thedrifter
02-05-05, 08:39 AM
02-02-2005
Two Different Reconstruction Stories
By Ralf W. Zimmermann
Whenever I hear certain officials compare the post-World War II occupation of Germany with the current Iraq situation, I shudder. Some of these folks have a historic perspective no deeper than last week’s people magazine. They truly embrace Stephen Ambrose’s simplistic version of that war – glorious fighting brotherhoods, well-fed German prisoners and grateful Fraueleins.
Grasping reality often helps when dealing with new situations. As the U.S. military continues efforts to launch a free and democratic Iraq in the face of the Sunni-Jihadist insurgency, avoiding false comparisons with the past is one important, positive step to take.
Understanding the other side requires more than your personal script. Knowing the foreign language and the culture are important keys to unlocking the truth. My father, a former German soldier, often reminds me that the story of defeat, the occupation and rebuilding wasn’t a glorious one for many eyewitnesses. Resurrecting a totally devastated Germany combined the good, the bad and often the very ugly, before a better country finally arose from the ashes.
In the beginning, post-conflict German-American encounters weren’t very friendly, especially for soldiers. Once, my father, a young Panzer trooper, was surrounded by at least twenty American and beaten senseless – until the drunken GI’s realized that his black Panzer outfit wasn’t an SS uniform.
Put through numerous frustrating de-nazification quizzes, my father decided to escape. This landed him in the Wuerzburg prison, where he spent a few days in a cell with a Luftwaffe lieutenant. Both prisoners shared the wounded Lieutenant’s boot as a latrine. To keep the dangerous Nazis escapees on their feet and to induce a more rapid information exchange, the Americans staged several mock executions.
Several weeks later, my dad escaped from another prisoner transport. This time, he made it home. By the grace of God, his father’s house was still standing. The small town was happy for the liberation but soon discovered the cost – the conquering troops had ransacked buildings and looted most valuables. In several basements, the occupiers had used the fruit preserve glasses as makeshift toilets.
While in hiding, my father even observed some troops throw food into the street for the hungry children. Just before a kid could grab the mess hall scraps, a soldier would kick them into the dirt. Angry, my father was ready to join the Wehrwolf resistance.
Making contact, my father soon experienced that the resistance consisted mainly of hardcore Nazi crackpots and Hitler Youths without combat experience, while most former German soldiers had enough of fighting overwhelming odds. Thankfully, grandfather Zimmermann also convinced his son that the Russians were worse, and that being alive was what really counted.
My grandfather sensed that the Americans would change. From World War I experiences, he knew that most were decent, god-fearing and pragmatic people and that their confronting of Russian ambitions would help German survival in an indirect way. My father’s resistance idea quickly died.
Germany gradually improved. Fresh American replacement units arrived – and attitudes changed. My father landed a job in a military kitchen and later as a translator with the constabularies in Heidelberg. A year later, the newly formed industrial police units and labor service outfits offered displaced persons and former German troops an employment opportunity and purpose. When the Russians decided to blockade Berlin, these units provided essential manpower for the loading of allied transports.
Ultimately, the Russian threat saved Germany much of the victor’s wrath. It was that reality which turned Americans and Germans into reluctant allies. America realized that 60 million former Nazis could be useful human barrier against a possible Russian invasion. Voila – George Patton had been proven right again!
By the time I was born, Germany had joined NATO with a new Army – the Bundeswehr. The Americans provided the equipment, while the Bundeswehr trained and organized on proven military concepts. Although my father spent a short time in the new German Army, he decided to work for the Americans again. He now preferred their principles of free spirit and creative individualism. That work relationship lasted for over 40 years.
As you see, Germany wasn’t even close to the Iraq situation. The Germans were tired of war because they had fought against the entire world for over five years and lost. Germany was solidly occupied by four major powers and surrounded by former enemies – it couldn’t budge. Germany didn’t have many hostile factions that hated each other and who competed for power. Since Germany’s soldiers were tired of fighting and totally disarmed, a resistance never fully developed. Most importantly, while acts of kindness were essential to German recovery, it was the external Russian threat that forced the Marshall Plan into existence, speeding the building of bridges between reluctant allies.
DefenseWatch Senior Military Correspondent Lt. Col. Ralf W. Zimmermann, USA (Ret.) is the son of a German World War II Panzer commander and himself a decorated Desert Storm veteran and former tank battalion commander. His recent novel, “Brotherhood of Iron,” deals with the German soldier in World War II. It is directly available from www.iUniverse.com and through most major book dealers. Zimm can be reached at r6zimm@earthlink.net or via his website at www.home.earthlink.net/~r6zimm. © 2005 LandserUSA. Please send Feedback responses to dwfeedback@yahoo.com.
