Steiner, Sergeant (fictional character): on fear, 138-40, 143
stress: and alcohol use, 73; under artillery attack, 62-63, 73; of combat, 53-54, 61-62, 69; coping with, 70; psychological impact, 87-89, 137-40; thoughts of suicide, 87. See also fear; psychological conditions
suicide: driven to, by cold, 112-13; thoughts of, 87
Thadden-Trieglaff, Leopold von: combat, 36, 40-41; sensations, 151
Thomas, Wilclass="underline" comradeship, 169; ideology, 192; natural forces, 130; sensations, 138
Timm, Georg: training, 26
Tolstoy, Leo (novelist): on everyday history, 3
training: attitude to, 12; casualties during, 22-23, 28-29; challenge of, 11; comparison with Allied armies, 235; and comradeship, 18-19, 25; drill instructors, 16, 18; exhaustion during, 11, 19, 21; of front line troops, 19; harassment in, 25-29; and Hitler Youth, 14; hunger during, 17; and Labor Service, 14-15; methods of, 16-17, 19-24; purpose of, 12-13, 18-20, 24-25; rigors of, 16-24, 29; strain of separation, 11, 13, 29-30
Trautwein, Fritz: natural forces, 127
U.S. Army: comparison with Wehrmacht, 12, 22-25; G.I. compared to Landser, 235, 239; G.I. and ideology, 236-37
U.S.S.R. See Russia
van Creveld, Martin (historian): comradeship in Wehrmacht, 157, 159; training as reason for German superiority, 24-25
Vethake, Helmut: comradeship, 164, 174-75, 182; natural forces, 134; strain, 99
Vilter, Hans-Rudolf: strain, 95
Vogeler, Kurt: combat, 52; everyday war, 3
Vogt, Karclass="underline" bitter truth, 233-34
Volksgemeinschaft (national community): and Hitler, 160; and attraction of National Socialism, 206-7; benefits of, 209-10; and comradeship, 182-84; concept of, 159, 161-63, 206-10; and discipline, 90, 240; and egalitarianism, 209; importance of, 160-62, 218, 236; as motivation for Landsers, 211-15, 217; and “trench socialism,” 208; use by Wehrmacht, 209; and World War I, 207. See also ideology; Landsers; motivation; National Socialism
Vowinckel, Hans August: ideology, 211; sensations, 149
Wagner, Helmut: combat, 62; natural forces, 107
war experience: lessons of, 233; as model for civilian life, 182-84; and notion of luck, 226-27; positive aspects of, 148, 233-34; and postwar disillusionment, 220-26, 230-31; question of guilt, 225-26; reflections on, 5-6, 135, 155, 193-94, 219-20, 232; resentment at lost years, 219, 228-30; universal aspects of, 234-35
war literature: 231
Wavell, Field Marshal Archibald: on everyday history, 3
Weber, Walther: combat, 37; natural forces, 118, 127, 130
Wehrmacht: atrocities of, 59; comradeship and fighting efficiency, 159; comparison with Allied armies, 235-37, 239-40; discipline in, 89-90; emphasis on comradeship, 157-59, 164; ideological indoctrination in, 199-201; policy toward atrocities, 54, 97, 199; replacements policy, 157-58; and Volksgemeinschaft, 209
Weizsäcker, Richard von (former president, Federal Republic of Germany): on National Socialism, 226
Wendebourg, Eberhard: comradeship, 183; ideology, 212; sensations, 137, 148
Wenzl, Walter: strain, 102
Wessel, Alfred: training, 12
Wette, Wolfram (historian): on everyday history, 3
Wilms, Klaus: sensations, 136
Witt, Heinrich: natural forces, 106
Witzemann, Hermann: ideology, 211
Woltersdorf, Hans Werner: bitter truth, 235; combat, 43-44, 48, 63-64; comradeship, 158, 164, 181; ideology, 195, 217; lost years, 222-23; natural forces, 116, 118, 120; sensations, 142; training, 19-20, 25, 28-29
working class: support for National Socialism, 203, 210
World War I: comparisons with, 154; and “new man,” 188-90, 194; and Volksgemeinschaft, 207-8
Zweig, Stefan (novelist): on World War I, 207
Copyright
Publication of this volume was made possible in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Copyright © 1995 by The University Press of Kentucky
Paperback edition 1997
The University Press of Kentucky
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10 09 08 07 06 05 04 10 9 8 7 6 5
Assorted excerpts from The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer, copyright © 1967 Editions Robert Laffont. English translation copyright © 1971 by Harper & Row Publishers, Inc. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.
Assorted excerpts from Jahrgang 1916 by Friedrich Grupe, copyright © Universitas in der F.A. Herbig Verlagsbuchhandlung GmbH, Munich.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Fritz, Stephen G., 1949-
Frontsoldaten : the German soldier in World War II / Stephen G. Fritz
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8131-1920-0 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Germany. Heer—History—World War, 1939–1945. 2. German. Heer—Military life. 3. Soldiers—Germany—History—20th century. I. Title.
D757.1.F75 1995
940.54′1343—dc20 95-13091
ISBN 0-8131-0943-4 (pbk. : alk. paper)
This book is printed on acid-free recycled paper meeting the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence in Paper for Printed Library Materials.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
Member of the Association of American University Presses