The Second World War resulted in the deaths of around 85 million people. Additionally, tens of millions more people were displaced. However, amid all the carnage people demonstrated remarkable courage, fortitude, compassion, mercy and sacrifice. We would like to honour and celebrate all of those people. In the War Years Blog, we examine the extraordinary experiences of individual service personnel. We also review military history books, events, and museums. And we look at the history of unique World War Two artefacts, medals, and anything else of interest.
The German War: Crimes and Persecution Complex
The German War by Nicholas Stargardt and The Bitter Taste of Victory by Lara Feigel are two WW2 history books that neatly dovetail one another. The German War examines the many, varied aspects of the German war experience from 1939 to 1945 at home and on the frontlines. The Bitter Taste of Victory begins in 1944 as Allied forces, East and West, advance into the shrinking Reich and extends to 1949.
The German War by Nicholas Stargardt and The Bitter Taste of Victory by Lara Feigel are two history books that neatly dovetail with one another. The German War examines the many, varied aspects of the German war experience from 1939 to 1945 at home and on the frontlines. The Bitter Taste of Victory begins in 1944 as Allied forces, East and West, advance into the shrinking Reich and extends to 1949. Both books focus heavily on the question of German guilt for the many crimes committed under the Nazi regime, remorse and reconstruction. Chillingly, each book comes to the same conclusion: the only thing the surviving Germans truly felt guilty about was losing the war. The only pity most Germans felt was self-pity. Her cities, centres of industry and infrastructure lay in ruins. Millions were displaced and homeless. Hunger, disease, and lack of winter fuel all contributed to the misery after the nation’s collapse. However, for the victims of the camps, the millions of slave labourers, and all those countries ravaged by the German war machine there was no thought, no compassion and no sense of national guilt or shame. On the contrary, population surveys taken 5 and 10 years after the war revealed German sentiment towards the Jews and many Nazi policies had barely changed for many.
The German War examines the many motivating factors that kept the German people fighting right until the bitter end, even when defeat was assured. It reveals how most Germans initially believed they were fighting a war of national defence against Poland, France and Great Britain. Later, the Allied air offensive convinced many Germans of their victimhood, although some saw it as a punishment for their crimes against the Jews. The book also exposes the lie that most Germans were ignorant of the many atrocities committed by the regime. In fact, right from the start of the conflict German soldiers were documenting their crimes in writing, photography and film. But perhaps one of the darkest aspects of the book is just how quickly ordinary men and women could be transformed from law-abiding citizens to brutal murderers and rapists. The transformation often took less than two months. In Russia, senior field commanders began to worry about their troop’s propensity to loot property, burn villages and slaughter the inhabitants without orders. When defeat and occupation finally came to the German nation it did nothing to change outlooks and attitudes. Even years after the war’s end, the majority of Germans believed that Nazism had essentially been a good idea, poorly executed.
Lara Feigel’s book The Bitter Taste of Victory begins in the closing months of the war, as reporters, writers, filmmakers and entertainers followed the advancing Allied armies into the heart of Nazi Germany. The book illustrates the utter destruction wrought on German cities by the Allied bombing campaign and contrasts it with the horrors of death and concentration camps such as Bergen-Belsen. Martha Gellhorn, Marlene Dietrich, Billy Wilder and George Orwell are just some of the famous names we encounter amidst the rubble and misery of Germany’s defeat. With incredible naivety, the occupying powers set about a process of denazification. Writers, artists, musicians and filmmakers were recruited to cleanse German culture of its Faustian excesses. However, German re-education, the Nuremberg Trials and occupation seem to have done nothing to change the population’s psyche. Instead, the realpolitik of the Cold War allowed former Nazis and war criminals to reinvent themselves without actually changing. Rather than accept any collective guilt, the Germans of the war period were satisfied to largely remain silent or seek refuge in empty platitudes and point the finger of blame anywhere but at themselves. There is some small irony that far-left-wing groups such as the Baader-Meinhof Gang would later regard the West German state as the continuation of fascism and imperialism by other means.
In reality, these two books arrive at the same stark conclusion, although starting from very different places. The Germans of the war years remained fixed in their beliefs that they were victims, not perpetrators. They largely believed Nazism was correct in its outlook, but poorly executed by the regime. That brutality, murder, and even genocide were justifiable in pursuit of national goals. These two books also illustrate just how quickly the most civilised and educated of people can be transformed into remorseless killers, happy to abdicate all responsibility for their crimes.
The Story of My Monte Cassino Cross
The Monte Cassino Cross was awarded to all men who served with the Polish 2nd Corps and took part in the fighting to break the German Gustav Line at Monte Cassino during the bitter Italian winter of 1943 to the early summer of 1944. The battle, which was actually a series of bloody engagements, is infamous for its ferocity and high casualty rates. This is the story of my Monte Cassino Cross and the brave man who won and lost it.
