# The True German: The Diary of a World War II Military Judge



## tova (Oct 13, 2013)

From Amazon.com:

Werner Otto Müller-Hill served as a military judge in the Werhmacht during World War II. From March 1944 to the summer of 1945, he kept a diary, recording his impressions of what transpired around him as Germany hurtled into destruction—what he thought about the fate of the Jewish people, the danger from the Bolshevik East once an Allied victory was imminent, his longing for his home and family and, throughout it, a relentless disdain and hatred for the man who dragged his beloved Germany into this cataclysm, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party. Müller-Hill calls himself a German nationalist, the true Prussian idealist who was there before Hitler and would be there after. Published in Germany and France, Müller-Hill's diary has been hailed as a unique document, praised for its singular candor and uncommon insight into what the German army was like on the inside. It is an extraordinary testament to a part of Germany's people that historians are only now starting to acknowledge and fills a gap in our knowledge of WWII.

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Finished it in one day - absolutely fascinating!


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## pardus (Oct 13, 2013)

Interesting, I was under the impression that all judges had to be party men, though that may only be civilian judges.


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## AWP (Oct 13, 2013)

pardus said:


> Interesting, I was under the impression that all judges had to be party men, though that may only be civilian judges.


 
For the longest time one couldn't be in the Wehrmacht and belong to a political party. That obviously changed, but as near as I can tell, Nazi membership remained relatively low in the Wehrmacht.

Wikipedia is saying about 8 million Germans were members of the Nazi Party in 1945:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_party#General_membership
This link has Germany's population at about 64 million in 1945:
http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-4901.html

Omer Bartov's Hitler's Army has some numbers (I need to find a copy of this book). If the link below is to be believed then you're looking at ~30% of Wehrmahct officers were party members.

http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=178680

This obviously excludes the Waffen-SS.

This link has Hitler replacing outspoken judges and banishing them to positions of lesser importance. It doesn't cover military judges, but I don't think it a stretch to believe that non-Nazi's existed within the Wehrmacht's JAG corps.
http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/PIO/news/2010/FOTL_111610.asp

I recently finished a book on the SS, mainly covering the "how" behind the organization. Many of the key players in the SS and Final Solution held their Juris Doctor...


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## CQB (Oct 13, 2013)

Wehrmacht was different IMO, with some units not taking part in the ethnic cleansing.


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## pardus (Oct 13, 2013)

IIRC even in the SS Nazi membership wasn't much above 30% That maybe be just the Waffen SS though. I haven't looked into that for a while.




CQB said:


> Wehrmacht was different IMO, with some units not taking part in the ethnic cleansing.



I don't recall any Wehrmacht units being involved in ethnic cleansing.


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## AWP (Oct 13, 2013)

CQB said:


> Wehrmacht was different IMO, with some units not taking part in the ethnic cleansing.


 


pardus said:


> I don't recall any Wehrmacht units being involved in ethnic cleansing.


 
I think CQB is closer on this one. At a bare minimum the Wehrmacht knowingly supported the SD and Einsatzgruppen logistically and by providing outer cordons during the roundup of personnel. I've found a few sources that have the Wehrmacht participating in Op. Tannenberg in Poland.

Whereas the SS were required/ exhorted to commit atrocities, the Wehrmacht is a bit more nuanced. "Organized" Wehrmacht participation was, as best as I can recall/ find, driven at local levels by politics or a commander's influence....until you go to the Eastern Front. At that point, the best anyone could argue on the Wehrmacht's behalf is that was a brutal, brutal piece of a pretty horrific war. Violence to the nth power.


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## pardus (Oct 13, 2013)

Freefalling said:


> I think CQB is closer on this one. At a bare minimum the Wehrmacht knowingly supported the SD and Einsatzgruppen logistically and by providing outer cordons during the roundup of personnel. I've found a few sources that have the Wehrmacht participating in Op. Tannenberg in Poland.
> 
> *Whereas the SS were required/ exhorted to commit atrocities*, the Wehrmacht is a bit more nuanced. "Organized" Wehrmacht participation was, as best as I can recall/ find, driven at local levels by politics or a commander's influence....until you go to the Eastern Front. At that point, the best anyone could argue on the Wehrmacht's behalf is that was a brutal, brutal piece of a pretty horrific war. Violence to the nth power.



