The graves and cemeteries of the German fallen soldiers symbolize different meanings and messages during the time. In the Second World War, the Wehrmacht and the national socialists constructed the soldier cemeteries as holy places and places of German heroism. After the surrender the graves turned into symbols of a reminder of pain, suffer and war. Today the grave stones are used for educational projects, memory services, guided tours for students and young people all over Europe.
Ten cultural-historical case studies investigate how deaths in war were dealt with based on soldier graves of the Second World War. In this dissertation, the resting places of the fallen German soldiers offer a unique perspective in the evaluation of death during a violent conflict and in the post-war period. The examination frame extends from 1939 to the present and follows the reception and importance of the graves and the fallen in military, politics and society. Some single chapters of this thesis have been already published or are intended for publication. Methodologically, the study consists of empirical work, such as the analysis of unpublished archival sources, as well as hermeneutical tools in the form of interviews, surveys, local documentation, and field studies of burial sites and exhumations. Two terms – hero glorification and signs of reconciliation – illustrate the differences in how the meaning of the graves and their dead soldiers was perceived. This difference highlights the change in values and meaning that the graves had to face. In the Second World War, the Wehrmacht responded to the nearly five million German casualties with mythical hero stories, propaganda and parades, but also with an elaborate administration system and rules concerning the dead and their graves. The instructions for the soldier's death included details about the material and inscription of the gravestone to the identification of unknown dead. The graves sustained a structure and organization in accordance with a modern military grave system. The claim to a single grave and the registration and notification of the relatives was included in the Wehrmacht. The denotation of the dead as heroes and their resting places as heroes' graves (Heldengräber) and heroes' groves (Heldenhaine) shows the attempt to integrate them into the ideology and propaganda of the National Socialist regime. However, the management of graves, as well as the cult of heroes, had to fail due to the reality of war – i.e., the number of casualties, the chaotic conditions at the front and the defeat of the Germans. The hero's glorification could not be maintained after the end of the war. In post-war society, an attempt was made to defuse the symbolism of military death and put it into a neutral and harmless context other than National Socialism. The continuation of the graves' management, the search for unknown resting places and the construction of cemeteries could no longer be operated by the military. Under the slogan of reconciliation and the expression of peace and understanding instead, access to the Wehrmacht graves was reached first in Western Europe, after 1989 in Eastern Europe by the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e.V. The Volksbund builds and cares for cemeteries and exhumes the remains until the present. This effort is still being made by the Germans today and illustrates the importance of war graves care in modern international context. The studies show how mutable and dependent are the meaning and symbolism of the death of a soldier within different political and social constructs and epochs. In these studies, the range of soldiers' graves as a research topic is clarified and further perspectives for questions and investigation contexts are shown. The investigation of German soldiers' graves of the Second World War in terms of their relevance is of particular importance. The fact that great efforts are still being made to find and maintain the resting places of dead soldiers more than 70 years after the war demonstrates the political dimension of the war dead and their graves. Above all, the distinctiveness of these objects as resting places for German soldiers makes an interesting and even controversial topic for science, politics and society not only in Germany but also in other European countries.
