German Resistance, War Guilt, and the German
Jews
(January / February 2001)
On Oct. 7, 1999, The New York Times carried an article entitled, "At Last, Recognition and Praise for the Resistance in Nazi Germany." Written by Shareen Blair Brysac, it revealed that "approximately 800,000 Germans in a population of more than 66 million were jailed for active resistance during the Reich's 12-year reign. Indeed, the first concentration camps, notably Dachau, built near Munich in 1933, were meant for left-wing dissidents. In 1936, a typical year, 11,687 Germans were arrested for illegal socialist activity."
This article confirmed the misgivings I had about the policy of the Western powers (France, Britain, Canada and the United States) in Germany during and immediately after World War II. When my unit, the 1263rd Engineer Combat Battalion of the U.S. army, entered Germany during the war, we were read the "Non-Fraternization Regulations." These regulations stated that since "every German man, woman and child" was responsible for the war, we were forbidden to socialize with them in any way whatsoever. We were, for instance, not allowed to feed civilians, including children, even though many had not eaten for several days before our arrival. At the same time we were issued condoms. Sleeping with the enemy was apparently not regarded as fraternization.
Though I had neither the desire nor the intention of fraternizing with the Germans, I was uncomfortable with these regulations. I could not see how children, even the children of Nazis, could be blamed for the war. I also knew that there were Germans who opposed Hitler. The Nazis did not receive a majority in the last German election before the war. All those who opposed Hitler could not have suddenly vanished from the face of the earth.
What particularly disturbed me was that the regulations' words were similar to those on the posters pasted on kiosks of the German towns we captured. The posters showed a picture of a fat middle-aged man with a big nose holding a cigar in his mouth with one hand and a money bag in the other, over the words, "Der Jude hat den Krieg gewollt" ("The Jews wanted the war").
What the Nazis were saying was a complete lie. They could never prove that any Jew or any group of Jews caused the war. What the Allies were saying was only partially true. There is no doubt that many Germans were responsible. I would not have been disturbed if the Allies had said most adult Germans were to blame. What troubled me was that the mind-set which assumed that all members of a society were responsible for the actual or perceived misdeeds of groups within that society seemed strikingly similar to that of the Nazis.
I volunteered for the army because I wanted to fight fascism. Fascism views society as consisting of superior and inferior races. It does not recognize distinctions based on other criteria. This view has no scientific basis. It is sheer mythology. All societies are divided on the basis of class and social position. It is thus inconceivable that all members of any nationality would think and act in the same way.
I knew that there were anti-fascist Germans, and I regarded them as allies rather than as enemies. I was determined to help any anti-fascist German I met, regardless of the non-fraternization regulations. I was not afraid of violating the orders, because we used to joke among ourselves that "the guys who wrote these regulations aren't here to enforce them." We did pretty much what we wanted.
As it turned out, while I saw some signs of German resistance, such as hammers and sickles and the words "Rot Front" ("Red Front") painted in red on walls, I never met a German whom I was convinced took part in the resistance. Though I did not violate the regulations for this reason, I did violate them by feeding a hungry German child, which is another story in itself.
Aside from this one incident, I did nothing about the regulations until after the war ended. Our unit was sent from Mecklenberg, about 65 miles west of Berlin (where we met the Soviet army), to a suburb of Cologne. While we were there, the Jewish chaplain asked all the Jewish soldiers to attend a special Friday night service in the auditorium of a field hospital the Army had built. Since I am an atheist, I rarely attended services, but I decided to go to this one because the chaplain told us that he invited some German Jews to the service. These Jews were either liberated from concentration camps or had been hidden by German families. I and most of the other Jewish GI's put together packages of food, clothing, blankets, and other necessities to distribute to them. Then I began to think about the non-fraternization regulations and wondered how we could hold those Germans who at great risks to themselves sheltered the Jews, responsible for the war.
When I arrived at the auditorium, I saw only soldiers. No civilians. The chaplain explained that his superiors notified him that the invitation violated the non-fraternization regulations. When the Allies entered Germany, they abolished the Nuremberg laws, which deprived Jews of their German citizenship. Since the Jews were once again German citizens, they were now subject to the non-fraternization rules. They could attend only if they were roped off in a separate section. They could not speak to us and we could not give them any gifts. Rather than subjecting these people, who had suffered so much, to another humiliation, the rabbi asked them not to come.
I then recalled those posters that said "Der Jude hat den Krieg gewollt." and thought, "My God, the Western powers were echoing the Nazis by blaming the war on the Jews." I, along with everyone else, was furious. We all followed the rabbi's suggestion that we write home about this scandalous ruling.
I wrote to my parents in Pittsburgh, who sent a copy of my letter to the Chronicle, an English-language Jewish paper. They published it. My Congressman brought the matter up on the House floor. Other soldiers did the same thing. Not long afterwards the non-fraternization regulations were abolished.
I would like to think our efforts brought this about. But I do not believe this was so. The Cold War was just beginning, and the Germans were now looked upon as allies. Several years ago, some British historians at Oxford revealed that Churchill was planning to use 100,000 German soldiers in a surprise attack on the Soviet Union. While the Western Allies treated the anti-fascist Germans and the German Jews as pariahs, they courted Nazi scientists such as Werner von Braun, who actively supported Hitler. Within a short time our media was calling these Germans "democratic-minded" and "freedom-loving" people. The non-fraternization rules went by the wayside. I am pleased that the story of the German resistance has finally come to light, not only because it confirms what I always felt, but also because it shows why we should never blame an entire people for the actions of their leaders and those who supported them.