Soviet army see Red Army
Soviet Union 15, 18, 31
German fear/hatred of 70, 98–9, 120, 121–2, 222–3, 256, 271–2, 282, 306, 310, 349, 351, 362, 368, 373, 385
German invasion of (June 1941) (Barbarossa) 13, 46, 120, 359; Stalingrad, battle for (1942–3) 13, 23–4, 29, 46, 92, 94, 208
German prisoners of war in 94, 254, 368, 369, 371, 375; deaths among 375
German propaganda against 98, 187, 195, 223–4, 313, 356
Goebbels proposes separate peace with 95–6
Hitler on 130
as an occupying power 379
under Stalin 95–6, 154, 246, 371–2
Spaatz, General Carl, German surrender, signatory to 372
Spain see Guernica
Speer, Albert 11, 25, 64, 90, 134–6, 138–42, 244, 346
as an architect 24
as Armaments Minister 11, 23, 24, 25–6, 35, 43–4, 53, 77, 78–83, 134, 140–42, 170, 287–8, 291, 396
Bormann and 77, 78, 83
character/personal appearance 24, 80, 82, 83, 134, 141, 164–5, 244, 289, 336
criticism of 77–8
on defence of the Reich 288–9
Dönitz as Reich President and 352, 360, 378
on economic collapse 244, 258, 287–8, 289
exit strategy 286, 336
Gauleiter, relationship with 290–91
Goebbels and 24, 25, 43, 75, 76–9, 83, 146, 244, 287–8
Guderian and 398
Hanke and 321
Heinrici and 309
Himmler and 240–41
Hitler and 38, 42–4, 77–8, 160, 289, 291, 292, 399
Hitler, mentions possible assassination of to Heinrici (April 1945) 309
on labour supply 25–6, 37, 38, 76–9
Model and 290–91
post-war interrogation/statements 134, 289, 398
scorched earth policy, opposition to 390–91, 303, 309
his Status Report (January 1945) 244
Western Front, visits to 78, 80–81, 138–40, 287, 290–91
sporting activities 6
Sprenger, Jakob (Gauleiter of Hessen-Nassau) 261
SS (Schutszstaffel) (Protection Squad) 69, 84, 86–7, 180, 219, 263, 279, 296, 320, 322, 324, 341, 359, 370, 389, 391
as concentration camp guards 228, 229, 230, 332, 333–4
concentration camps, evacuation of see death marches
criticism of 212
Himmler as head of see Himmler, Heinrich
as Hitler’s bodyguards 253, 284
morale 153, 210
power/influence 208
suicide among (April 1945–on) 356
transfers from, to Wehrmacht 308
Waffen-SS see Waffen-SS
in Warsaw 93
Wehrmacht and 23
young recruits to 313–14
SS Railway Construction Brigade 143
Stalin, Joseph 95–6, 104, 246
the west, his suspicion of 371–2
see also Soviet Union
Stalingrad, battle for (1942–3) 13, 23–4, 29, 46, 92, 94, 208
Standgerichte (summary courts martial) 224–5, 243, 263, 326–7, 343, 360–61, 390–91
see also courts martial
state penitentiaries 391
execution of prisoners in 328
von Stauffenberg, Count Claus Schenk Graf 33–4, 35
Hitler, plot to assassinate (July 1944) 12, 13, 14, 29–35, 36, 43, 44, 46, 48–9, 53, 268, 387, 396; effect of 379, 385, 388–9, 394; public opinion on 31–3
steel production see iron/steel production
Steiner, SS-Obergruppenführer Felix 339, 352
Strasbourg 131
Strölin, Karl (mayor of Stuttgart) 325
Stuckart, Wilhelm (Secretary of State, Ministry of the Interior) 38, 102, 216, 359
Dönitz as Reich President and 359, 378
Student, Colonel-General Kurt 253
Stumpff, Colonel-General Hans-Jürgen, German surrender, signatory to 372
Stuttgart 6, 117, 124, 299–300, 325
Strölin as mayor 325
Stutthof concentration camp 184, 234
evacuation of 234, 329
Sudetenland 252
suicide
among civilian population 177, 213, 215, 356–8; numbers of 356–7
by Gauleiter 356
Hitler’s 6, 11, 12, 118, 295, 339, 346, 348–51, 357
by Nazi Party members (April 1945–on) 355–6
by Wehrmacht officers (April 1945–on) 355, 356; numbers of 356
