Quote:
Originally Posted by llama_thumper
Has anyone mentioned the chute-killing and civilian-straffing 'honourable' Luftwaffe pilots yet during the Poland 1939 campaign (not to mention the bombing of civilian cities way before Rotterdam or London)? Thought it might be worth a mention since some posters here seem to have amnesia when mentioning the Luftwaffe pilots were 'just doing their job'... or is that OK since they didn't do that in the West (apparently?)?
|
Wasn't that their job (the bombing civilian targets anyway)? Even if it is a poorly thought out job - and one done with too much zeal.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Codex
Forgive me if this has been brought up already (I've only read the first few pages) however we must also remember the act of conscription and the penalties for desertion.
My grandfather served as a machine gunner in the Wehrmacht, he’d often mention that if you refused to obey or desert your unit not only did you face a court-marshal (if caught) but there was the possibility of reprisals against family members.
Choice was limited.
|
That is very interesting. I could especially see this being the case towards the end of the war.
I remember a study that showed that the worst that soldiers generally received for refusing to stay in an einsatzgruppen was being yelled at, humiliated and skipped over for promotion - but refusing to kill civilians is very different from desertion.
It is interesting to think that Nazi Germany - despite everything that was done, recognised this distinction just as we do today.