Why did the German Military fight so hard in a losing cause?

Soldiers of 12th SS Division "Hitler Youth"

After Receiving Awards for Bravery

Image: Public Domain

Many of the German soldiers Framingham men encountered in 1944 and 1945 were young --16,17,18 and 19 years old.Some of them belonged to fanatical Waffen SS units like the notorious 1st SS "Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler" Panzer Division​,the 12th SS Panzer Division "Hitlerjugend" ("Hitler Youth") and the 2nd SS Panzer Division "Das Reich." All of these units have a history of documented atrocities and war crimes.

A Young SS trooper

Image: rarehistoricalphotos.com

As the Allies approached Germany,resistance stiffened even while the Allied strategic bombing campaign was pulverizing German cities and the Red Army steamroller crashed in from the east.Battles in the Hurtgen Forest,the city of Aachen,along the West Wall/Siegfried Line and in the Bulge/Ardennes were brutal and unforgiving.In spite of facing an adversary (the Allies) that was well provisioned with modern equipment and ample supplies,had control of the air and the sea lines of communication,and was becoming increasingly adept at coalition (with allies) warfare,the Germans fought on.

The question remains -- Why did the Germans fight so hard in a losing cause? In order to fully comprehend this historical reality,it is important to explore the upbringing of these soldiers,most who came of age in a highly structured, omnipresent,dictatorial regime.So,what was the underlying National Socialist Workers Party (NSDAP, "Nazi") strategy for the development and sustainment of the "Thousand Year Reich?"Let's take a look.

Many have some understanding of the German grand strategy and its seemingly disparate components.Few appreciate the totality of the effort and its impact on Germany's citizens -- both young and old.The central theme of the strategy was the creation of a "national community," or Volksgemeinschaft,with a new Fuhrer who was pivotal to its rapid growth and long term health.The Third Reich’s primary objectives were to establish and normalize the Führerpinzip (the “Leader Principle"),expand the “racially superior” Volksgemeinschaft (the “People’s Community”), and create Lebensraum (“Living Space”) for this “exceptional” community to grow and flourish.

The Fuhrer reviewing Hitler Youth at a Party Rally

Image: Heinrich Hoffmann/Ullstein bild

The Führerpinzip required Germans to accept that Hitler had all of the solutions to Germany’s problems.His proclamations and decisions were to be considered correct and to be fully executed by all elements of German society.Those challenging these new norms were considered to be betraying Hitler and, therefore,Germany.

Soldiers Swearing Allegiance to Hitler-not the German Constitution

Image: Süddeutsche Zeitung

"The Fuhrer Oath"

"I swear by God this holy oath,that I will render

to Adolf Hitler,Fuhrer of the German Reich and People,

Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces,unconditional obedience,and that I am ready,as a brave soldier,to risk my life at any time for this oath."

Source: The US Holocaust Memorial Museum

**Of note: Civil Servants were also required to take a similar oath.**

The Volksgemeinschaft was a racially and culturally superior community in which the interests of individuals would be strictly subordinate to those of the nation,or Volk.This entity was the benchmark from which all truth and morality was measured.Its creation required the purification and expansion of the race as well as total separation from Jews,who were believed to pollute and undermine Germany’s well-being.

The main entrance to the Auschwitz Camp complex

"Work Makes You Free"

Image: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

The concept of Lebensraum, or “living space,”served as a critical component in the Nazi world view.It drove both its military strategy and racial policy.This space,secured and dominated by the racially superior Volk,would require the displacement of people considered inferior (such as Slavs and Jews).This racial and cultural territory was considered to be the “East.”

The 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa)

Image: Imperial War Museum

Only under National Socialism could Germans unify under “Ein Reich, ein Volk, ein Führer” (“One empire, one people,one leader”) and proceed with the task of combating its enemies: Socialists, Bolsheviks, Jews, and those “defeatists” who had “stabbed the German Army in the back” during World War I.

Image: Carl Werner, Reichenbach i.V.

Joseph Goebbels, Minister of Public Enlightenment & Propaganda

Image: Bengt von zur Muehlen/Yad Vashem Photo Archive

Joseph Goebbels was the driving force behind the sophisticated propaganda program that cascaded from Germany's strategic objectives.Goebbels used all the weapons in his arsenal to develop the "Cult of Hitler," boost morale,shape public opinion and behavior and fully indoctrinate Germany’s youth.

