Stalin's War of Extermination, 1941-1945: Planning, Realization and Documentation [Hardcover]

Joachim Hoffmann (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German

About the Author

Joachim Hoffmann, Dr. phil., born 1930 in Königsberg, East Prussia; studied modern history, Eastern European history and comparative ethnology at the University of Hamburg and Berlin’s Free University. He received his PhD in history in 1959. Between 1960 and 1995, he was historian at the Militärgeschichtliche Forschungsamt der Bundeswehr (Research Department for Military History of the German Army). His field of expertise was "Armed Forces of the Soviet Union"; Dr. Hoffmann has authored numerous articles and books about political, diplomatic and military history of the 19th century and about the history of the German-Soviet war. In 1991 he was granted the "Dr. Walter-Eckhardt" Award, and in 1992 the "General Andrej Andrejewitsch Wlassow" Cultural Prize. Retired, he lives near Freiburg, Germany.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Theses & Dissertations Press; 1st English ed edition (May 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0967985684
• ISBN-13: 978-0967985688
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #584,595 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is an excellent point for those who are interested in accurate history, May 30, 2006

By 

Darren Boggs (LSA Anaconda, Iraq) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Stalin's War of Extermination, 1941-1945: Planning, Realization and Documentation (Hardcover)

Let me just speak for a moment about the concept of books like this. Each time I look for a book in the genre of revisionism, which doesn't really exist in my mind anymore than reverse racism does, I see that people are polarized on the topic, particularly when it comes to WWII.

In my opinion, you have to be willing to revisit topics concerning world war II. With the fall of the Soviet Union, tons of information that was previously kept from the world has come into view and should be brought to light. People always say that those who forget history are doomed to repeat it, but if history is just used as propaganda and not studied with the full consideration of all the facts, then I submit that there is not much that can be learned.

This book does a lot to debunk the myth of German aggressivenes and megalomania. Hitler was very fearful of a Russo-French Alliance even before the outset of the war. Even a non-aggression pact did not allay his fears and this book proves that he was right to attack Russia as a defensive means. This allowed him to choose the battlefield rather than having it chosen for him.

He truly believed that the Anglo people had a lot to fear from bolshevism and the post war events (see Cold War and Iron Curtain) may have proved him right. Think what would have happened if there was no nuclear threat (see MAD), I can assure you that the Russians would no doubt have attempted to control Europe.

43 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Seek real truth or be manipulated, June 18, 2006

By 

Jim McPherson (Atlanta, Georgia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Stalin's War of Extermination, 1941-1945: Planning, Realization and Documentation (Hardcover)

A must read for anyone interested in real history, Stalin's War of Extermination is based on newly released Soviet documents.
You think Socialism is not so bad? Read this book. This book documents the total power the Soviet Government had over their own people and how Russians were murdered by the tens of millions by their own government.
Stalin's two big tools were "brutal terror" and "shameless propaganda." Soviet soldiers were forbidden to surrender in battle because the Soviets feared that those who did surrender would join the Germans in their supposed campaign to destroy Communism in Russia. Thus all Soviet soldiers who had been captured for any reason were murdered by the NKVD upon their return. Even millions of Russian civilians in areas which were overrun by German forces and then later recaptured by Soviet Armies were killed or sent to the Gulag.
All this was nothing to Stalin who had starved 7 to 9 million Ukranian farmers to death during the government induced famine of 1932-33 (p. 197) and who had purged millions of other Soviet citizens and soldiers.
Hand in hand with this terror went endless propaganda. For example, Soviet murders of thousands of Polish officers in the Katyn forest were blamed on the Germans; a lie that was continued up until 1992 when Boris Yeltsin finally released the documents showing the guilt of the Soviet government. (p. 209) To back up these lies "witnesses" were produced.
Author Joachim Hoffman sums the situation up well by stating, "Anyone who did not believe the propaganda experienced the terror." (p. 331)
Think you can rest easy now that Soviet Communism has "collapsed?" Think again. Author Hoffman touches on the complicity of the West with Soviet genocide and crimes against humanity. For example, France and England declared war on Germany supposedly because of Germany's invasion of Poland. Yet when the Soviet Union also attacked Poland two weeks later and overran the eastern half of the country no one even seemed to notice.
The US fought on the same side as "Uncle Joe" Stalin in World War II, a war which had as its main result the enslavement of half a billion people in eastern Europe under Soviet Communism. That is what our soldiers fought and died for.
Now look at the US policy toward China today, also a totalitarian Communist country. We are busy sending our manufacturing capacity to China to be worked by slave labor and administered by the same people who butchered the pro-democracy students in Tienaman Square. As the saying goes, "Those who do not study history are forced to repeat it." Read this book to see the real face of Communism.
There are those who call names and scream about this and other books "making excuses for the Nazis". Be warned that reading this book, particularly the sections about master Soviet propagandist Ilya Ehrenberg, may cause you to see such name-callers in a different, and very unflattering, light.
Jim McPherson

31 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Stalin's War reveals the horror of the Soviet Union, March 6, 2002

By 

"ken_mig" (NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stalin's War of Extermination, 1941-1945: Planning, Realization and Documentation (Hardcover)

As a WW II history buff I had never come across any data on the USSR except for the meetings with Churchill and Roosevelt. I have now changed my perspective after reading this book. Although not
a primer anyone with a basic knowledge of WW II names and places is a suitable audience. This is not an accounting of the battles or any other detail. I had never known Stalin as the monster that he was. At times I found myself rooting for the Germans. Not because they were the good guys but because Stalin and company
were so much worse. What the Communist leaders did to their own military men to get them to fight is nearly unbelievable.
You will also learn their mass murdering and butchering started long before the Germans. Read and you decide.