Customer Reviews

Hitler's Volkssturm (Modern War Studies)

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This book is a serious, in-depth look at one of the Nazis' last "miracles" against the advancing Allies toward the end of World War II, when the war was virtually lost. Masterfully researched and documented, Yelton's book reads a bit like a long academic paper, which stands to reason, as I believe the book owes its origins to Yelton's dissertation.

As the forward states, there is no one place or location that contains a significant cache of Volkssturm documents in Germany, so the author spent a great deal of time, energy and money to produce this work. It shows in the reading. Unlike many accounts of the Third Reich, most of which usually gloss over the Volkssturm, this is a critical look at the milita's origins, reasons for forming, the fight among Nazi leaders to lead the militia and its performance in battle.

A few tidbits that made for wonderful, surprising reading:
1. The Volkssturm "People Storm" was controlled by the Nazi Party, not the Wermacht. The reasons for this are many, but it largely contributed to the milita's mostly poor performance on the battlefield, with notable exceptions (also discussed in the book).

2. Nazi leaders were fearful that Volkssturm members were going to be treated as partisans if caught by Allies and subsequently shot. Shockingly to this reader, the Nazis actually initiated contact with the British and Americans prior to the milita's formation to inquire how Volkssturm members would be treated if captured. Getting a positive response from Allied leadership that the unit would be treated as a legal militia (again, to my astonishment), the Nazis proceeded to form the Volkssturm. One can't help but wonder if the Allies had denied the Volkssturm "militia status" if the war would have been shortened on the Western Front, resulting in fewer Allied deaths.

The middle of the book is a bit of a dry read, as Yelton gets bogged down in a buffet of statistics. But, sticking with the book has its rewards, as Yelton discusses at length the militia's performance in battle toward the end of the war.

I would highly recommend this book to any student of WW II who would like to know more about the Volkssturm, its origins and performance in battle. "Hitler's Volkssturm" makes a welcome addition to any World War II bookshelf.

More than the battles, the book provides a comprehensive analysis of how
a bold military vision - fanatical, ideology-driven citizen soldiers defending their homeland - crashed with reality in the last months of the German Empire, such as the bureaucratic turf battles, the high hopes for the inspiring power of Nazi leadership dashed by the people's waning trust in them, the reality of the people preferring to work with the professionalism of regular Army units over propaganda- and ideology-heavy Nazi-centered organizing schemes, and the conflicting notions of fairness in the way people were selected and assigned to various war tasks. Many photos capture the cruelly ambiguous situation of the middle-aged and elderly soldiers, their ambivalent attitude toward their deployment, and the contrast between propaganda presentation and battleground realities. One can't but feel sympathetic for all those old soldiers many of whom must have also served in WWI, holding their ground with only substandard equipment and training (and fitness), and not much recognized in military history. Was interested in the subject since I'm in the similar age-group, and also am attracted to war situations that seem hopeless/pointless to the soldiers, soldiers who soldier on in the face of hopelessness and total skepticism. Germany's ally the Japanese Empire also had the same kind of plan for calling into soldier duty about the same age group, and just like Germany, contacted, asked for and got US to recognize their new teenage conscripts as official combattants and not irregular guerillas prior to the battle on Okinawa from April 1945.

We have all seen the images of elderly gentlemen and young boys shouldering Panzerfausts and antiquated rifles. Such photos speak to the futility of the Nazi cause as the Second World War in Europe came to a rapid close. The Volkssturm, a last-ditch response was nicknamed the Krüppelgarde ('cripple-guard') or HJ-Spätlese ('late-vintage Hitler Youth'). Its members could not be termed fanatical, if anything, they wanted nothing more than to surrender and get on with defeat and reconstruction having recognized a lost cause.

The individual accounts of forced participation and ultimate capitulation are engrossing but ultimately sad. This is by far the best account of the Volkssturm's short service and ranks up there in terms of fascination along with the Hitler Youth and the Werewolves. All three groups represent examples of the Nazis power of propaganda rather than truly effective fighting forces.