As 1944 rolled along, so did the Allied forces -- Russians in the east, British, Americans, and French in the west. The noose tightened around Germany and commanders tried various tricks to save cities, often backtracking, unsure what to do except follow orders from higher authority and make the best of a hopeless situation. For the most part, the demoralized Wehrmacht stood fast. But for the army trapped on a small peninsula jutting into the Baltic Sea, surrounded by Russians and bombarded daily, certain gray areas in between "fighting to the last man" and "getting the hell out" were exploited.
One of the participants, a corporal, describes shooting his friend in the leg -- a wound being the only way out alive. Some 4,000 German soldiers died on that peninsula. The reenforcements arriving by sea were now young boys, barely trained, and sometimes ran from the fighting. The commanding general would occasionally visit the area and everyone disappeared because of the general, Schörner, found anyone sitting around or sleeping, he would say they were needed at the front, so get going at once. Finding a lone soldier behind the front, walking down the road, Schörner had the man executed on the spot. Niccolo Machiavelli would have approved. After all, Schörner hadn't had everyone under his command execute each other.
The Wehrmacht had changed during the last years of the war. The younger recruits were now thoroughly politicized with Nazi ideology, as opposed to the old breed Prussians, for whom common sense still mattered.
And of course, as in most countries at war, every slight victory was made into a turning point of the war by the propagandists controlling the media. Until the very end, Berlin radio kept grinding out hopeful messages to a disbelieving public. There happens to be an exemplary feature film on the subject, "Aimée and Jaguar".
The Wehrmacht finally collapsed after Hitler's suicide. It's generally recognized by historians of all stripes, as the most efficient and deadly military tool ever at the disposal of a crazed leader.
One of the participants, a corporal, describes shooting his friend in the leg -- a wound being the only way out alive. Some 4,000 German soldiers died on that peninsula. The reenforcements arriving by sea were now young boys, barely trained, and sometimes ran from the fighting. The commanding general would occasionally visit the area and everyone disappeared because of the general, Schörner, found anyone sitting around or sleeping, he would say they were needed at the front, so get going at once. Finding a lone soldier behind the front, walking down the road, Schörner had the man executed on the spot. Niccolo Machiavelli would have approved. After all, Schörner hadn't had everyone under his command execute each other.
The Wehrmacht had changed during the last years of the war. The younger recruits were now thoroughly politicized with Nazi ideology, as opposed to the old breed Prussians, for whom common sense still mattered.
And of course, as in most countries at war, every slight victory was made into a turning point of the war by the propagandists controlling the media. Until the very end, Berlin radio kept grinding out hopeful messages to a disbelieving public. There happens to be an exemplary feature film on the subject, "Aimée and Jaguar".
The Wehrmacht finally collapsed after Hitler's suicide. It's generally recognized by historians of all stripes, as the most efficient and deadly military tool ever at the disposal of a crazed leader.