Soldiers: Diaries Of Fighting, Killing and Dying by Soenke and Welzer

A book of confessions from german pows has revealed the extent of nazi brutality towards innocent civilians in the second world war.
One luftwaffe airman who shot at people during the Battle of Britain says "we saw them and fired.it was fun"
A corporal remembers how he was told to murder 20 Italian civilians,but enjoyed it so much that his unit didn't stop until it hit 50.
A fighter pilot recalls how he liked killing fleeing civilians in France and Belguim calling the subsequent massacre "beutiful"
Another pilot says he was sad to have bombed horses but adds that murdering people "didn't bother" him.
The confessions,collected by German historians SOENKE NIETZEL and HARALD WELZER,shatter the image that only the SS was evil.
The book-SOLDIERS DIARIES OF FIGHTING AND DYING.-is published in Germany next Friday and is out in English in the autumn.


Have just read this in the Daily Mirror this morning and thought i would post it this is going to be one horrendous read
ps i think i may have put this in the wrong thread sorry

 

I wonder how many of them would have claimed they were 'just following orders' had they been put before a jury?

Assholes!

War can seriously mess with the mind and I also wonder whether many of them were genuinely blood thirsty, or just twisted by war?

Either way, it sounds like it could be an interesting albeit, horrendous read.

Cheers for the heads up.

 

At the risk of sounding "apologist" this subject could be transferred to the Balkans in the 90's, Rwanda in the same decade, Cambodia in the 70's....... it just goes on. In war people will kill and their inner sense of right and wrong can become distorted. War affords people who can be cruel to be cruel and always will. Everyone will find some justification in their own heads for cruelty in warfare, doesnt make it right or explain it, but its the reason that these people are able to sleep at night.

 

*edit*

 

Found link to it on Dail Mail website.
I'll move to Books section too.
Soldiers: Diaries Of Fighting, Killing and Dying
Soenke Neitzel and Harald Welzer


The 'perfect, pitiless, Nazi': Soldiers' interviews reveal how German troops driven by 'bloodlust' killed for fun | Mail Online

Hello Owen cheers for correcting this post you did such a good job didn't even notice it took me a while to find it. Nice link you put there a lot more detail of the book than i had ta very much

 

From Der Spiegel:

"The myth that the Nazi-era German armed forces, the Wehrmacht, was not involved in war crimes persisted for decades after the war. Now two German
researchers have destroyed it once and for all. Newly published conversations between German prisoners of war, secretly recorded by the Allies, reveal horrifying details of violence against civilians, rape and genocide.

"It is March 6, 1943, and two German soldiers are talking about the war. Fighter pilot Budde and Corporal Bartels were captured by the British a few weeks earlier. The war is over for them, and it's time to share memories.

"Budde: 'I flew two spoiling attacks. In other words, we shelled buildings.'

"Bartels: 'But not destructive attacks with a specific target, like what we did?'

"Budde: 'No, just spoiling attacks. We encountered some of the nicest targets,
like mansions on a mountain. When you flew at them from below and fired into them, you could see the windows rattling and then the roof going up in the air. There was the time we hit Ashford. There was an event on the market square, crowds of people, speeches being given. We really sprayed them! That was fun!'"

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,755385,00.html

"Soldaten" published by S. Fischer Verlage:

fischerverlage.de - Fischer Verlage - Soldaten

 

We all know the cliches of World War II - that the German military was ruthless and brutal, for example, and Italian soldiers gave up without a fight.

But sometimes cliches are true. New evidence published this month in Germany indicates that the stereotypes were not mere propaganda but accurate pictures of reality.

BBC News - The evidence that backs up World War II stereotypes

 

I wonder if these two stories are researchable?

"The accounts express joy at the death of civilians. A pilot tells of a raid on Ashford in Kent in south-eastern England: "There was an event on the market square, crowds of people, speeches being given. We really sprayed them! That was fun!"

Another captured pilot told of a raid on Eastbourne on the coast of the South of England. He spotted a castle where a party was taking place: "We attacked and really stuck it to them. Now that, my dear friend, was a lot of fun."

It sounds an interesting book.

Thanks for the headsup

 

Threads merged - thanks to Kate (Heimbrandt) - as they cover the same piece of research.

 

I would not say its 'destroyed once and for all' as this area has been rather well covered.

 

Apologies if this has been placed elsewhere, a snippet from the BBC.

BBC News - The evidence that backs up World War II stereotypes

Ooops didnt see this thread sorry