In zehn kulturwissenschaftlich-historischen Fallstudien wird der Umgang mit dem Kriegstod anhand von Soldatengräbern des Zweiten Weltkrieges untersucht. Die Ruhestätten der deutschen gefallenen Soldaten bieten in dieser Forschungsarbeit eine einzigartige Perspektive auf die Bewertung des Kriegstodes während eines Gewaltkonflikts und in der Nachkriegsperiode. Der Untersuchungszeitraum erstreckt sich von 1939 bis in die Gegenwart und begleitet die Rezeption und Bedeutung der Grabstätten und der Gefallenen in Militär, Politik und Gesellschaft. Die als kumulativ angelegte Dissertation enthält publizierte und unveröffentlichte Beiträge, die als Einzelkapitel dem Entwicklungsstrang über die Bewertung des Kriegstodes folgen. Anhand von zwei Überschriften – Heldenverherrlichung sowie Zeichen der Versöhnung – werden in den Fallstudien die Unterschiede in der Betrachtung und Bedeutung der Gräber und seiner toten Soldaten vorgestellt und damit der Werte- und Sinneswandel aufgezeigt, dem die Gräber unterlagen. Methodisch bedient sich die Untersuchung der empirischen Arbeit, bestehend aus einer Auswertung von unveröffentlichten archivalischen Quellen sowie hermeneutischer Werkzeuge in Form von Interviews, Umfragen, örtlichen Dokumentationen und Feldstudien der Grabstätten und Exhumierungen. Im Zweiten Weltkrieg reagierte die Wehrmacht auf die fast fünf Millionen deutschen Gefallenen mit mythisierenden Heldengeschichten, Propaganda und Paraden, aber auch mit einem aufwändigen Verwaltungssystem und Regelwerk für die Toten und ihre Gräber. Die Anweisungen zum Soldatentod beinhalteten Details vom Material und der Beschriftung des Grabzeichens bis hin zu Identifizierungsmaßnamen unbekannter Toter. Die Soldatengräber erfuhren eine Struktur und Organisation im Sinne einer modernen Gräberfürsorge. Der Anspruch auf ein Einzelgrab sowie die Registrierung und Benachrichtigung der Angehörigen gehörte zum Bestandteil der Militärorganisation. Die Bezeichnung der Toten als Helden und ihrer Ruhestätten als Heldengräber und Heldenhaine zeigt den Versuch, diese in die Sinnstiftung und die Weltanschauung des Militärs und des nationalsozialistischen Regimes zu integrieren. Dennoch musste die Gräberorganisation, wie auch der Heldenkult, an der Realität des Praxisalltages des Krieges aufgrund der Masse der Toten, der chaotischen Zustände an der Front und schließlich des Kriegsausgangs scheitern. Die Heldenverherrlichung konnte nach Kriegsende nicht aufrechterhalten werden. In der Nachkriegsgesellschaft wurde der Versuch unternommen, den Kriegstod in seiner Symbolik zu entschärfen und in einen neutralen und harmloseren Kontext zu stellen als im Nationalsozialismus. Die Fortführung der Gräberfürsorge sowie die Suche nach unbekannten Ruhestätten und der Bau von Friedhöfen konnte nicht mehr vom Militär betrieben werden. Stattdessen wurde unter der Idee der Versöhnung und der Bekundung des Friedens und der Verständigung ein Zugang zu den Wehrmachtgräbern, zuerst in Westeuropa, dann, nach Mauerfall, auch in Osteuropa, durch den Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e. V. erreicht. Der Volksbund baut, pflegt und exhumiert die Gebeine bis in die Gegenwart. Besondere Relevanz erhält die Untersuchung deutscher Soldatengräber des Zweiten Weltkrieges in Bezug auf ihre Aktualität. Der Umstand, dass große Anstrengungen unternommen werden, die Ruhestätten über 70 Jahre nach Entstehung noch immer zu finden und zu pflegen, zeugt gleichzeitig von der politischen Dimension, die Kriegstote und ihre Grabstätten aufweisen können. Vor allem die Besonderheit dieser Objekte als Ruhestätten deutscher Soldaten macht das Thema für Wissenschaft, Politik und Gesellschaft nicht nur allein in Deutschland, sondern auch im europäischen Ausland interessant – und kontrovers. Die Studien zeigen auf, wie wandelbar und wie abhängig die Bedeutung und die Symbolik vom Tod des Soldaten von politischen und gesellschaftlichen Konstrukten und Epochen ist. Darin wird die Spannbreite der Soldatengräber als Forschungsthema verdeutlicht und gleichzeitig weitere Perspektiven für Fragestellungen und Untersuchungszusammenhänge aufgezeigt. ; Ten cultural-historical case studies investigate how deaths in war were dealt with based on soldier graves of the Second World War. In this dissertation, the resting places of the fallen German soldiers offer a unique perspective in the evaluation of death during a violent conflict and in the post-war period. The examination frame extends from 1939 to the present and follows the reception and importance of the graves and the fallen in military, politics and society. Some single chapters of this thesis have been already published or are intended for publication. Methodologically, the study consists of empirical work, such as the analysis of unpublished archival sources, as well as hermeneutical tools in the form of interviews, surveys, local documentation, and field studies of burial sites and exhumations. Two terms – hero glorification and signs of reconciliation – illustrate the differences in how the meaning of the graves and their dead soldiers was perceived. This difference highlights the change in values and meaning