Tarnished Warriors: A Reappraisal
Chapter 7. Conclusion: An Attempt at Summing Up
In short, I have in this paper attempted to prove that (i) The Waffen-SS was a military organisation in its own right, and, contrary to the claims made at Nürnberg, significantly distinct from either the concentration camps or the Einsatzgruppen; and (ii) although crimes may have been committed in the field by units of the Waffen-SS, this should not be used in itself to condemn them, due to the fact that others, including the Wehrmacht and the Allies, were guilty of similar offences. I have not aimed to dispute or diminish the crimes that they did commit, but to merely project them in a more objective light.
During their short and turbulent history, the Waffen-SS created a reputation for themselves not from being a band of mass-murderers and brutalised thugs as the prevailing view (that of the "Bitburg Mentality") seems to assert, but from their unfailing professionalism, innovation, and daring élan in combat which, to be fair to their critics, was borne out of an extreme level of fanaticism. If one really wishes to place judgement on the character or ability of an army, examining its character in victory alone proves nothing; the true character, potential and ability of an army is only truly realised in defeat. In this respect, the men of the Waffen-SS proved themselves to be a true élite. Their stoic, indomitable, and even suicidal steadfastness in defeat - despite taking heavy punishment and suffering horrendous losses while others were wilting - were an indication of the fierce fighting spirit of the Waffen-SS.
This unique fighting spirit was the product of a kind of nihilism - a disdain and contempt for all kinds of human life, including their own. The downside of all this was that for all their matchless bravery, the Waffen-SS were for the very same reasons responsible for a number of excesses on the field of battle. And thus, the military prowess and daring élan exemplified by the Waffen-SS has been largely ignored. The debate about the role of the Waffen-SS will no doubt carry on unabated; the complicated nature of the topic leaves open many angles of interpretation. Only one man, Heinrich Himmler, could have told us anything about the real machinations of the SS superstate, and the role of the Waffen-SS within it; unfortunately, he took his secrets to the grave with him. And, in doing so, he also allowed many others - most of whom could rightly claim to have been free of any guilt - to be condemned for crimes for which he was ultimately responsible. Former Waffen-SS officer Erich Kern recalled a suicide note written by a fellow officer and Knight's Cross holder, and the story surrounding Himmler's reaction:
"One of my best comrades parted from life because he loved his wife so dearly that he could not endure her unfaithfulness. My Reichsführer forbade him burial with military honours, and after his death erased his name from the SS with insult and shame. And yet he himself tried to skip through the cordon, dressed as a character in a bad detective story. And when he was caught, he swallowed Zyankali instead of accepting responsibility before the victor's court and saving from the gallows a hundred poor devils who had done nothing but carry out their duty".[1]
Perhaps the real crime committed by the many who fought so bravely under the banner of the Waffen-SS was not what they actually may or may not have done, but what they represented. They had been born out of system that in all sense and deed was completely and utterly repellent and evil in conception, namely, National Socialism:
"The central tragedy of the Waffen-SS was that good soldiers were prepared to fight so hard, cause such destruction and suffering, and sacrifice themselves so readily, simply in order to further a psychopath's vision of a world enslaved to his will".[2]
The Waffen-SS were in the end betrayed by both Hitler and Himmler, the two men to whom they were inextricably bound by history. The Nazi leadership were a far cry from the likes of "Sepp" Dietrich, who, despite his faults, had remained honest and true to his promise of Honour and Loyalty. Dietrich, like many of the other high-ranking Waffen-SS officers, never for one instant considered the thought of forsaking his men. The cowardly actions of both Hitler and Himmler proved in the end that they were not worthy of men like Dietrich, Steiner, Hausser, Keppler, Gille, or Bittrich, men who in the end had shed their blood for nothing. Had these men, and all the other soldiers of the Waffen-SS, been fighting for a more noble cause, then perhaps they might have gone down in history as members of one of the greatest ever military formations.
Notes
« back | references »
