HUMANITARIANISM IS ITS OWN PENALTY

Condi's Phony History - Sorry, Dr. Rice, postwar Germany was nothing like Iraq. (Daniel Benjamin, Slate, 8/29/03)

In practice, Werwolf amounted to next to nothing. The mayor of Aachen was assassinated on March 25, 1945, on Himmler's orders. This was not a nice thing to do, but it happened before the May 7 Nazi surrender at Reims. It's hardly surprising that Berlin sought to undermine the American occupation before the war was over. And as the U.S. Army's official history, The U.S. Army in the Occupation of Germany 1944-1946, points out, the killing was 'probably the Werwolf's most sensational achievement.'

Indeed, the organization merits but two passing mentions in Occupation of Germany, which dwells far more on how docile the Germans were once the Americans rolled in—and fraternization between former enemies was a bigger problem for the military than confrontation. Although Gen. Eisenhower had been worrying about guerrilla warfare as early as August 1944, little materialized. There was no major campaign of sabotage. There was no destruction of water mains or energy plants worth noting. In fact, the far greater problem for the occupying forces was the misbehavior of desperate displaced persons, who accounted for much of the crime in the American zone.

I've seen and heard accounts of the German Werwolves, trained to resist the occupation, that are more sympathetic to the Administration's account, including a story on NPR yesterday, but frankly I don't care. The lesson I take from this is that, in this limited area, there is a price to pay for not bombing your enemy to the edge of existence, in not decimating his army and in not executing the top officials of his government. In not, that is, making it evident to the meanest intelligence and the most fanatical believer, that he has been beaten. I agree with the Administration in making this trade off, which, among other things, certainly lowered our combat deaths. But now the bill is due and we're going to be paying it for a while.

MORE:
On the history of the Werwolves, see: here and here, but see here. If Biddiscombe can be trusted, it looks like the Werwolves had successes, but mostly in occupied territory before the war was over. After the war, although they tried to continue to resist, they were opposed by the general population and didn't accomplish much. There is some indication that the Werwolves were more successful in the Russian sectors, where the population was much more eager to slow down the occupation and may even have killed a Russian general. Posted by David Cohen at August 31, 2003 11:09 AM