With liberal quotes from letters, diaries and military reports, Bartov successfully challenges the notion that the German army during WW II was apolitical and reveals how thoroughly permeated it was by Nazi ideology. Focusing on ordinary German soldiers on the Eastern front, he shows how government propaganda and indoctrination motivated the troops not only to fight well but to commit unprecedented crimes against humanity. This institutionalized brainwashing revolved around two interrelated elements: the radical demonization of the Soviet enemy and the deification of the fuhrer. Consequently, most of the troops believed the war in the Eastern theater was a struggle to dam the Jewish/Bolshevik/Asiatic flood that threatened Western civilization. This scholarly paper by a junior fellow with the Society of Fellows, Harvard University, demonstrates how Germany's soldiers were transformed into brutal instruments of a barbarous policy.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
"Insightful, stimulating, compelling, controversial. Students read it, understand it, debate it, and are edified by it."--Otto M. Nelson, Texas Tech University "Bartov's book is fascinating. It certainly flies--and flies well!--in the face of the traditional interpretation of the Wehrmacht's wartime attitudes."--D.R. Dorondo, Western Carolina University

"An important new book....Rather convincingly, Bartov asserts that the savagery of war reshaped the Werhmacht in Hitler's image and that the Wermcht embraced the idea of war as a defence of civilization against 'Jewish/Bolshevik barbarism.'"--Canadian Jewish News (Toronto)

"A unique interpretation of a much disputed subject."--T.E. Smuck, University of Hawaii, Hilo

"Excellent study. Reflects keen insights into the links between Hitler's social revolution and the war in the East."--Ronald Smelser, University of Utah

"Exciting new insights."--Alvin D. Coox, San Diego State University

"Impressively researched and imaginatively presented....No one will be able to ignore his argument, which is solidly based on primary sources (military records, letters, diaries) and skillfully informed by the latest published scholarship. This book is an impressive achievement."--American Historical Review

"Exciting and provocative....A chilling reminder of how rapidly State-led violence can degenerate into military barbarism."--Observer (London)

"With liberal quotes from letters, diaries and military reports, Bartov successfully challenges the notion that the German Army during WW II was apolitical and reveals how thoroughly permeated it was by Nazi ideology."--Publisher's Weekly

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Product Details
Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (November 26, 1992)
Language: English