War of Extermination: The German Military in World War Ii, 1941-1944 (War and Genocide) [Hardcover]

Hannes Heer (Editor), Klaus Naumann (Editor), Roy Shelton (Translator)

Book Description

Series: War and Genocide | Publication Date: October 2000

Among the many myths about the relationship of Nazism to the mass of the German population, few proved more powerful in postwar West Germany than the notion that the Wehrmacht had not been involved in the crimes of the Third Reich. Former generals were particularly effective in spreading, through memoirs and speeches, the legend that millions of German soldiers had fought an honest and "clean" war and that mass murder, especially in the East, was entirely the work of Himmler's SS. This volume contains the most important contributions by distinguished historians who have thoroughly demolished this Wehrmacht myth. The picture that emerges from this collection is a depressing one and raises many questions about why "ordinary men" got involved as perpetrators and bystanders in an unprecedented program of extermination of "racially inferior" men, women, and children in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union during the Second World War. Those who have seen these terrible photos of mass executions and other atrocities, currently on show in an exhibition in Germany and soon to be in the United States, will find this volume most enlightening.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"... provides new information and excellent analyses." * Holocaust and Genocide Studies

About the Author

Hannes Heer is a historian and film director. Klaus Naumann is a historain and journalist; both are Fellows of the Hamburg Institute for Social Studies.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Berghahn Books (October 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1571812326
• ISBN-13: 978-1571812322
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,172,385 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ably translated into English from the original German, March 13, 2001

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: War of Extermination: The German Military in World War Ii, 1941-1944 (War and Genocide) (Hardcover)

Ably translated into English from the original German by Roy Shelton, War Of Extermination: The German Military In World War II 1941-1944 is a seminal volume containing the most important contributions by distinguished historians who vigorously and effectively debunk the Wehrmacht myth the German soldiers fought an honest and "clean" war, remaining uninvolved with Nazi generated atrocities and the genocidal slaughter of innocents. War Of Extermination is an invaluable and much needed counter to historical revisionists wishing to minimize and suppress the true story of German military involvement and collaboration with the politically and racially motivated extermination of whole classes of men, women, and children.