ENGLISH

Endkampf: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Death of the Third Reich

By Stephen G. Fritz

Book information

Publisher
The University Press of Kentucky
Year
2004
ISBN
0813123259, 2004010763
ASIN
B0078XFNYK
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
11 MB (11689615 bytes)
Pages
416\417
Time added
2020-12-03 09:10:23
World War IIWWII

Description

At the end of World War II, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower turned US forces toward the Franconian region of Germany, ordering them to cut off and destroy German units before they could escape into the Alps. Opposing this advance were German forces headed by SS-Gruppenführer Max Simon, a committed National Socialist who advocated merciless resistance. Caught in the middle were the people of Franconia. Historians have largely overlooked this period of violence and terror, but it provides insight into the chaotic nature of life while the Nazi regime was crumbling. Neither German civilians nor foreign refugees acted simply as passive victims caught between two fronts. Throughout the region people pressured local authorities to end the senseless resistance. Others sought revenge for their tribulations in the “liberation” that followed. Stephen G. Fritz examines the predicament and perspective of American GI's, German soldiers and officials, and the civilian population. Endkampf is a gripping portrait of the collapse of a society and how it affected those involved, whether they were soldiers or civilians, victors or vanquished, perpetrators or victims.

Similar books