On 8 May 1995, the British prime minister, John Major, referred to the end of World War II as the end of a thirty years’ war; in this, he was correct: both sides saw this war as an attempt to complete a task left undone at the close of the First World War – the show-down which ended European global domination. The Second World War was, however, the ultimate catastrophe of modern history, laying waste the heart and soul of Europe. Here you will find contributions about this conflict, its prelude, conduct, and personalities – excluding non-military Nazi personalities, which are covered under the entry “Third Reich Era.” Also covered are contributions dealing with war crimes (and lies about alleged war crimes) committed in the course of the conflict. This does not include the “Holocaust,” which has a separate entry (and is not a war crime in the strict sense).
By Wilfried Heink ∙ April 20, 2012
By Wilfried Heink- In the Fight with the Partisans: This is the caption of the first chapter under “Yugoslavia” – getting back to Crimes of the Victors, the book under discussion. It contains four chapters in total, Yugoslavia, Soviet Union, Poland and Czechoslovakia. Instead of writing “the authors tell us”, or “we are told”, I'll…
By Wilfried Heink ∙ April 13, 2012
By Wilfried Heink- Dr. Rudolf Aschenauer, a lawyer who was involved in the defense of German soldiers, in his book about partisans “Krieg ohne Grenzen” (War without borders, [Druffel-Verlag, Leoni am Starnberger See, 1982]), complains that the partisan issue was never properly addressed in all the trials he was involved in (p. 139). To make…
By Wilfried Heink ∙ March 29, 2012
By Wilfried Heink The next chapter is by Prof. Dr. Fritz Münch, titled: Zum Recht der Kriegsgefangenschaft (The Rights of Prisoners of War). The author tells us that existing law concerning POWs is relatively new, going into some detail regarding the Hague Rules of Warfare and the Geneva Convention. He also states that during WWII…
By Wilfried Heink ∙ March 25, 2012
By Wilfried Heink The following essays are based mostly on “Verbrechen der Sieger. Das Schicksal der deutschen Kriegsgefangenen in Osteuropa”(Crimes of the victors. The fate of German POWs in Eastern Europe, Druffel-Verlag, Leoni am Starnberger See, 1975). It begins with a foreword by Brigadier General Wolfgang Schall, retired, POW in the SU (Soviet Union) from…
By Wilfried Heink ∙ July 24, 2011
By Wilfried Heink- The forth subchapter in the essay by Marina Sorokina is titled: Viacheslav Molotov: “It Is Time for the ChGK to Get to Work”. Sorokina writes that it “took more than four month” to organize the ChGK (ESC) and that on 23 February 1943 a draft “Decree on the ChGK” was send to…
By Wilfried Heink ∙ July 7, 2011
By Wilfried Heink- The third sub-chapter in the essay by Marina Sorokina is entitled, “The Curve of Your Life is Sloping Upward in Interesting Ways”. (A letter to I. P. Trainin is the source of the quotation used as the heading for this section, ARAN f. 586 [I. P. Trainin], op. 4, d. 3, l.)[1]…
By Wilfried Heink ∙ June 27, 2011
By Wilfried Heink- The second subchapter in the essay by Marina Sorokina is titled: “A Broad and Authoritative Public Committee, Not Bearing Any Official Character” “The idea of creating a special public organ for the investigation of Nazi war crimes was raised in the USSR at the very beginning of World War II, although for…
By Wilfried Heink ∙ June 5, 2011
By Wilfried Heink- “Slavica Publishers” in their Fall 2005 Journal “Kritika” published an article by Marina A. Sorokina titled: “People and Procedures: Toward a History of the Investigation of Nazi Crimes in the USSR”. A little about Slavica publishers first: “Founded in 1966, Slavica Publishers, a division of Indiana University since 1997, is the leading…
By CODOH ∙ December 13, 2009
In 2005, as near as I can tell, a Finish author, Erkki Hautamäki, published a book titled “Finland i stormens öga” (Finland in the eye of the storm). The book was published first in Swedish, a second volume is pending and a German edition is being prepared. Here is a little write-up about the book:http://www.prokarelia.net/en/?x=artikkeli&article_id=667&author=10…
By Wilfried Heink ∙ August 24, 2009
By Wilfried Heink- Following World War I, Germany's army was demoralized, reduced to groups of free lance mercenaries. Discipline, the core of any army, especially in the German/Prussian army, was no longer. This breakdown had already started in the last month of WWI, when German troops who had been exposed to the Bolshevik virus while…
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