"The Nazi Party tried to extend its influence over all aspects of German society.The Hitler Youth and the League of German Girls were developed as Nazi Party youth groups to introduce children and juveniles to Nazi ideology and policy.These youth groups also prepared Germany’s young people for war."

Source: The US Holocaust Memorial Museum (https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/hitler-youth-2)

Hitler Youth at a 1935 Party Rally
Image: US Holocaust Memorial Museum/Wide World Photo

To be effective, propaganda must be simple,emotional and repeatable – characteristics that Hitler and Goebbels clearly understood.Equally important was to ensure the regime’s messaging was contained in media that also provided German citizens with distractions from the worries and concerns of daily life.Continuous,overly political messaging can lead to wide-spread apathy;entertaining and relaxing programs can mitigate that concern.For example,the Volksempfänger (“people’s receiver”) was welcomed into German homes precisely because these low cost radios were the medium for good entertainment and welcome distractions.Radio programming included operas,classical concerts,light dance music,games,comedy,and popular arts.

The regime’s integrated approach included centralized control of the arts (painting,sculpture, etc.),educational materials, films (such as The Triumph of the Will and The Eternal Jew), books (e.g. Der Giftpilz-The Poisonous Mushroom),radio,the press (newspapers/tabloids/illustrated magazines such as Der Stürmer,Das Reich,Völkischer Beobachter and Signal),music, theater, political festivals/party rallies,newsreels (like Die Deutsche Wochenschau),traveling museum/art exhibits (such as the Degenerate Art Exhibit),and picture posters.Here,Hitler, Goebbels and the Nazi elite were able to cleverly manipulate the fears and weaknesses of each impacted societal group with adeptly targeted and precise,effective messaging.

Propaganda Poster for the Volksempfänger radio Image: Bundesarchiv Koblenz

Der Sturmer newspaper

Image: Public Domain

"You are the Front" 1940-41 poster

Image: "Nazi Posters 1933-1945," Calvin University

Pre/early war propaganda focused on the "cult of personality," creation of a united people and a rejuvenated nation.As the war progressed,the propaganda program shifted to support changing national objectives.On February 18, 1943,Joseph Goebbels delivered a speech in the Berlin Sportpalast (Sports Palace) to an audience of 14,000 hand-picked Germans.In this speech,he announced the country’s new “Total War" posture.This was in response to significant battlefield setbacks in North Africa (El Alamein, Operation Torch) and on the Eastern Front (Stalingrad) and the air and civil defense challenges posed by the Allied Strategic Bombing Campaign.This new footing would now include both full economic and military mobilization.Greater participation and personal sacrifices were asked for/demanded from both male and female citizens to achieve victory in this war of attrition against an overwhelming Allied coalition.

Prior to implementing the Third Reich's “world philosophy,” or Weltanschauung,the regime had to engineer an aggressive economic recovery and champion and fund bold rearmament and military mobilization programs.Eventually,war was determined to be the answer to territorial conquest and access to the foreign economic resources Germany was so critically lacking.

War Production

Image: Bundesarchiv, Bild

In the final analysis,the combination of extreme nationalism,and anti-Semitism,enabled by Hitler’s charisma and supported by an all-encompassing propaganda program,greatly appealed to a population mired in political upheaval,hyper-inflation,high unemployment,crushing WWI reparations and violence in the streets.It is no surprise,therefore,that some of the ideologically,fully indoctrinated German soldiers of 1944-1945 would consider fighting to the last bullet a sacred honor. Others reconsidered their options as the Red Army approached Berlin and the western Allies crossed the Rhine.

