
RUSI:
Royal United Services Institute (London).
Table Talk :
a record of Hitler’s comments published as Hugh Trevor-Roper, intro.,
Hitler’s Table Talk, 1941–1944: His Private Conversations
(London: Phoenix, 1953).
TVDB:
BA R20/45b war diary of SS-
Obergruppenführer
Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski.
USHMM:
U.S. Holocaust Memorial and Museum.
USMT:
U.S. military tribunals (1946–49), cases 1–12, cited as follows:
USMT-11:
USA vs. Ernst von Weiszäcker et al., known as the Ministries case 11.
USMT-12:
USA vs. Wilhem Leeb et al., High Command case 12.
USMT-4:
USA vs Oswald Pohl (SS-WVHA), known as the Pohl case 4;
USMT-7:
USA vs. Wilhelm List et al., known as the Hostages case 7;
USMT-9:
USA vs. Otto Ohlendorf et al., known as the Einsatzgruppen case 9.
Wiener:
Wiener Library and archives (London).
PART ONE
ORIGINS AND IMPLEMENTATION
PART TWO
BANDENBEKÄMPFUNG
PART THREE
CLIMATIC DECLINE
CONCLUSION
In 1972, Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski, a lonely and decrepit old man, died in a German prison hospital. Eighty-one years earlier, his uncle was killed in a colonial skirmish that rendered shame on the German army and disgraced his family. In 1911, his father, an East Elbian Prussian Junker, died penniless in Dortmund. Four years later, his “stepfather” chaperoned him into war as a child soldier in the German army. Between 1915 and 1945, the boy was nurtured into a serial murderer and mass executioner. This dysfunctional family bred a man who was encouraged by Hitler to disfigure German history. Bach-Zelewski exploited his past to build a career. He
Wehrmacht at War
series. Rick Russell and the team at Potomac Books have enabled the smooth transfer of my thesis into book form. Special thanks are deserved for Dr. Nick Terry, a close friend and the technical adviser of both the PhD thesis and this book. His research will change our opinion of German arms. Dr. Declan O’Reilly has regularly advised and confided his thoughts on my work with his scholarly criticism.
Finally, I wish to mention my family and friends. My parents, Pamela and Peter Blood, who have always encouraged and supported me. My extended family include Manny, Maria, Ricky, and Lenny, Mike and Chris Buckley, Gary Ward and Christina, Ian and Alison, sadly now departed, Ron and Mitzi Orner, Tim and Manass Wells, and, my godchildren, Charlie, James, and Emma.
BIBLIOGRAPHIC
ABBREVIATIONS
There is a full glossary of relevant German and Bandenbekämpfung terms in appendix 1 .
BA:
Bundesarchiv, Berlin (Lichterfelde).
BA-K:
Bundesarchiv (Koblenz).
BA-MA:
Bundesarchiv Militärarchiv (Freiburg).
BA-ZNS:
Bundesarchiv-Zentralnachweisstelle (Aachen).
BDC:
Berlin Document Centre, collection of pre-war crimes trial files.
BZ-IMT:
refers to NARA, RG238, T1270-1, Bach-Zelewski interrogations for the IMT.
BZ-USMT:
refers to NARA, RG238, M1019-4, Bach-Zelewski interrogations on behalf of USMT.
CMH:
Center for Military History, U.S. Army (Pennsylvania).
DDKH:
Der Dienstkalender Heinrich Himmlers 1941/42, Forschungsstelle für Zeitgeschichte in Hamburg (Hamburg, 1999). Heinrich Himmler’s appointments diary.
DDst:
Deutsche Dienststelle (Berlin), muster rolls for the Wehrmacht and SS.
FMS:
U.S. Army Historical Branch, Foreign Military Studies (German army).
IMT:
International Military Tribunal, Nuremberg, documents and evidence, 1945–1946.
IWM:
Imperial War Museum (London).
JNSV:
Justiz und NS-Verbrechen, German Trial Judgements (1945–99), found at http://www1.jur.uva.nl
NARA:
National Archive, Washington D.C., College Park Annex.
NCA:
Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, vols. 1–8, Supps. A and B. Office of U.S. Chief of Counsel for Prosecution of Axis Criminality, Government Printing Office (Washington 1946–48).
PRO:
Public Record Office, London (National Archives), series designations—HW, HS, WO and FO.
RUSI:
Royal United Services Institute (London).
Table Talk :
a record of Hitler’s comments published as Hugh Trevor-Roper, intro.,
Hitler’s Table Talk, 1941–1944: His Private Conversations
(London: Phoenix, 1953).
TVDB:
BA R20/45b war diary of SS-
Obergruppenführer
Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski.
USHMM:
U.S. Holocaust Memorial and Museum.
USMT:
U.S. military tribunals (1946–49), cases 1–12, cited as follows:
USMT-11:
USA vs. Ernst von Weiszäcker et al., known as the Ministries case 11.
USMT-12:
USA vs. Wilhem Leeb et al., High Command case 12.
USMT-4:
USA vs Oswald Pohl (SS-WVHA), known as the Pohl case 4;
USMT-7:
USA vs. Wilhelm List et al., known as the Hostages case 7;
USMT-9:
USA vs. Otto Ohlendorf et al., known as the Einsatzgruppen case 9.
Wiener:
Wiener Library and archives (London).
PART ONE
ORIGINS AND IMPLEMENTATION
PART TWO
BANDENBEKÄMPFUNG
PART THREE
CLIMATIC DECLINE
CONCLUSION
In 1972, Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski, a lonely and decrepit old man, died in a German prison hospital. Eighty-one years earlier, his uncle was killed in a colonial skirmish that rendered shame on the German army and disgraced his family. In 1911, his father, an East Elbian Prussian Junker, died penniless in Dortmund. Four years later, his “stepfather” chaperoned him into war as a child soldier in the German army. Between 1915 and 1945, the boy was nurtured into a serial murderer and mass executioner. This dysfunctional family bred a man who was encouraged by Hitler to disfigure German history. Bach-Zelewski exploited his past to build a career. He
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