Stephen Fritz - Frontsoldaten

courage: meaning of, 71, 103. See also heroism

cowardice: battlefield panic, 70; consequences of, 97; fear of reaction to combat, 136

Dahlke, Emil: lost years, 228

death: acceptance of, 99, 145; arbitrary nature of, 144-45; and burial services, 177-78; of comrade, 175-78; fear of, 62, 68, 71, 87, 142-44; as a natural phenomenon, 143-44; premonition of, 139, 143; reaction to, 34-35, 47-48, 51, 142-44; reflections on, 176-77; smell of, 34, 152-53; in training, 22-23, 28-29. See also combat

desertion: death for, 91, 93-94, 96

Dettmann, Günter: training, 28

Diemke, Fritz-Erich: training, 24, 26

discipline: and field police, 91-94; at front lines, 95, 97; German military tradition of, 89-90; harshness of, 91-97, 239-40, 251-52 n 44, 252 n 49; Hitler’s views on, 90; in last months of war, 93-95; and loss of weapons, 92; during retreat, 91. See also executions; punishment

Döring, Ewald: lost years, 229

Döring, Wolfgang: combat, 33; comradeship, 164; ideology, 211; natural forces, 134; sensations, 138, 146-47

Dwenger, Alois: everyday war, 2; natural forces, 128; sensations, 154

Dwinger, Erich (war correspondent): on stoicism of Russian wounded, 204-5

Ehlers, Franz: training, 27

Eisfeld, Johann: training, 25

Eksteins, Modris (historian): on National Socialism, 218

Elert, Rembrand: combat, 37; comradeship, 174; natural forces, 107-8, 120

everyday history, 5-10

executions: of civilians, 51, 57; of German soldiers, 91, 93-97, 251-52 n 44, 252 n 49; of Jews, 58-59; of partisans, 50-51, 56; of prisoners, 53, 55, 57. See also discipline; punishment

exhaustion: breakdown from, 121-22; effect of, 53-54, 119-21; impact on combat readiness, 121; marching and, 119-20; during training, 11, 19, 21; use of stimulants, 19, 120

fatalism, 98-103

fatigue. See exhaustion

fear: and anticipation of combat, 32-34, 136, 140; antidotes to, 63; of artillery fire, 62-63; of being wounded, 141-42; in combat, 30, 39-40, 46, 135-41, 146; conquest of, 148-49; of cowardice, 136; of death, 62, 68, 71, 87, 142-44; of night, 141, 258 n l5; of punishment, 90-95; psychological impact of, 87-89, 137-40; and thoughts of home, 140-41. See also cowardice; psychological conditions; stress

field police: fear of, 92-93, 95

Fliegauf, Harald: sensations, 138

food: complaints about, 116; difficulty of eating in cold, 114; lack of, 114-17; scavenging for, 115; thoughts of cannibalism, 116, 254 n 25

Fox, Robin (historian): on war, 3, 10

foxholes: reflections on, 131-32; variety of, 132

Freytag, Egon: ideology, 200

front lines: attitude toward, 77, 99; nature of, 77, 99, 166-67, 180, 193-94; hostility to rear, 178-82; tug of, 178-79

Fuchs, Karl: comradeship, 157, 182-83; ideology, 190, 196, 203, 205, 211, 214; sensations, 136; strain, 79; training, 14, 16, 19

Fussell, Paul (historian): on harassment during training, 25; on ideological vacuum of Allied soldiers, 236-37

Gädeke, Friedrich: natural forces, 126

Gädtke, Albert: training, 27

Georgii, Dieter: combat, 62

Gerlach, Heinrich: lost years, 231

Goebbels, Joseph: on Landsers’ support for Hitler, 241-42

Goes, Reinhard: comradeship, 179; ideology, 190, 217; sensations, 148

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang: quoted, 155

Great Britain: soldiers, German view of, 61

Grebe, Karl: strain, 95

Gruner, Gottfried: comradeship, 181; strain, 99, 101

Grupe, Friedrich: combat, 32, 35, 38, 48-49, 57-58; comradeship, 158, 161-64, 170, 183-84; ideology, 195, 201, 212, 215-17; lost years, 223-24, 226; natural forces, 105, 133; sensations, 136, 140-43, 151-52; strain, 72-73, 75, 79, 81, 84; training, 14-15, 18