Sources

The Imperial War Museum

The US Holocaust Memorial Museum

The US National WWII Museum

Richard J. Evans,The Third Reich at War, 2009

Robert Gellately,The Oxford Illustrated History of the Third Reich, 2018

Max Hastings,Das Reich,The March of the 2nd SS Panzer Division Through France, June 1944, 2013

Cathal J. Nolan, The Allure of Battle, 2017

Richard Overy,Blood and Ruins,The Last Imperial War,1931-1945, 2021

William J. Shirer,The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany, 1959

Stephenson, Jill,Women in Nazi Germany, 2001

Recommended Videos

https://archive.org/details/TriumphOfTheWillgermanTriumphDesWillens

(The Triumph of the Will)

https://youtu.be/_NsAkHtfieE (Die Deutsche Wochenschau)

https://youtu.be/uu_xiIiKD1s (Party Rally)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRmHOSnehTk (Goebbels: Do You Want Total War?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6W9jW2uBMAs (1937 Degenerate Art Exhibit)

Educational Film: National Socialism – Youth (HJ and BDM)(The Hitler Youth and League of German Women)

A Little Piece of Framingham on Every Flight

During 2024,an abridged version of this post appeared on the Framingham History Center(FHC)Blog page.Given that many Framingham Veterans worked for Dennison prior to their military service,it's worth re-posting my original text here.

During World War I and World War II,Dennison Manufacturing was an important producer of “Essential War-Time Industry Supplies." In the First World War,the company manufactured gas mask repair kits,antiseptic bandages,surgical pads,pneumonia gowns,and identification tags and labels for bombs and ammunition.In WWII,nearly 80% of Dennison’s production was related to war uses or “civilian goods classed as essential.”Tag and label production for bombs remained an important product line.

In an episode of Tom Hanks’TV production,Masters of the Air, one of the in-flight combat scenes depicts a B-17 crew member making his way to the bomb bay to arm the fuses on each bomb. This process consisted of removing metal cotter pins that fit in a hole in every fuse.Many bombs had 2 fuses – nose and tail. These fuse pins were a safety device consisting of the pin and a warning tag.They were put in place to prevent premature arming and explosion of the bomb while attached to the plane and to ensure the bomb was fully activated only after reaching a safe distance from the aircraft.The pin/tags could also be used to disarm the bombs should the mission be recalled.The warning tags were produced by Dennison Manufacturing in Framingham.According to the Army Air Forces Statistical Digest (WWII),from December of 1941 to August of 1945,the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) alone dropped 2,057,224 tons of bombs (world-wide). 

USAAF B-17’s On Bombing Mission

Image: USAF/Public Domain

Inspecting bombs in B-17 bomb bay

Image: Imperial War Museum

Dennison Bomb Tags

Images: Framingham History Center

Inserting safety pins/tags at an airfield in England

Image: Life Magazine (September,1942)

It was very common for crew members to keep these tags as a memento of their missions.They would note the date,target,bomb load and personal mission number before adding the most recent pin/tag to their collection.The following image provides an excellent example of this simple yet deeply personal tradition. 

8th Air Force Bomb Tag Collection of Sgt.Ralph Walder

Image: National Museum of the U.S. Air Force

Dennison played its part during the country’s time of need.The company helped keep our men and women safe,supplied and treated should they be wounded.Yet another fine example of Framingham’s contribution to the war-winning “Arsenal of Democracy.”

Sources

Army Air Force Statistical Digest(WWII),December 1941-August 1945

Framingham History Center

Imperial War Museum

National Museum of the Mighty Eight Air Force

National Museum of the US Air Force

National Archives

Recommended Reading

Readers interested in learning more about the rich history of Dennison Manufacturing are encouraged to explore the Framingham History Center’s Dennison Timeline (https://exhibitions.framinghamhistory.org/dennison-timeline/) and other material related to this important corporation.

Masters of the Air, America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany  Donald L. Miller

Framingham,An American Town Stephen W. Herring

Recommended Video

Suggest watching 9:15 to 17:00

HOW TO LOAD BOMBS ABOARD AIRPLANES ARMY AIR FORCE TRAINING FILM 1941 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYQp0TxsOMg

Framingham Flying for the RAF -- Frederick "Fred" Gibbons

 

 

Frederick J. Gibbons, FHS 1934 

Image: Framingham High 

 

WWII Royal Air Force Pilot Wings 

Image: Imperial War Museum 

Frederick (“Fred”) James Gibbons was born on 23 August 1914. At the time,his parents lived on Dennison Ave in Framingham. Fred graduated from Framingham High in 1934.He was good friends with Norm MacDonald and Dick Neitz,both members of the FHS Class of 1935.Norm would become a “Double Ace” in Spitfires and Mustangs with the US Army Air Force.Dick would fly Spitfires for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF).From 1935 to early 1942,Fred managed his father’s restaurant.Like Norm,he also attended the Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP) in Framingham.They all shared a strong desire to take to the air and eagerly sought new adventures.