suicide bombers/fighters, proposal for 278–9, 314
Susloparov, General Ivan 371–2
Swabia 245, 278, 316
Sweden 94, 230, 282, 283
concentration camp inmates, attempts to negotiate release of 228, 284
Swedish Red Cross 283
Switzerland 230
attempt to exchange Jews for cash 229–30
Zurich 285
tanks/tank warfare 46, 58, 59, 61, 63, 81–2, 160, 168, 169, 174, 260, 301, 302, 339, 357
Tedder, Air-Marshal Arthur W., German surrender, signatory to 372
terror tactics 3–4, 5, 8–9, 10, 14, 37, 84, 162, 207–8, 216–25, 256, 259, 272, 273, 296, 318, 321–9, 343–4, 391, 393
crimes of the last phase concept 323–9, 391–2
torture, use of 84
Werwolf activity 279–80, 318, 320, 344, 367, 369; numbers killed by 280
see also Nazi atrocities; totalitarian regimes
Thiele, Gerhard 333
Thierack, Otto Georg (Justice Minister) 224
Thuringia 297, 299
Tilsit 173
von Tippelskirch, General Kurt 340
Todt, Fritz 24
Torgau 339
total war concept 23–4, 25–6, 38, 44, 60, 61, 146
see also Goebbels, Joseph, as Reich Plenipotentiary for Total War
totalitarian regimes 8–10
as repressive 8–9, 84, 207–8
see also terror tactics
transport 102, 126, 135, 139, 190, 193, 205, 275, 290
Allied bombing, effect on 79, 82, 136, 137, 138, 140, 142–3, 144, 287, 299
railways see railways
Reichsbahn 138, 140
Treblinka extermination camp 214
Trier 62, 64, 65–6
capitulation 254, 259–60
von Trotha, Colonel Thilo 221
U-boats 55, 95, 137, 139, 147, 155, 245, 269
Baltic harbours for 94
cessation of U-boat war 367
Ukraine 92, 93
unconditional surrender 7–8, 10, 50–51, 71, 246, 271, 354, 361, 362, 369, 370–71, 386–7, 397
Churchill on 387
see also German capitulation
underground movements (German) see Werwolf . . .
United Kingdom see Britain
United States (US)
Hitler on 130
US Army see American Army
Upper Bavaria 189
see also Bavaria
V1 missiles 20, 62, 210, 269
V2 rockets 24, 153, 269
Versailles Treaty (June 1919) 98, 154
Vienna 213, 252
Nazi Party 317–18
Red Army capture of 301
von Vietinghoff-Scheel, Colonel-General Heinrich 204
as C-in-C Italy 266–7, 285, 363; German capitulation and 267, 363, 366; dismissal 366
Vistula river 168, 172, 174, 196, 250
Vögler, Albert 141
Völkischer Beobachter (Nazi Party newspaper) 6, 115, 186, 188, 345
Volksgrenadier divisions (People’s Grenadiers) 64, 151, 222–3
Volkssturm (national militia) 86–8, 106–8, 113, 118, 138, 143, 180, 212, 219, 254, 393
casualty figures 107
command/administration of 107, 145
as deserters 259–60
as guards on death marches 333
as militarily useless 393
oaths of allegiance 147
von . . . see next element of personal name
Wächtler, Fritz (Gauleiter of Bayreuth) 317, 322
execution 322–3, 342
Waffen-SS 23, 31, 36, 37, 70, 72, 122, 211, 310, 314, 352
atrocities committed by 121
Wagner, Richard: Götterdämerung 6
Wahl, Kurt (Gauleiter of Swabia) 245, 278, 316
Wannsee Conference (January 1942) 359
war criminals, Allied definition of 362
warfare
blitzkrieg 26
exit strategies 27, 283–4, 286, 336
negotiated settlements 6–7, 12, 15, 18, 27, 55, 87, 280–86, 336, 352, 387, 396–7
‘peace at any price’ 148, 155
total war concept 23–4, 25–6, 38–44, 60, 61, 146; see also Goebbels, Joseph, as Reich Plenipotentiary for Total War
unconditional surrender 7–8, 10, 50–51, 71, 246, 271, 354, 361, 362, 369, 370–71, 386–7, 397; Churchill on 387; see also German capitulation
Warlimont, General Walter 8
Warsaw 96, 172
German bombing 236
Red Army invasion (January 1945) 174, 203
uprising (August 1944) 93; German destruction following 174, 251