I woudn't be surprised if certain Wehrmacht units were involved on the periphery of SD etc... atrocities and wouldn't be shocked to hear of direct participation but Ive never heard of it. But that is a tiny percentage of the Wehrmacht and like I stated earlier, I haven't read of it anywhere*.

As to your bolded line, this is true for Allgemeine SS but not Waffen SS units/personal, though units/individuals certainly did commit war crimes. i.e. war crimes/atrocities were in the job description of the Allgemeine SS, not the Waffen SS.

I also disagree with your last paragraph r.e. the Wehrmacht, most of the killing committed on the eastern front was by neglect not by design, that is unit came through and burnt villages down and took all the villages food, leaving the villages to starve/freeze. Like the Soviet POWs who starved to death in camps due to neglect. Semantics you may well say,  but I see it as different to actually killing people.




* see the bottom of post #10


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## pardus (Oct 13, 2013)




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## AWP (Oct 13, 2013)

It is on!

LOL

Re: the Waffen-SS, I disagree. At best, some of those units were composed of men who participated in atrocities from 39-42/ 43. The foreign Waffen-SS units in particular were more or less local members of the various Einsatzgruppen and their ilk who moved into organized units once their "talents" were required elsewhere. Look at the anti-partisan campaigns/ activities. The Waffen-SS headed those across Russia, Yugoslavia, etc. and their mandate was simple: kill.

At some point I guess we can argue over ethnic cleansing and the motivation behind the various mass atrocities committed by the Germans, but we're splitting hairs at that point. I "may" have a digital copy of Hale's _Hitler's Foreign Executioners_ which sheds light on Waffen-SS participation if you were interested.

On the Eastern Front, the killing was both neglect and revenge though we'd be hard pressed to find numbers. Anti-partisan operations saw whole villages wiped out. We saw instances of that in France too, but nothing close to the scale witnessed on the EF.

Wehrmacht atrocities would, if I were to place an educated guess, more limited to anti-partisan operations and those committed by infantry units. I have no doubt panzer formatons committed atrocities, particularly on the defensive, but early in the war they were moving too fast to do anything. Infantry and cavalry units were probably those used to commit war crimes....at least in the Wehrmacht.

When you start talking about rounding up Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, etc. for the last train ride, I'd think Wehrmacht participation is pretty small and limited to providing trucks and supplies to those doing the actual "removal."

One difficulty in arguing numbers WRT Nazi Germany was despite their prolific record keeping, many, many records were destroyed during the war.


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## pardus (Oct 13, 2013)

The 3rd SS Div was the only Waffen SS unit that had previously been employed as camp guards to my knowledge. 
The foreign volunteers were from many varied countries, Norway, Denmark, France, UK, Belgium etc... and were nothing but volunteers, not former members of any para military group. Though your example did happen, it wasn't the norm.
I know the Waffen SS were involved in anti-partisan operations but I know it wasn't "their" mission, the Army had security divisions* assigned to this role too. 
My knowledge of anti-partisan operations is limited though and so I would be very interested in _Hitler's Foreign Executioners _if it is possible to get it from you.

Yes there was certainly a systematic program of eradication of villages, Belarus was particularly hard hit with this, I don't remember clearly now but I believe that was an SD program. I think the numbers killed in these operations were relatively small compared to the neglectful deaths in the Soviet Union. 




Anti-Partisan Badge (in silver, for 50 combat days in anti-partisan ops)











*In doing some reading I see references to the Army security divisions committing atrocities.


