Two books by WW II German officers that are well worth the read:
1) A German General on the Eastern Front: The Letters and Diaries of Gotthard Heinrici 1941-1942
Gritty, gruesome and the best thing I’ve read about realities of infantry (poor bloody) corps command–and terribly, in that sense, revealing of German attitudes plus the realities of Wehrmacht strengths and weaknesses. As well as the Red Army’s. Heinrici effectively confirms that Hitler was right to order the army to hold fast in face of the Soviet counter-offensive in front of Moscow in December 1941, frightful though the cost was.
2) At the Heart of the Reich: The Secret Diary of Hitler’s Army Adjutant
Major Engel was the liaison between the army high command (OKH) with Hitler (OKW, the nominal overall command of the armed forces, had its own adjutant with Hitler; see here for an outline of the confusing relationship between OKH and OKW). He was effectively the spy of general staff officers and recognized as such by Hitler. Nonetheless he had remarkable access to the Führer who seems to have trusted him to a considerable extent and certainly was very frank with him. The picture that Major Engel portrays of Hitler and of certain events (notably the decision to adopt the Manstein plan that led to the successful invasion of France in 1940) is illuminating.
One thing, well known but made especially clear here, is the Führer’s profound distrust–indeed contempt for–most general staff officers, forced though he was to rely on them for their technical expertise. He thought most of them timid, unimaginative and (quite correctly) by no means loyal to his regime. One is amazed that Major Engel, a staff officer, stayed in his position for long.
Another striking thing, again well known, in the extent to which Hitler compartmentalized his contacts with senior leaders of the military, SS, government and party–and thus their knowledge of affairs [oddly enough FDR, unlike Churchill, governed in a somewhat similar fashion].
Hitler was profoundly evil. Yet as this book makes clear he was very intelligent, very knowledgeable in many ways, and very, very capable. Evil should never be under-estimated. Read something about it.
Mark Collins, a prolific Ottawa blogger, is a Fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute; he tweets @Mark3Ds
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