The Battle for Monte Cassino
The Battle for Monte Cassino was a series of four battles fought by the Allies in an attempt to smash the German Gustav Line of defences during the Italian winter of 1943 to the early summer of 1944. British, American, French, North African, Asian, Canadian and Polish troops all took part in this epic series of battles.
The Germans cleverly integrate the historic Benedictine abbey of Monte Cassino into their defensive positions, which commanded the town of Cassino, Liri and Rapido valleys.
The Allies believed the Germans were using the monastery as an observation post. In response, it was heavily bombed and reduced to rubble on 15 February. Two days later, German paratroopers took up new defensive positions within the ruins.
The savage fighting at Monte Cassino is widely recognised as the worst of the war in the West. It’s estimated the Allies lost around 55,000 men while the stubborn German defenders lost about 20,000 killed and wounded.
On 18 May 1944, a group from the Polish 12th Podolian Uhlan Regiment finally made it to the top of Monte Cassino and raised a Polish flag over the ruins. The Polish troops found just 30 wounded German defenders.
My medal: Monte Cassino Cross
Back in 2004, I purchased a Monte Cassino Cross from a guy that said he’d found it during a house clearance in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Luckily, Monte Cassino Crosses are numbered, so I wrote to The Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum to see what I could discover about the medal’s recipient.
One of the men who fought at Monte Cassino was Private Jan Stanislaus Zdaniukiewicz, born in 1912. Jan served with the 15th Poznan Lancers (recce) Regiment, 5th Kresowa Infantry Division, Polish II Corps, and British 8th Army. It was Jan’s medal that I now owned.
15th Poznan Uhlans, Regimental History
On 17 April 1942, Battalion "S" was formed in Yangiyo'l near Tashkent under command of Cpt. Zbigniew Kiedacz. On 8 October 1942, in Iraq, the unit was transformed into the 15 Regiment of Armoured Cavalry, reconnaissance unit of the 5th Borderlines Infantry Division. At the end of 1942, the regiment was renamed to 15th Poznan Uhlans Regiment. In next months, the unit was trained in Iraq, Palestine, Libya and Egypt. During February and March 1944, the regiment was moved to Italy. The Uhlans took part in fighting on 6 April 1944 near Capracotta, and during the following days reached Genoa.
Between 3 and 29 May 1944, the regiment took part in the Battle of Monte Cassino, fighting on Monte Castellone and later broke through the Hitler Line capturing Pizzo Corno and Monte Cairo. On 20 July the unit ended its fight in the battle of Ancona.
In October 1944, the regiment was fighting in the Emilian Apennines on the Gothic Line. On 23 October, the regiment’s commanding officer, Col. Zbigniew Kiedacz, was killed in action. The regiment received the award Virtuti Militari for a second time for the Italian Campaign. In January 1945, the 15th Reg. was moved to Egypt, where it received new tanks, and was subordinated to the 14th Greater Polish Armoured Brig. (Polish: 14 Wielkopolska Brygada Pancerna).
In October 1945, after the war’s end, the brigade was moved to Giulianova, Italy. Finally, the regiment was moved to Browning Camp, Sussex, England in June 1946 and disbanded in 1947.
A Life in Exile
Having been demobbed, Jan, the recipient of my medal, appears to have moved to Kent. There was no going back to Poland: which lost to Soviet domination and Stalin’s tyranny. Instead, sometime between April and June 1952, Jan married Patricia M. Maddison (born 1932, Pancras, London) at Tonbridge, Kent. Jan was naturalised, becoming a British citizen, on 17 October 1969 while living at 163 Silverdale Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent.
Sadly, Jan died on 10 March 1971. He was cremated on 17 March 1971; the ceremony was presided over by a Father of the Catholic Church. Jan’s ashes were scattered beside a nearby pond and waterfall. Jan was just 58 years old. In civilian life he’d been a tailor, possibly running his own business from Silverdale Road, which today is a fish and chip shop. Jan’s wife, Patricia, survived him, but I’ve not been able to find any information whatsoever about her subsequent life or whereabouts. It seems that Jan and Patricia had no children. As I’ve not been able to find a death certificate for Patricia, it’s quite possible she is still living – she would be in her 80s.
It saddens me to think that Jan Stanislaus Zdaniukiewicz’s life can be so briefly summarised, not even filling a single sheet of A4 paper. It saddens me more that his Monte Cassino Cross was lost or discarded, only to be sold by a stranger to another stranger. However, Jan’s Monte Cassino Cross is now proudly displayed, and his memory is kept, although I never met him or even have a photograph. To me, he’ll be forever young. I see him now, dressed in his thick woollen uniform, laden with equipment. He’s bent double, sweating from fear, the Italian sun and the sheer physical effort of fighting his way up Monte Castellone. But he’s never alone in my dreams; he’s always surrounded by his countrymen and brothers-in-arms, the brave men of the Polish 2nd Corps.