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## CQB (Oct 14, 2013)

I scanned an article years ago regarding Wehrmacht involvement & individual commanders forbade it despite orders to do so. To add to the nerdism, I think you'll find this link interesting, the army wasn't guiltless. 

http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=12899


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## pardus (Oct 14, 2013)

CQB said:


> I scanned an article years ago regarding Wehrmacht involvement & individual commanders forbade it despite orders to do so. To add to the nerdism, I think you'll find this link interesting, the army wasn't guiltless.
> 
> http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=12899



That review is interesting though I'd want to read the actual book. 
So much political correctness has entered into historical writings I often have to read around the writing to find out the bare facts. I suspect this author is one who started out with an agenda.

Also I want to point out that all atrocities weren't ethnic cleansing either.


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## pardus (Oct 14, 2013)

CQB said:


> I scanned an article years ago regarding Wehrmacht involvement & individual commanders forbade it despite orders to do so. To add to the nerdism, I think you'll find this link interesting, the army wasn't guiltless.
> 
> http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=12899



I just brought the book. Will be a little while before I get to it but looking forward to it.


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## CQB (Oct 14, 2013)

The reason why I mentioned officers opting out initially was I always thought that the brutality on the Eastern front was uniform across all. I was quite surprised to discover company commanders who forbade certain practices. BTW let me know how you get on with the book. I'm currently getting through one on the aftermath of WW2 , 1945-47, which is pretty harrowing (but I'm getting a bit off topic)  I'll save that for another time.


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## pardus (Dec 29, 2015)

pardus said:


> I don't recall any Wehrmacht units being involved in ethnic cleansing.





Freefalling said:


> I think CQB is closer on this one. At a bare minimum the Wehrmacht knowingly supported the SD and Einsatzgruppen logistically and by providing outer cordons during the roundup of personnel. I've found a few sources that have the Wehrmacht participating in Op. Tannenberg in Poland.
> 
> Whereas the SS were required/ exhorted to commit atrocities, the Wehrmacht is a bit more nuanced. "Organized" Wehrmacht participation was, as best as I can recall/ find, driven at local levels by politics or a commander's influence....until you go to the Eastern Front. At that point, the best anyone could argue on the Wehrmacht's behalf is that was a brutal, brutal piece of a pretty horrific war. Violence to the nth power.





pardus said:


> I woudn't be surprised if certain Wehrmacht units were involved on the periphery of SD etc... atrocities and wouldn't be shocked to hear of direct participation but Ive never heard of it. But that is a tiny percentage of the Wehrmacht and like I stated earlier, I haven't read of it anywhere*.
> 
> As to your bolded line, this is true for Allgemeine SS but not Waffen SS units/personal, though units/individuals certainly did commit war crimes. i.e. war crimes/atrocities were in the job description of the Allgemeine SS, not the Waffen SS.
> 
> ...



So I've done a little digging into the Wehrmacht's role in atrocities, and they are most certainly guilty, on a massive scale it turns out. Not only the logistical support and active participation with SD units in the mass killing of Jews, but also many atrocities committed by them alone.


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## AWP (Dec 29, 2015)

FINALLY, a necropost worth a damn.


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## talonlm (Jan 5, 2016)

CQB said:


> The reason why I mentioned officers opting out initially was I always thought that the brutality on the Eastern front was uniform across all. I was quite surprised to discover company commanders who forbade certain practices. BTW let me know how you get on with the book. I'm currently getting through one on the aftermath of WW2 , 1945-47, which is pretty harrowing (but I'm getting a bit off topic)  I'll save that for another time.



What is the title of the book you referred to?


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## CQB (Jan 5, 2016)

Savage Continent (2012) Keith Lowe, St. Martins New York. In hardcover and as an e-book. 

Goes beyond the celebrations & dancing in the streets & looks at roughly the two years after 1945. Scores were settled with collaborators, concentration camps emptied & filled again, with massacres in Greece, Yugoslavia & Poland, which also fought a border war with Ukraine. It was ethnic cleansing on a colossal scale, stark, graphic & ugly.


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## talonlm (Jan 5, 2016)

That timeframe has always been of interest to me; eastern Europe, of course, but also what happened to the remnants of the Japanese Empire, as well.  Thank for the information!


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