I'm looking for sources on the above-mentioned topics concerning the Wehrmacht and SS. The duties, requirements, and expectations could be tied into Rights and Responsibilities, correct?
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Rights, Responsibilities, Duties, Requirements, Expectations
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sid guttridge
- on "time out"
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Hi Brig,
This seems a very generalised subject and I am not absolutely sure of what you are after, so I will just offer a few ramblings:
Responsibilities are imposed on the individual from a number of sources and these may be conflicting. German Jehova's Witnesses refused to bear arms at all as a matter of conscience because they owed alleigance to a higher authority - a God whose Bible clearly states that "Thou shalt not kill" and whose heavenly kingdom overrode all earthly authority. However most Germans thought it their right and responsibility to serve the state under arms.
However, even under arms they could have conflicting responsibilities. For example, in the West, where all their enemies were signatories of the Geneva Convention, they had one set of rights and responsibilities towards their opponents. However, on the Eastern Front, where the USSR was not then a signatory of the Geneva Convention, they were subject to a lower statutory standard of right and responsibility.
This may partly explain the German Army's variable record from theatre to theatre. Its discipline and adherence to correct treatment are often remarked upon in the West, but the reverse picture often emerges in the East. (The Waffen-SS tends to get slated wherever it served).
I am not sure if this is what you are after.
Cheers,
Sid.
This seems a very generalised subject and I am not absolutely sure of what you are after, so I will just offer a few ramblings:
Responsibilities are imposed on the individual from a number of sources and these may be conflicting. German Jehova's Witnesses refused to bear arms at all as a matter of conscience because they owed alleigance to a higher authority - a God whose Bible clearly states that "Thou shalt not kill" and whose heavenly kingdom overrode all earthly authority. However most Germans thought it their right and responsibility to serve the state under arms.
However, even under arms they could have conflicting responsibilities. For example, in the West, where all their enemies were signatories of the Geneva Convention, they had one set of rights and responsibilities towards their opponents. However, on the Eastern Front, where the USSR was not then a signatory of the Geneva Convention, they were subject to a lower statutory standard of right and responsibility.
This may partly explain the German Army's variable record from theatre to theatre. Its discipline and adherence to correct treatment are often remarked upon in the West, but the reverse picture often emerges in the East. (The Waffen-SS tends to get slated wherever it served).
I am not sure if this is what you are after.
Cheers,
Sid.