Hitler's Jewish Soldiers: The Untold Story of Nazi Racial Laws and Men of Jewish Descent in the German Military by Bryan Mark Rigg
The story of race and racism in the Third Reich is complex and endless in its scope. It still needs to be objectively written. Surprisingly perhaps, some "half-Jews" or "quarter-Jews" played a significant political and military role in NS Germany; many took part in the anti-communist campaign in the East. Among the famous "Mischlings," or crossbreeds, was the famous German admiral Bernhard Rogge, Field Marshal Erhard Milch, Field Marshal Von Manstein (born Lewinski), the panzer general Fritz Bayerlein, etc.
Rolf von Sydow wrote after watching the Nazi film Jud Sus: "[T]his film doesn't characterize me at all. I'm not a Jew. I don't go to the synagogue. ... I don't betray other people. ... I don't look Jewish. I'm a German. I'm from the aristocracy. . . . I'm better than the others. ... I hate my grandparents because they're guilty. . I hate my friends because they're Aryans. I hate the world. I hate myself." Most Mischlinge, like Sydow, agonized over what the Nazis described as Jewish. Feelings of shame, inferiority, and self-hatred were all manifestations of being labeled "Jewish" by the Nazis. Most did not feel an emotional attachment to Judaism, and the Judaism the Nazis described horrified them. They quickly learned to behave in a manner that would prove to their fellow Germans that they were not Jewish but Aryan. Some started to hate that side of of themselves that was Jewish and became somewhat anti-Semitic to prove it. For example, half-Jew Unteroffizier Hans Miihlbacher was described by one of his superiors as being a "product of Nazi education" and that he fully identified with Nazi philosophy especially concerning the "Jewish enemy." But his suprior wrote the despite his attachement to his Germaness he still suffers of racial problems.
Half-Jew Heinz Puppe wrote in 1997, "Individuals have the desire, the need, to belong, to an identifying group of some sort, family, ethnic group, a country, a school, etc. The problem is that anyone not belonging to my group becomes -them..' . . . Being branded as a Mischling by Globke caused my to feel not belong to any place.
As half-Jew Gefreiter Richard Riess said, "What I was doing was actually against my interest and my family. I had to serve. I had to serve my mortal enemy. I rationalized that I did so to help my father, but that was definitely not how it felt and ultimately ultimately my service didn't help. ... I always asked myself why I'm serving a criminal - evil hitler. This dilemma plagued many Mischlinge. Many describe feeling as if their soul or heart were torn in two. On the one hand, they felt secure in the army, but on the other hand, they felt that they were betraying their Jewish family. Many felt guilty that while they lived securely in the Wehrmacht, their Jewish families suffered Nazi persecution. Some rationalized their actions by convincing themselves that they were serving to save their Jewish family. Many provided temporary protection for their families. Half-Jew Hans Meissinger said that "being a soldier in the army of the Third Reich naturally gave me a bad feeling. The conflicting emotions are hard to reconstruct today. Naturally, I had some confidence that doing what other Germans had to do gave some shielding to my mother [Rosa] from the ever-present threat around her. Self-protection and protecting their families in any way they could was only human, but in doing so, ironically, many Mischlinge felt they were betraying the very people they wanted to protect. Moreover, they felt that they were not being true to their own convictions by serving Hitler, who many knew hated them because of their Jewish ancestors. It was a paradox, paradox, but their sense of pride made them seek every opportunity to be like everyone else.
Quarter-Jew Admiral Bernhard Rogge said that "one could curse one's birth and ancestry; however, one cannot make it not to have happened. One can never step out of his family tree, no matter how much one wants to . . . He may keep it a secret, may hate it, may feel ashamed because of it; however in his secrecy, his shame, his hate, he will in his disgust have to recognize it." Rogge knew that no matter how much one lied about or doctored his ancestry, he would always remain who he was. Any (German blood certificates) from Hitler or official Aryan certificates from courts would not alter the truth no matter how much one wished it to. Many successfully hid their ancestry but sometimes living as an Aryan required them to do and say things that caused them emotional and psychological distress.
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Juedische Mischlinge in der Wehrmacht 3/6by marinata10699 views
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