Guderian, General Heinz: on cold weather, 117; and National Socialism, 199

Guttenberg, Meinhart Freiherr von: combat, 33, 36; sensations, 138

Haag, Friedrich Reinhold: ideology, 191-92; sensations, 153

Halbey, Rudolf: combat, 33; sensations, 147, 151; training, 13

Hansmann, Claus: combat, 39, 42, 50, 65-67, 175, 184-85; everyday war, 2, 4-5; lost years, 226-27; natural forces, 108, 111, 114-15, 119, 123, 132-33; sensations, 136, 144; strain, 70, 77-78, 88

Happich, Walther: natural forces, 106; sensations, 136, 151-52

Harenberg, Fritz: combat, 58; training, 26

Harnack, Helmut von: combat, 60; comradeship, 173, 178

Hausmann, Manfred (poet): on comradeship, 179-80

Heck, Alfons: lost years, 220, 225-26; training, 14

Heidtmann, Wilhelm: strain, 102

Heinrich, Willi (novelist): on comradeship, 156-57, 165; on death, 143; on fear, 138-39; on Russian forests, 125; and war literature, 231

Henckell, Konrad Wilhelm: sensations, 145

Henry, Harald: combat, 34, 37; ideology, 193-94; lost years, 228; natural forces, 108, 112, 119-20; sensations, 138, 141, 152-53; strain, 98, 100

heroism: view of, 98-99. See also courage

Heubner, Johannes: sensations, 153

Heupel, Wilhelm: natural forces, 127-28

Hickmann, Heinz: combat, 61

Hitler, Adolf: discipline, views on, 90; importance of comradeship, 158; Landsers’ loyalty to, 196-97, 200-201, 210, 215-16, 241-42; and Russian war, 199; and “trench socialism,” 208; and Volksgemeinschaft, 160, 207, 209-11

Hitler Youth (Hitlerjugend): and comradeship, 14, 160-61; effectiveness at indoctrination, 163; and Volksgemeinschaft, 161

Hocke, Franz Rainer: sensations, 145; strain, 83

Hoffmann, Rolf: strain, 102

Hofmannsthal, Hugo von (playwright): on Volksgemeinschaft, 208

Hohenstein, Adolf: combat, 61

Holmes, Richard (historian): on comradeship, 173; on sight of dead, 142; on training, 13, 18-19

home front: aerial bombardment of, 84-86; fear for, 85-86; Feldpostbriefe and civilian morale, 86; morale sustained by Landsers, 183

Hörbach, Michael (novelist): on resentment at lost years, 229-31

Huber, Willi: strain, 100

Huebner, Johannes: combat, 52

humor: as means of coping, 73-75; ridiculing authority, 74-75

hunger. See food

ideology: as cause of atrocities, 54-55, 57, 97, 199; comparison of Landsers with Allied soldiers, 236; and Ernst Jünger, 193-94, 259 n 32; impact of, 9-10, 60, 205-6, 237-39; indoctrination in Wehrmacht, 199-201, 206; as motivation, 195, 200-202, 211-13, 215; notion of “Jewish-Bolshevik” conspiracy, 195-99, 265 n 24; postwar beliefs, 217; reinforced by experiences in Russia, 203-5; sacrifice as theme, 100, 190, 214-15; and Volksgemeinschaft, 159, 163, 206-7; World War I and “new man,” 188-90, 194. See also Landsers; motivation; National Socialism; Volksgemeinschaft

induction center: examinations at, 12

Italy: mud in, 107

Jews: atrocities against, 58-59, 198; racial hostility toward, 195-200

Jung, Matthias: combat, 58

Jünger, Ernst (author): ideology, 188-90, 193-94; sensations, 148

Jünger, Ernst (son): natural forces, 118

Karstens, Werner: training, 26, 28

Kaysel, Paul: comradeship, 183

Keegan, John (historian): on everyday history, 3

Keitel, Field Marshal Wilhelm: on Landsers’ support for National Socialism, 242; racist and ideological directives, 54

Kilian, Ernst-Peter: lost years, 227

Kinzelbach, Theodor: natural forces, 118, 127

Kirst, Hans Hellmut (novelist): and war literature, 231

Kleist, Ernst: combat, 33, 36; natural forces, 107, 120

Kluge, Wolfgang: ideology, 194; natural forces, 124; sensations, 153

Knappe, Siegfried: combat, 32, 34-35, 63-64; lost years, 224-25, 227; natural forces, 106, 108, 110, 113, 117, 119, 125; sensations, 142, 145, 150, 152-53; strain, 98-99; training, 11, 15-16, 19, 24, 27

Knickrehm, Gustav: training, 24

Kniepkamp, Helmut: comradeship, 181-82