Barbarossa Dbq

The era of WW2 was un-doubtfully a horrific era in which regimes were created to achieve the perfect ideology of their respective leaders. Arguably the most terrifying regime during this era was Hitler, and his Nazi regime. With Hitler's goal to spread Nazism and anti-Semitism, great measures were taken in attempts to achieve this. There has been much debate on whether the Wehrmacht, particularly on the Eastern front, came out of the war with "clean hands" and were "just following orders", not having knowledge on Hitler and the Nazi's true intentions, or if they actually had full knowledge of what was happening politically in Germany and had full responsibility of their actions of the Eastern front. One would believe that the Wehrmacht did,

However, it is clear that extreme brutality was expected of German troops on the Eastern front. The Barbarossa Decree outlines the jurisdiction of the Wehrmacht troops and how they were expected to attack and defend themselves from any threat that presents itself, without mercy (Document 3). Historians have examined the violent tendencies of the German troops on the Eastern front. Truman Anderson and Arnold both have made note on how reliant German soldiers were on terror and fear and how they victimized Ukraine's Russian and Jewish minorities over Ukraine's majority population . This can be supported by the Directives on Behaviour towards the Ukrainian Population, which states that Ukraine is full of Germanic blood and that certain exceptions can be made; with the overall goal to be gentle with the majority of the Ukrainian population. The directives also state that places of worship were to be prevented from becoming places of pilgrimage (Document 8). The atrocities that the German soldiers would commit because of these orders was the reason why there was so many casualties on the Eastern front. As previously stated, fear was an emotion that the German soldiers wanted to instill on its enemies. A conversation that the British intelligence overheard between Lieutenant General Georg Neuffer and Colonel Hans Reimann in August 1944, provides insight to how

One could argue that individuals in the OVW and OVH were scared of Hitler and the punishment that could come from them disobeying an order. However, some generals did in fact go against Hitler's orders. The Memoirs of General Heinz Guderian provide great insight into his thoughts on Hitler and Nazism. He goes on to say that he was unsure of Hitler in leading Germany and that he even would not let certain orders reach his Panzer group. He was also aware of Himmler's rising presence in Germany and his dangerous views that the SS supported and followed (Document 1). This shows that even with Hitler's influence, certain generals would still stand up for what they believe was right. General Heinz Guderian was never charged for his war crimes because of his lack of support for Hitler's ideologies compared to other generals. While this may be a good source for supporting the "clean hands" myth, the fact still stands that most generals would follow what Hitler ordered and would lose their own identity. The influence of Nazism on German soldiers is where major debate takes place on the "clean hands" myth. Some look at Nazi soldiers as being brainwashed by Hitler and the Nazi's and that they truly believed that what they were