MovieChat Forums > Der unbekannte Soldat (2007) Discussion > The Movie Blows the Lid off the Old Lie ...

The Movie Blows the Lid off the Old Lie About Honorable Wehrmacht in WW


We were always told that while the SS, Nazis and Gsstapo were the bad, guys, the old fashioned regular army was some bastion of chivalry and honor. While for sure lots of officers, especially the old line Prussians, avoided participating in and even complained to Hitler himself about various war crimes, the Wehrmacht had barrels of blood on their hands, First off their successes enabled the Nazi's evil schemes, Second, the way they treated even the non Jewish civilians in Eastern Europe especially , was totally ruthless. Also, millions of Red POWs died in captivity, in the most horrid conditions, while in the custody of the Army. Most regular soldiers shared the Nazis hatred of the Jews & other inferiors, and simply didn't see them as humans like them.

One fat younger German nationalist in the film complained that the title of the exposition, "War of Annihilation" suggested that the German Army was there to annihilate even the Russian civilians, Well, that is not a suggestion, but a fact! The soldiers were inculcated that the lives of the people there had no value, and you could kill, rob, rape and steal with impunity.

What are they doing? Why do they come here?
Some kind of instinct, memory, what they used to do.

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