water supplies see food/water supplies
weapons see armaments
Wegener, Paul (Gauleiter of Weser-Ems) 359
Wehrmacht 3, 5, 9, 17, 22, 186
arms supplies 11; see also armaments
command structure 169
fragmentation of 5, 20
local defence operations 85; see also local militia
Nazification of 45–51, 52, 70, 71, 90, 268, 394–5
de-Nazification (post-capitulation) 380
post-capitulation reputation 380
recruitment 23, 24–5, 40–41, 69, 75, 76–9, 85, 100, 146, 206, 242, 265, 276, 308, 353
transfers to: from Hitler Youth 310–11, 320, 357; from German Navy 206, 265, 267, 308, 353, 372; from Luftwaffe 206, 308; from SS 308
see also German Army; individual army groups
Wehrmacht High Command (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht) (OKW) 8, 9, 48, 200–206, 247, 249, 255–6, 323, 339–40, 394–5
Berchtesgaden, operations from (April 1945) 339, 342
Dönitz administration and 360
final report (May 1945) 376
Himmler and 35–7, 52–3
Hitler, relationship with/opinion of 27, 28, 29, 45, 133, 154, 266–7; on his death 348–9
Hitler, plot to assassinate (von Stauffenberg plot) (July 1944) 12, 13, 14, 29–35, 36, 43, 44, 46, 48–9, 53, 268, 387, 394, 396; effect of 379, 385, 388–9; public opinion on 31–3
Hitler’s relationship with his generals 200, 202, 203, 221, 251–2, 254, 284, 299, 304, 305–6, 338, 340, 342, 353, 366, 395–6, 397, 399
Keitel as head of 204, 218, 296, 360; see also Keitel
Krampnitz, operations from (April 1945) 339, 342
nationalism among 384–5
NSFO corps in 46–7, 50, 52, 90, 101, 205, 313, 394
officer corps code of honour 154, 254, 266–7, 309, 376
Operations Staff 27, 29, 44–5; see also Jodl, General Alfred
Plön, operations from (April 1945) 339, 342
post-capitulation 377, 385
responsibilities 169–70
suicide among (April 1945–on) 355, 356
war prospects, views on 27–9, 57, 159, 165–6l 202–3, 220–22, 260–73, 296, 302–10, 337–47, 385, 387, 395–6
see also German Army, leadership; individual officers
Weiglein, Karl 327
Weimar 297, 330
Weiß, General Walter 251
welfare provision 32, 74, 183, 192, 275
see also NSV
Wenck, General Walther 198, 339, 368
Werwolf groups/Freikorps ‘Adolf Hitler’ 279–80, 318, 320, 344, 369
Dönitz’s banning of 367
numbers killed by 280
Wesel 254, 255
western front see Allied invasion (1944–5), in the west
Westwall (Siegfried line) 62, 63, 65, 69, 88, 89, 131
Wiesbaden 260
Wilck, Colonel Gerhard 70
Wilhelm Gustloff (cruise ship) 183
Winter, Lieutenant-General August 206, 366
Wismar 366
Wöhler, General Otto 253
Wolf’s Lair, near Rastenburg 173
Wolff, SS-Obergruppenführer Karl 165, 284
in Italy 284–5, 292, 363
OSS, secret talks with 285, 363
women 18, 25, 31, 32, 61, 65, 108, 192–3, 218, 226, 317–18, 324–5
in concentration camps 228; as evacuees from 185, 231, 234; in Ravensbrück women’s camp 330, 334, 336
conscription into labour battalions 88, 89
as evacuees 177, 178–9, 180, 182, 183, 345
execution of, for defeatism 325–6
Red Army treatment of 112, 113, 114, 115, 181, 188, 357–8
women workers 25, 75–6, 88, 89, 101, 104
see also labour supply
Women’s Battalions 310
Worms 255
Wriezen 302
Württemberg 299, 311
Murr as Gauleiter 278, 325
Würzburg 3, 236, 238
Hellmuth as Gauleiter 291
Yalta Conference (February 1945) 246
Yugoslavia 93, 94
Zeitzler, General Kurt (Chief of General Staff) 28–9, 45
Zellingen 327
Zhukov, Marshal Georgi 168, 176, 181
Berlin, advance on (April 1945) 301–2, 352
German surrender, signatory to 372
Zirkl, Joseph 343
Zossen 268, 302
Zurich 285