Was there such a thing? While watching an old taped U-boat documentary this weekend, the case was made that the Kriegsmarine was one of the least "Nazified" branches of the Germany military. Is this a good conclusion? My question is, how did they come to this conclusion? Was enthusiasm towards the regime somehow measured within the branches to make this conclusion? Was it because the Kriegsmarine was probably the least prepared for the war starting when it did, and the high command and officers were pessimistic from the start? Or does it come from the fact that the Kriegsmarine did not have killing squads and did not take part in crimes against humanity? Hitler himself was scared of the water, so he was not big on the Navy. Did his lack of enthusiasm have something to do with this? Gunther Lutjen's son stated on a PBS documentary that there were Jewish officers/sailors serving in the Kriegsmarine. However, Karl Donitz was a raving Jew hater apparently. Does anyone have any comments on this? (I did not see this discussed in a search, but in case I missed it, I apoligize!)
I think you are going to have a hard time figuring this one out Darren, there were some branches of the Nazi/German military where it was required, some where it was encouraged, some where it was a "whatever", and some where party membership was only tolerated, but not encouraged. Tough call I'd think, and might be difficult to get a real "handle" on.
Yes Clint, I thought it was a rather dubious claim to make. It also stated that before the war, the Royal Navy and Weimer Navy "used to get along very well" so to speak, and that when war broke out, it pained the Kriegsmarine sailors to go to war with Britain, or something like that.
The penal battalions were for the most part Soviet/Red Army not Wehrmacht. In the German Defense force they just threw you into a KZ or hanged ya.
I've heard this before so I wouldn't be surprised but I've also heard that during his final days I think Hitler believed the Kreigsmarine was the only unit out of the S.S. and Wehrmacht that was still loyal to him. As a whole it would be tough to get an accurate measure of how rampant Nazism was in the army. Soldiers at the time weren't allowed to vote and Germany didn't really have any elections until the late 40s, the few that did occur were restricted to a small group of pro Nazi people.
IIRC, Hitler named Dönitz as his successor during the last days of the War; not Himmler, not Göring, but Dönitz. IMHO, actually, the Wehrmacht (not the Waffen SS, obviously) was probably the least "indoctrinated" in Nazi-ism; Hitler was never really happy with the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, and constantly sought to replace it's leadership with people he felt would be loyal to him (Kesselring and Keitel come to mind). Himmler represented a challenge to Hitler's leadership, so Hitler sought to marginalize him whenever possible; Dönitz, however, did not appear to have any political ambitions, ergo he was not a "threat" to Hitler. In Hitler's last chaotic days on this Earth, he wasn't a terribly rational man (was he ever?), so he sought the least threatening successor he could think of; hence, Dönitz. Hitler probably had this crazy idea that if he chose a less-threatening successor, the Allies would allow Germany to survive, and he could come back later as it's "savior".
Hitler was running out of people to name as his successor. Hess had flown the coop to Great Britain and was in the Tower of London, Himmler's double dealing with Bernadot of Sweden trying to broker a peace treaty had been discovered and Hitler ordered him shot on sight, and Goering had been placed under house arrest. He didn't have many "party faithful" left from which to choose.
I wonder if the answer to this has to do with when the branches were established. For example, the Luftwaffe was established in the mid-thirties by an overzealous second in command Nazi. However, the Navy and Army were more established before the Nazis took command. Then again, I don't want to lampoon Adolf Galland, Johannes Steinhoff, and other aces as being fanatical Nazis. Maybe I should call quits on this thread. I don't know if there is any merit in probing this.
