Bastiaan Willems: "Gewalt und Untergang. Die Wehrmacht in Ostpreußen 1944-1945"
Summary
This episode examines historian Bastian Willems’ book on the Wehrmacht’s brutal behavior toward German civilians in East Prussia during the final months of WWII. It details how the regime prioritized the defense of Königsberg over civilian safety, forcing families to stay and executing thousands for desertion. The discussion highlights the structural violence and hypocrisy of the Nazi system, which conscripted children and executed ordinary people while evacuating party elites.
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