In early 1941,Fred applied for and was accepted by the Clayton Knight Committee.The secretive Knight committee provided American recruits for a unique RCAF and Royal Air Force (RAF) program known as the British Commonwealth Air Training Program (BCATP).US CPTP trained pilots,like Fred,were logical recruiting targets.BCATP Training took place in primarily Canadian locations,but also in the US Midwest.The Knight Committee,which was formed in 1939 (following the United Kingdom’s 03 September declaration of war on Germany),was led by American WWI fighter pilot (and successful aviation artist) Clayton Knight,Canadian WWI Ace Billy Bishop and Homer Smith,another Canadian WWI pilot and oil baron who provided financial support.

In 1941,the US was still a neutral nation.It was,therefore,illegal for US citizens to fight for a belligerent nation.Subsequent government-to-government agreements,however,ensured American volunteers did not lose their American citizenship and that they could transfer to the American military in the future should geo-political circumstances deem it necessary.After Pearl Harbour was attacked in December of 1941,American pilots rushed to join their own military services.The Clayton Knight Committee's work was finished.In total,it provided around 3,000 airmen to the RCAF and 300 pilots to the RAF.Some sources,however,credit the committee with moving around 6,000 aviation candidates.Be that as it may,Fred was among the 300 who headed off to England.

 

US WWI Pilot Clayton Knight 

 Image: The Epoch Times 

 

 

WWII Clayton Knight Army Air Force Recruiting Poster 

Image: Invaluable.com 

 

Billy Bishop and Churchill, Summer 1940  

Image: Billy Bishop Museum, Archives and National Historic Site 

In 1941,Fred completed four months of initial aviation training and received a RAF Pilot Officer commission.There is information to suggest this training took place at the Spartan School of Aeronautics in Tulsa,Oklahoma.He soon left for advanced training in England and assimilation into the active RAF.His operational service with the RAF began in the August/September timeframe.He was assigned to the RAF’s Coastal Command,where he flew long range maritime patrol missions. These flights were primarily for maritime reconnaissance and anti-shipping operations.He flew from the British Isles and Iceland.  

 

Image:Public Domain 

On 28 August 1942,the Boston Globe reported Fred to be on a three week leave from Coastal Command.He was in Framingham visiting his parents.A 26 October New York Times article indicated 18 American pilots flying for the RAF were transferred to the US Navy as commissioned officers.Fred was one of these men.His Pay Entry Base Date (PEBD) shows him on the Navy payroll on 12 December 1942.The official Navy Register of Officers dated 01 January 1943 holds him as a Lieutenant Junior Grade (LTjg) with a 1315 designator(Navy Reserve Pilot). 

 

 

 

US Navy WWII Pilot Wings

Image: Public Domain 

Fred’s initial Navy assignment was to VB-125 (Patrol Bombing Squadron 125).At that time,the command flew the PV-1 Ventura aircraft.His unit flew maritime missions from Rhode Island, Newfoundland,Florida,Cuba,and Brazil.  

 

US Navy VPB-125 PV-1, 1943 

Image: Public Domain  

Fred subsequently filled positions in aviation logistics and training.He was promoted to Lieutenant on 01 January 1944.He was released to inactive duty on 30 November 1945.Following the war,he remained in the Navy Reserve,where he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander (LCDR) in 1946.The 1951 Register of Naval Officers holds him as a Reserve LCDR.  

Fred ultimately settled in Groton,MA.He lived there for 30 years.He worked in the packaging industry.He was active in his church and the local country club.Fred passed away on 18 November 2002 in St. Luce,Florida.He was survived by his wife of 59 years (Ann) and three sons. 

 

 Sources

Bomber Command Museum of Canada

The Canadian Encyclopedia (www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca)

The Family of Norm MacDonald

The Family of Dick Neitz

Framingham High School

US National Naval Aviation Museum

National Personnel Records Center (The National Archives)

VB-125 War History (The National Archives)

The article I found most interesting on the Clayton Knight Committee:

"Allies in Complicity:The United States,Canada,and the Clayton Knight Committee’s Clandestine Recruiting of Americans for the Royal Canadian Air Force, 1940-1942" by Rachel Heide in the Journal of the Canadian Historical Association (2004)