Good Book Review On Review Of Ben Shepherd’s Book War In The Wild East: The German Army And Soviet Partisans

The epic battle on the Eastern Front during World War II continues to be arguably the greatest conflict that has been ever fought on earth. Examining the official correspondence and documents of three army security divisions that were responsible for the subjugation of the Russian insurgents, Ben Shepherd, in his book the War in the Wild East: The German Army and Soviet Partisans, primarily emphases on the comportment and inspiration of the field officers, who were essentially the pivotal links that ‘converted the ideological, military, and economic imperatives of the Third Reich’s war of extermination into action.’
War in the Wild East: The German Army and Soviet Partisans is a book that is written by Ben Shepherd essentially analyzes the foundation, emergence, and the application of Germany’s anti-partisan policy during World War II in the eastern front. This monograph of Shepherd analyzes the activates of the German security divisions those were assigned to Army Group Center between the periods 1941 and 1943, while the author also complements the works of Omer Bartov, Hannes Heer, as well as Theo Schulte.
In this context, that author makes parallels of his own views with the historians of the then new military who perceive the German army as a microcosm of the entire German society. The author also further explores the drives of men who executed each and every order of Hitler in an attempt to find out the degree of support that the racial plans of Hitler garnered among the middle ranks of the officer corps of Germany.
This book is basically a gist of the author’s studies the Nazi invasion on the Soviet Union during World War II. Shepherd highlights the multifaceted order of the proceedings and notions that resulted in evolution of a “culture of brutality” in the Wehrmacht. The author explains that at almost all levels, the Wehrmacht was systematically instructed and coached in Nazi anti-Bolshevik, anti-Slav, and anti-Semitic ideologyHe also goes on to state that as partisan activity deepened, several officers, most of them hailing from the Western Germany, acted in a highly methodical manner, with hardly any restrictions, and even tried building coalitions with the Russian civic for stanching support for the guerrillas.
Shepherd elucidates in his book that almost all of the officers belonging to the Germany army were highly ferocious in their behavior, and even criminal at times. Most of them used to behave in a brutal manner, while a few of them display a pragmatic approach to things. Yet, in emphasizing the diversity as well as the indefiniteness of the response of Wehrmacht to the threat of the partisans, the author highlights both the unpredictable nature of combat as well as a specifically vicious element of the most violent war that was ever fought on the face of earth.
This book of Ben Shepherd is an extremely significant work that marks the convergence of various relatively contemporary historiographical developments that have had a massive influence upon the general military history as well as the tales of Nazi Germany’s warfare, specifically in the East. The author exhibits his expertise of the exhaustive literature in this particular aspect. This book, as already mentioned, is an extremely well written monograph with all of the author’s arguments and conclusions being based on sound validations. This book appeals well to both experts of history and also to the general readers alike, who have an inclination to know more about the Soviet-German war.
Generally, military historians have displayed a vast amount of interest in the experiences of the common combatant. Omar Bartov and various other experts have dedicated vast amount of their work for examining the drives and activities of an average German soldier, particularly in the east. A study was conducted by Christopher R. Browning in relation to the members of a German reserve police battalion that was positioned on the eastern front. It is the same group of soldiers who were part of the killing of many Polish Jews and this garnered increased attention of the historian towards the contribution and connection of a common solder in the crime filled regime of Adolph Hitler.
Shepherd aides in this tradition by laying increased emphasis on the officers as well as upon the soldiers partially, who were part of the five security divisions that were allotted to the Army Group Center rear area on the eastern part, with specific reference to Wehrmacht's war against the Soviet partisans.
Concentrating specifically upon the 221st Security Division that functioned predominantly Byelorussia that was occupied by Germany, Shepherd elucidates the manner in which soldiers and specifically the field officers fulfilled the Nazi German's, actually Hitler’s war of obliteration and complete destruction.
Shepherd aptly defines the mercilessness and brutality of the German campaign as being highly "preordained" (p. 224) and that of the antipartisan fight of Wehrmacht being more ruthless than everything else. Taking into account Nazi German's institutional historical background, the defiance as well as the predispositions of all of the senior officers belonging the German troops, the genocidal objectives of Hitler, as well as the chronic deficiencies of both resources as well as personnel, it is not at all surprising that almost all of the midlevel officers took on a brutal and ruthless approach in their behavior.