The Curious Case of SS Colonel Jochen Peiper
In this book review we discuss Danny S. Parker’s book Hitler’s Warrior, which takes an unflinching look at the life and war crimes of SS Colonel Jochen Peiper. Originally sentenced to death by the Allies for his part in the infamous Malmédy massacre, Peiper went on to lead something of a controversial life. Finally, it would all come to a dramatic end in a burning house one summer’s night in 1976.
The epitome of the Nazi ideal, Danny S. Parker’s book Hitler’s Warrior takes an unflinching look at the life and wars of SS Colonel Jochen Peiper. Found guilty of war crimes and sentenced to death by hanging for his part in the infamous Malmédy massacre of American servicemen during the Battle of the Bulge, Peiper escaped the noose. Instead, he would spend a decade in jail, years working in the German auto industry and die mysteriously on Bastille Day, 13 July 1976, at his secluded home on the banks of the Saone River, France.
Handsome, intelligent and capable, Jochen Peiper had something of the matinee idol look about him. Quick to join the fledgling Schutzstaffel or SS, Peiper applied to become an SS Officer Cadet in 1934 at the suggestion of Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler. By the outbreak of war, Peiper was the Reichsführer’s constant companion and faithful adjutant. He would witness mass executions and an experimental gassing while accompanying his boss on SS business trips across the Nazi’s growing empire. A comrade remarked that Peiper was one of the few people who seemed to genuinely like the cold, humourless, rabidly anti-Semitic Himmler. It seems clear from Parker’s meticulous research that the affection was mutual.
A member of the Waffen SS or fighting SS, Peiper was keen to give up his cosy desk job and see some action as part of the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler. Peiper had a pretty good war. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords for extreme bravery and outstanding military leadership. He saw plenty of fighting on the Eastern Front, France and Italy where he revelled in his role as commander of the so-called Blowtorch Battalion, notorious for burning villages and killing the inhabitants regardless of their status as civilian non-combatants. But of course, it was his role as commander of the 1st SS Panzer Division, one of the spearheads of the German’s surprise winter offensive through the Ardennes region of Belgium, which brought Jochen Peiper his lasting infamy. Most notably Peiper’s men executed 84 defenceless American prisoners of war (POW) at the Baugnez crossroads near Malmédy. His men were also responsible for killing numerous Belgium civilians and other POWs during their advance.
After the war, Joachim Peiper was tried and convicted of war crimes, and sentenced to death by hanging on 16 July 1946. His sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment. He was released in 1956 after serving nearly 12 years. His dutiful wife Sigurd, the ex-SS secretary, and three children were waiting for him. Peiper then started to live something of a double life. He publicly professed that he wanted to put the war behind him and get on with his life in peace. He felt he had paid for his crimes as the Allies saw them. In reality, Peiper went to work for Porsche, which appeared to be a haven for ex-Nazis and SS men during the 1950s. He also busied himself with the Mutual Help Association of Former Waffen-SS Members (HIAG) and seems to have spent much of his spare time with former comrades-in-arms. However, trouble was to find him again in the 1960s when he was investigated for his part in the Boves massacre of September 1943, Italy. Eventually acquitted due to lack of evidence, Peiper decided to leave Germany for Traves, France in 1972.
In 1974, Peiper, who never attempted to conceal his identity, was recognised by a former French Resistance fighter who contacted the French Communist Party. Peiper soon became the subject of an increasingly sinister intimidation campaign. On the night of 13 July 1976, his house was attacked and set on fire. Peiper made a vigorous defence of the property using a number of firearms but was trapped under falling debris when the roof collapsed. His body was so badly burned that formal identification was almost impossible. The tabloid press pounced on the idea that the whole episode was an elaborate Nazi ploy to allow Peiper to escape to South America or Spain. Right-wing reprisals swiftly followed.
Himmler’s trusted paladin, the youngest Colonel in the Waffen SS, war criminal, the handsome middle-aged car salesman, intellectual and nature lover, Jochen Peiper was all of these things and more. For all his protestations and supposed desire to put the past behind him, Jochen Peiper lived and died a committed, unrepentant Nazi and proud SS officer. Danny S. Parker’s book paints a vivid portrait of a complex personality utterly trapped by the times and events he lived through. A man blind to his own crimes and those of the regime he so loyally and obediently served. Shy, engaging, with something of an eye for the ladies, Peiper was no one-dimensional villain. He possessed a conscience, love, empathy and compassion; he simply couldn’t conceive that he’d done anything wrong but serve the Fatherland.
George Orwell once said: “People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” I think this is how Peiper always saw himself, cast in the role of righteous guardian. However, Orwell also wrote, “Nationalism is power hunger tempered by self-deception.” In Parker’s book, one of Peiper’s former comrades joked that it would have been better for everyone if he (Peiper) had simply put a bullet through his head in 1945. Maybe so.
Please leave your own thoughts, ideas and comments about the book Hitler’s Warrior.