that the graves had to face. In the Second World War, the Wehrmacht responded to the nearly five million German casualties with mythical hero stories, propaganda and parades, but also with an elaborate administration system and rules concerning the dead and their graves. The instructions for the soldier's death included details about the material and inscription of the gravestone to the identification of unknown dead. The graves sustained a structure and organization in accordance with a modern military grave system. The claim to a single grave and the registration and notification of the relatives was included in the Wehrmacht. The denotation of the dead as heroes and their resting places as heroes' graves (Heldengräber) and heroes' groves (Heldenhaine) shows the attempt to integrate them into the ideology and propaganda of the National Socialist regime. However, the management of graves, as well as the cult of heroes, had to fail due to the reality of war – i.e., the number of casualties, the chaotic conditions at the front and the defeat of the Germans. The hero's glorification could not be maintained after the end of the war. In post-war society, an attempt was made to defuse the symbolism of military death and put it into a neutral and harmless context other than National Socialism. The continuation of the graves' management, the search for unknown resting places and the construction of cemeteries could no longer be operated by the military. Under the slogan of reconciliation and the expression of peace and understanding instead, access to the Wehrmacht graves was reached first in Western Europe, after 1989 in Eastern Europe by the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e.V. The Volksbund builds and cares for cemeteries and exhumes the remains until the present. This effort is still being made by the Germans today and illustrates the importance of war graves care in modern international context. The studies show how mutable and dependent are the meaning and symbolism of the death of a soldier within different political and social constructs and epochs. In these studies, the range of soldiers' graves as a research topic is clarified and further perspectives for questions and investigation contexts are shown. The investigation of German soldiers' graves of the Second World War in terms of their relevance is of particular importance. The fact that great efforts are still being made to find and maintain the resting places of dead soldiers more than 70 years after the war demonstrates the political dimension of the war dead and their graves. Above all, the distinctiveness of these objects as resting places for German soldiers makes an interesting and even controversial topic for science, politics and society not only in Germany but also in other European countries.
War is always related to many different aspects, e.g. religion, technology etc. However, one of the aspects of central importance for the history of warfare is geography. The present volume will analyze this interrelationship from several different perspectives. Geography is not only integral to the planning of tactics and strategies, but plays an important role in the outcome of war and its long-term aftermath. Furthermore, the interplay between war and geography is not purely a modern phenomenon but can be traced back through the ages of history. Geography always had the potential of providing an advantage or disadvantage. The aim of the volume is to grant historical perspectives on that special interrelationship in different time periods and regional settings. The purpose is to provide a deeper insight and an interdisciplinary discussion, which will open new perspectives on military history in general and the history of warfare in particular.
The essay offers an overview of the sources in German archives on, and also originating from Soviet prisoners of war in German custody during World War II. Hereby, the focus is on the German Federal Archives (Bundesarchiv, BArch), on the files from military departments and organisations. A complete overview, however, cannot be given here as documents of captured Red Army soldiers are to be found as well in numerous state archives and a lot of small and private collections. This essay particularly addresses scholars who want to begin with research on prisoners of war from the Soviet Union, and in the first place want to make themselves familiar with the sources' situation in Germany.
In today's world, we can point to many international disputes and interstate conflicts fueled by past events. Historical resentments or memories of past suffering or fame are often used to justify political, economic and even territorial demands. Inter-state disputes and historical conflicts should be understood as evidence of political and social tensions related to active, serious differences in the assessment of the common past. The book explains the role of such conflicts in international relations and suggests ways of classifying them. It presents examples of the internationally relevant instrumentalisation of history from different regions of the world and outlines ways of overcoming them.
