"Its History Jim but not as we know it" ...or is it ?

Discussion in 'Historiography' started by James S, Jul 24, 2010.

  1. Gerard

    Gerard Seelow/Prora

    Adam, your US military historians working on "Eastern Front" matters based themselves on interrogation of captured German generals and little else. I have several booklets on the subject published by the US Army and it's always the same theme: how smart we were, how we ran rings around the Russians (it's always the Russians), but you'll never see the sentence "in the meantime elsewhere they were eating us alive".

    If you read von Luck's memoirs, for instance on his tale of the Stalingrad operation Uranus you'll read the magnificent feats of Balck smashing what was a vanguard detachment, while uncomprehendingly to him the rest of the Army just left this as a pawn and ran past him to take strategic objectives behind him. This really brings to mind that Sun Tzu (mis)quote: "... Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat."

    Never a line on"Ys, but...", never a proper analysis on how the Soviets were winning other than "they were too many" and that was the lesson the Western armies were learning.
    I remember reading about this in Von Mellenthins "Panzer Battles" Za and again the same conclusion was reached. How come if this Panzer Division is smashing up Russian Corps, well why isnt it breaking through to Stalingrad. Sometimes German Memoirs are like References, its not what was written, its what's left out thats crucial.
     
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  2. Stig O'Tracy

    Stig O'Tracy Senior Member

    Something that also follows the last comment in the above post....

    I've read many titles by German veterans (written in English) but I do not recall reading a single one where the author frankly acknowledges his awareness of the Holocaust during the war (many claim to only have recognized it after the wars end) or describes witnessing some sort of atrocity. I have ready some where the odd anti-Semitic remark is made in relating a conversation.

    Does anyone know of a title that doesn't follow this rule?
     
  3. Heimbrent

    Heimbrent Well-Known Member

    Does anyone know of a title that doesn't follow this rule?

    Sometimes you'll find (subconsciously) coded remarks about shootings of Jews or civilians in general. Some "Bolsheviks" shot here, some "Jewish partisans" hung there... It's the same diction that was common in the Third Reich, used intentionally or not. The big picture tho, the organised mass murders weren't publicly discussed or mentioned until long after the war. And I think that even now most German contemporary witnesses will refuse talking about the Holocaust as a whole.
     
  4. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Old Hickory Recon

    You think histories of German soldiers is difficult to find, try finding anything concerning the Japanese.
     
  5. James S

    James S Very Senior Member

    I have only seen one or two accounts written by Japanese veterans , and it is only very recently that you see them talking of their experiences.
    Japan had a huge burden to come to terms with.
     

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