Stephen Fritz - Frontsoldaten

Roemer, Siegfried: comradeship, 168, 174; ideology, 192, 194; sensations, 135, 138

Rubino, Wilhelm: ideology, 215-16; strain, 99

rumors, 81-82

Russia (U.S.S.R.): atrocities in, 50-59, 198; beauty of nature in, 129-31; description of peasants, 128-29; dust in, 108; fear of winter, 109; and German racism, 54-57, 60, 204-5; German view of soldiers, 60-61, 204-5; impenetrable forests in, 125-26; insects in, 118-19; low standard of life in, 202-4; mud in, 106-7; vastness and wilderness of, 123-25; wet season ( rasputitsa ), 105-7; winter in, 110-13; women in, 77-78

Sachs, Heinrich: ideology, 198

Sajer, Guy: bitter truth, 234-35; combat, 30, 35-36, 42, 46-48, 52-56, 62, 68; comradeship, 164-65, 168-73, 175-77, 184-86; everyday war, 1, 5-6; ideology, 202, 206, 214-15; natural forces, 110-13, 115-18, 121-23, 125, 130, 132; sensations, 135-36, 139-41, 143, 146-47, 149, 151, 153, 155; strain, 69-73, 77-79, 82-83, 87-89, 91-93, 98, 103; training, 11, 16-18, 20-24, 29

Schauer, Ernst Friedrich: comradeship, 177-78

Scheven, Günter von: combat, 49; everyday war, 1; ideology, 212-13; sensations, 135, 137, 142, 144, 150-51; strain, 101, 108, 111-12, 123-24, 130, 134

Schmidt, Klaus-Degenhard: ideology, 213-14

Schmitz, Hans: natural forces, 126-27

Schröder, Willy: lost years, 232

Schröter, Wolfdietrich: sensations, 147

Schroth, Rolf: comradeship, 165-66; sensations, 148

Schücking, Prosper: natural forces, 116, 118, 131; sensations, 145; strain, 73, 84

Seitz, Horstmar: ideology, 189, 192-93; natural forces, 134; sensations, 137, 147; strain, 101

Selle, Herbert: combat, 58-59

sexuality: fantasies, 78; as physical release, 78; Wehrmacht fraternization policy, 77. See also love

Sienkiewicz, Henryk (novelist): on nature of Russian steppes, 123

Sledge, E.B. (historian): on nature of war, 241

smell: of battlefield, 34, 152-53, 156, 193; of death, 153

Spaleck, Wilhelm: strain, 103

Stäcker, Hans-Friedrich: combat, 34; ideology, 194; sensations, 142, 148

Stählin, Hans Martin: comradeship, 177

Stalingrad: combat, 37, 44-45; comradeship, 169; ideology, 200, 214; natural forces, 118, 131; sensations, 137, 151; strain, 68, 76, 80, 87-89, 100

Stehmann, Siegbert: combat, 68; comradeship, 175; ideology, 194, 211; natural forces, 119, 124, 126; sensations, 153; strain, 100-102

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, Will: 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, Karl: 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

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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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.