In the same breath, the research conducted by Shepherd also elucidates good amount of information about the Wehrmacht. This was actually an army in which roughly about 11 million Germans were involved during the Second World War, was not a great monolith.
Shepherd successfully identifies substantial amount of variations in the demeanor of the various security divisions of Wehrmacht. While a few of these divisions were heavily brutal always in their behavior, a few other divisions, the 221st in particular, was apparently inclined towards cultivating the general public for at least partially for the whole occupation.
Likewise, officers, both at the regimental as well as those at the battalion levels, frequently acted in an extremely ruthless manner, which is quite often a deliberate act, when compared to those at the division level, and only the 221st might be claimed to be an exception due to the fact that many of its regimental commanders did not display any kind of specific harshness. In addition, officers who were part of the divisional intelligence departments chose to cultivate the ruthless manners of functioning, which was highly favored by many of the operations officers. Shepherd theorizes that the own proclivities as well as the circumstances of the officers and their individual encounters are extremely pivotal in assessing their actions and demeanors.
Shepherd also discovers that the anti-partisan campaign comprised of various phases. Specifically in the year 1941, brutality and ruthlessness was at its peak as the security divisions were involved in the massive and brutal killing of many Soviet Jews as well as various other groups, those who were particularly targeted by the Nazis for total annihilation. The following two and a half years saw a fluctuating mixture of brutality and many endeavors to nurture and promote the native or the aboriginal populace.
According to the author, the motives that actually shaped the kind of behavior displayed by these filed officers and the anti-partisans was more complex when compared to the Nazi ideology at large. The influence that the German society had upon these people, as well as the influence that the party and army had, in union with the arduous yet dissimilar experience of the officers and their environment, made them look at the anti-partisan battle in various ways.
Reactions to the behavior as well as the warfare ranged from massive degree of violence to comparative restrictions; while a few of the officers sought minimal degree of terrorizing, the aboriginal population tried to win over the same.
Soldiers, fortunately or unfortunately, have been much glorified and misunderstood lot. Glory, almost always, comes their way without asking. They are in that line of work, either voluntarily or otherwise; however, finally end up almost always doing their work diligently, methodically and systematically.
Their training, however minimal or extensive, teaches them to obey and almost obey without questioning their superiors. They are very often indoctrinated into philosophies which they believe or do not. But, at the psychological level, they own that philosophy; they own the ideology; they exhibit little preference, feelings, or mind of their own. It is what comes from the chain of command that is the gospel for them - a way of life, a way of soldier’s life.
In this modern world of free thought and liberation, to a common man it might sound ridiculous that such a thing ever happens. However, that is the military truth. What comes from above is the command and it needs to be obeyed, irrespective of whether the soldier likes it or not. They are trained to kill and they believe that they do so to protect. They kill whoever is pointed to them and told that they are violating what the soldier is protecting. There is no room for thought and it does not matter whether it is a Jew, Polish, Japanese, Indian, or a Russian. Anyone who they are told is violating what they deem their God-given duty to protect must be terminated, and they do so with the belief that it is the most benevolent act in their life.
The soldiers are so deeply tuned to receive and execute orders that there exists no room for thought or error in such execution. They are not really worried about how they are spoken of or most often than not, they are not even aware of what the world thinks about them. They are simply trained to kill and they kill.
How a philosopher, an anthropologist, or a historian would view them, classify them, and categorize them is something that they are not aware of and not even bothered of. In the heat of the battle, they must protect and they will, at all costs, including laying down their lives and doing the so called barbaric things. It is in the belief that they are doing that for the good of humanity, for the good of their country, or their nation. It is their belief that they are doing it in the best of interest. No need to think for they are not aware of others’ thoughts and historians, authors come later to look at an act of a soldier and not that of a general. To call the soldiers barbaric, but they forget the fact that all armies across the world are trained to follow and not to think.
In conclusion, Ben H. Shepherd's monograph is extremely well portrayed, and his opinions and inferences are comprehensive. This book surely appeals to authorities in the field of study and also to the general readers who have the interest to study and understand the Soviet-German war, possibly the most brutal war that was ever fought on this Universe.