Ellie
Two Different Reconstruction Stories
By Ralf W. Zimmermann
Whenever I hear certain officials compare the post-World War II occupation of Germany with the current Iraq situation, I shudder. Some of these folks have a historic perspective no deeper than last week’s people magazine. They truly embrace Stephen Ambrose’s simplistic version of that war – glorious fighting brotherhoods, well-fed German prisoners and grateful Fraueleins.
Grasping reality often helps when dealing with new situations. As the U.S. military continues efforts to launch a free and democratic Iraq in the face of the Sunni-Jihadist insurgency, avoiding false comparisons with the past is one important, positive step to take.
Understanding the other side requires more than your personal script. Knowing the foreign language and the culture are important keys to unlocking the truth. My father, a former German soldier, often reminds me that the story of defeat, the occupation and rebuilding wasn’t a glorious one for many eyewitnesses. Resurrecting a totally devastated Germany combined the good, the bad and often the very ugly, before a better country finally arose from the ashes.
In the beginning, post-conflict German-American encounters weren’t very friendly, especially for soldiers. Once, my father, a young Panzer trooper, was surrounded by at least twenty American and beaten senseless – until the drunken GI’s realized that his black Panzer outfit wasn’t an SS uniform.
Put through numerous frustrating de-nazification quizzes, my father decided to escape. This landed him in the Wuerzburg prison, where he spent a few days in a cell with a Luftwaffe lieutenant. Both prisoners shared the wounded Lieutenant’s boot as a latrine. To keep the dangerous Nazis escapees on their feet and to induce a more rapid information exchange, the Americans staged several mock executions.
Several weeks later, my dad escaped from another prisoner transport. This time, he made it home. By the grace of God, his father’s house was still standing. The small town was happy for the liberation but soon discovered the cost – the conquering troops had ransacked buildings and looted most valuables. In several basements, the occupiers had used the fruit preserve glasses as makeshift toilets.
While in hiding, my father even observed some troops throw food into the street for the hungry children. Just before a kid could grab the mess hall scraps, a soldier would kick them into the dirt. Angry, my father was ready to join the Wehrwolf resistance.
Making contact, my father soon experienced that the resistance consisted mainly of hardcore Nazi crackpots and Hitler Youths without combat experience, while most former German soldiers had enough of fighting overwhelming odds. Thankfully, grandfather Zimmermann also convinced his son that the Russians were worse, and that being alive was what really counted.
My grandfather sensed that the Americans would change. From World War I experiences, he knew that most were decent, god-fearing and pragmatic people and that their confronting of Russian ambitions would help German survival in an indirect way. My father’s resistance idea quickly died.
Germany gradually improved. Fresh American replacement units arrived – and attitudes changed. My father landed a job in a military kitchen and later as a translator with the constabularies in Heidelberg. A year later, the newly formed industrial police units and labor service outfits offered displaced persons and former German troops an employment opportunity and purpose. When the Russians decided to blockade Berlin, these units provided essential manpower for the loading of allied transports.
Ultimately, the Russian threat saved Germany much of the victor’s wrath. It was that reality which turned Americans and Germans into reluctant allies. America realized that 60 million former Nazis could be useful human barrier against a possible Russian invasion. Voila – George Patton had been proven right again!
By the time I was born, Germany had joined NATO with a new Army – the Bundeswehr. The Americans provided the equipment, while the Bundeswehr trained and organized on proven military concepts. Although my father spent a short time in the new German Army, he decided to work for the Americans again. He now preferred their principles of free spirit and creative individualism. That work relationship lasted for over 40 years.
As you see, Germany wasn’t even close to the Iraq situation. The Germans were tired of war because they had fought against the entire world for over five years and lost. Germany was solidly occupied by four major powers and surrounded by former enemies – it couldn’t budge. Germany didn’t have many hostile factions that hated each other and who competed for power. Since Germany’s soldiers were tired of fighting and totally disarmed, a resistance never fully developed. Most importantly, while acts of kindness were essential to German recovery, it was the external Russian threat that forced the Marshall Plan into existence, speeding the building of bridges between reluctant allies.
DefenseWatch Senior Military Correspondent Lt. Col. Ralf W. Zimmermann, USA (Ret.) is the son of a German World War II Panzer commander and himself a decorated Desert Storm veteran and former tank battalion commander. His recent novel, “Brotherhood of Iron,” deals with the German soldier in World War II. It is directly available from www.iUniverse.com and through most major book dealers. Zimm can be reached at r6zimm@earthlink.net or via his website at www.home.earthlink.net/~r6zimm. © 2005 LandserUSA. Please send Feedback responses to dwfeedback@yahoo.com.
Ellie