MOSCOW, August 15, Viktor Nikolaev. First they declared them heroes, then they changed their minds — there is a big scandal in Germany because of the Defense Ministry's initiative. Members of the NSDAP and SS will not be included in the decree on the traditions of the Bundeswehr after all. However, this is not the first time that problems with the «culture of memory» have arisen in the German army.
Dubious HeroesA month ago, the head of the military department, Boris Pistorius, decided to strengthen the fighting spirit of the Bundeswehr «in view of possible Russian aggression» and change some provisions of the document regulating army rules — including the appearance, name of the barracks and the content of «patriotic lessons». It was especially noted that the current generation «must respectfully remember the names of the Wehrmacht servicemen» who helped create the new armed forces after 1945.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius
«About 40,000 Wehrmacht soldiers and officers distinguished themselves in combat and thus gained the military experience necessary to strengthen the Bundeswehr,» says the instruction sent out by Lieutenant General Kai Rohrschneider, head of the department for operational readiness and support of the armed forces.
The attached list of 24 names includes, for example, the ace pilot Erich Hartmann, who fought at Kursk and was a member of the SS and NSDAP. And also Rear Admiral Erich Topp, «one of the most successful submarine commanders during World War II.» He was also an SS man and a member of the Nazi Party.
German media were outraged: how is this possible in a country where swastikas are banned from being shown in films and portraits of Hitler cannot be placed on book covers? As a result, the representative of the German Ministry of Defense, Arne Kollatz, announced that the list had been withdrawn.
The national flag of the Federal Republic of Germany over the Bundestag building in Berlin
A problematic historyFor Germany, the military legacy of the past has always been a difficult issue. The Bundeswehr was created to be unlike its direct predecessor, Hitler's Wehrmacht. At the same time, the «reformer fathers» of the new armed forces were former officers of the Reich.
In 1950, Ulrich de Maizière, a lieutenant colonel wounded at Kursk and later an officer of the General Staff of the Supreme Command of the Ground Forces, joined the leadership of the initiative group. Major Wolf von Bodissen and Colonel Johann von Kielmansegh were also there. In its first decade, the Bundeswehr was led almost exclusively by veterans of the Reich, including former SS men.
The first decree on the traditions of the Bundeswehr, issued in the 1960s, warned against «excessive nationalism» but mentioned the military achievements of previous generations. And the fact that barracks and other army facilities began to be named after military leaders and «heroes» of the Nazi era did not bother anyone.
Bundeswehr officer
In 1982, another document was adopted, emphasizing that «such an illegal regime as the Third Reich cannot be the basis for traditions.» However, even there the Wehrmacht was interpreted ambiguously: «The armed forces were partly guilty of Nazism, and partly themselves became victims.»
Pilot Werner Mölders, who died in 1941 and shot down Soviet planes in the skies over Spain, was a favorite of Nazi propaganda. And not only: in the FRG, his name was given to a destroyer and a squadron of fighters.
Only in 2005, Defense Minister Peter Struck banned the glorification of Mölders, who fully shared the ideas of Adolf Hitler.
Boys examine a downed fascist fighter. Kursk Bulge
Useless editsThe current decree on traditions was signed in 2018 by Ursula von der Leyen, then head of the military department. The previous version had to be revised due to numerous indications that some military personnel maintained the cult of the Third Reich. Relevant relics were found in the barracks every now and then: uniforms, weapons, tank models, as well as portraits of Hitler's soldiers.
The current version states that for the FRG Armed Forces, the Wehrmacht itself «as an institution is not worthy of memory due to war crimes.» But exceptions are allowed, in particular regarding the organizers of the assassination attempt on the Fuhrer on July 20, 1944.
By the way, the traditions of the National People's Army of the GDR, thousands of whose servicemen ended up in the Bundeswehr after 1990, were also abandoned. Allegedly, the NPA was «the main bearer of the East German dictatorship.»
Berlin residents celebrate the unification of Germany
However, it has not been possible to cope with right-wing radical sentiments in the Bundeswehr. A very telling scandal in 2020, when one company of the elite KSK special forces, the «pride of the German army», was disbanded due to ties to neo-Nazis.
A pernicious exampleMuch in the current document remains fiction. For example, the barracks of the 21st tank brigade in Augustdorf still bear the name of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. The Bundeswehr considers the «desert fox» a hero, despite his close ties to Hitler.
A number of objects are named after Paul von Hindenburg, who appointed Hitler as Chancellor. In Germany, it is customary to hold him responsible for the Nazis' rise to power. However, Ukrainian servicemen are currently trained on Leopard tanks in Munster, at a training ground, and they live in the Hindenburg barracks.
A Ukrainian serviceman in front of a Marder infantry fighting vehicle at a German Bundeswehr training ground in Munster
The initiative to legalize respect for the Wehrmacht, essentially canceling all previous decades, has failed this time. But, as the media notes, this may not be the last case: officials want to give the army an «aggressive spirit.» It is no coincidence that the topic of traditions is heard simultaneously with Pistorius's proposals to bring back compulsory conscription.
The supporters of militarization in Berlin are missing a very important point: the example of the Wehrmacht is disastrous, first and foremost, for Germany itself. There was little glory of victory there, but there was a catastrophic defeat and disgrace.