*Plunder: The Last of the War in Europe, 1945*
By Max Hastings, an excellent book, I benefited from every page. One recurring theme is simply how hard the Germans fought on the way down, and how unusual that behavior was. Here is one interesting passage of many: In World War I, 150 German soldiers were sentenced to death for serious crimes, of which a […] The post *Plunder: The Last of the War in Europe, 1945* appeared first on Marginal…
In Max Hastings' book, Plunder: The Last of the War in Europe, 1945, one striking observation is the extraordinary ferocity of the German forces during their retreat. This stands in stark contrast to the comparatively lenient treatment meted out to soldiers from other nations after World War II.
In World War I, only 48 of the 150 German soldiers convicted of serious offenses were executed. However, during the Second World War, an alarming 2/3 of the 30,000 death sentences handed down by military courts were carried out. Moreover, there were numerous executions that transpired without any judicial proceedings whatsoever.
To put this into perspective, the British executed just 40 men, the French 103, and the Americans 146, all of whom had committed capital crimes according to civil law. The Allied soldiers who were executed were primarily those who had shown dereliction of duty. In stark contrast, the Japanese executed 22,253 of their own soldiers, and the Russians are estimated to have executed anywhere from 150,000 to 300,000 of their own men.
This disparity in military justice highlights the extraordinary tenacity of the German military during their final push and underscores the thematic consistency of Hastings' work. It serves as a reminder that you can never read too many books about WWII, each offering unique insights and perspectives on this pivotal global conflict.
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