Wehrmacht War Crimes Bureau 1939-1945
- Author: Alfred M. deZayas
- SKU: 1977
- ISBN: 089725421X
- Our Price:
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THE WEHRMACHT WAR CRIMES BUREAU 1939-1945. By Alfred M. deZayas. Soft-cover, 384pp.
"...an excellent book...all the cases they examine have to be seen against the background of the Holocaust and the atrocities committed by the German armed forces and SS...nevertheless...atrocities do not excuse the kind of crimes detailed in this book."–Christopher Greenwood, The Cambridge Law Journal
"...a fascinating book...well-organized and elegantly written...a sobering new look at the Second World War and ourselves...With the appearance of this new book...our innocence comes to an official end."–Arnold Krammer, Journal of Soviet Military Studies
"The research for this book, which cextended over a number of years, included the review of several hundred volumes of official records of the investigations of war crimes by the Wehrmacht War Crimes Bureau, the existence of which was hitherto unknown to researchers, the review of other original documents (including many in Russian, one of the author's several languages) and hundreds of interviews and correspondence with Germans who were involved in various capacities in the Bureau and in various aspects of those investigations by or on behalf of the Bureau during the course of World War II, as well as with witnesses to the events described ...It can be said without fear of contradiction that this book opens a new dimension in the study of the war crimes committed during World War II. It should generate much discussion and encourage other students of that period to further research, not only into the legal and historical, but also into the sociological and psychological aspects of this facet of that conflict." --
Prof. Howard S. Levie in the Foreword.
"This well-written book, which is based on thorough research of original sources, was firm published in Germany in 1979. It triggered a broad discussion in the country and has seen several German editions. The present abridged and updated English version facilitates international participation in a debate on some historical aspects of a topic which is of ever increasing importance. It is timely and necessary to discuss the legal, sociological and psychological problems involved in the investigation of war crimes during and after armed conflicts ...Both this interesting publication and the open questions it leaves provide a strong argument in fvour of international fact-finding, for which an adequate legal framework is now available under Article 90 of Protocol I (Additional to the Geneva Conventions). Efforts towards establishing a permanent intenational tribunal on war crimes and crimes against humanity should benefit from the experience documented here." --
Professor Dieter Fleck in Archiv des Völkerrechts
"Jurisprudence and history work together as auxiliary disciplines in reciprocal relation to each other. For the historian, laws and judicial decisions are valuable sources of information which he explaoits with his own tools. The lawyer must know the history of the laws and regulations which he applies, a task which requires extensive knowledge. In fortunate cases a single author has full command of the methods of both disciplines. A book written by such an author is mor easily accessible for scholars of the different branches of knowledge as well as to the general public... The author of the book ... hold degrees in law and history and has worked successfully in both fields. His main concern is human rights (he has been working for more than 10 years with the UN Center for Human Rights in Geneva). He combines the experience of two continents which have been desperately in need of a greater understanding in the post-war world. An Americn, de Zayas has spent many years as a highly respected scholar in Europe. Dr. Walter Rabus, a Dutch expert in intrnational law who earned his degree in Paris, has helped him be performing research covering both continents ...The high praise which the German editions have received is even more appropirate for the English version, which constitutes the apex of concision and accuracy. "An academic job well done" was the verdict in the Netherlands International Law Review" (1990, p. 300) "This is an excellent book" Christopher Greenwood claimed in the Cambridge Law Journal (1990 p. 148). One cannot top such eulogies, but one can affirm them." --
Professor Otto Kimminich in the German Yearbook of International Law
"The book ...is a pioneering study which describes in meticulous details the orgnization and work of a little known German Bureau ... which was purely an investigating agency of the Third Reich, similar to such Allied units as the UN War Crimes Commission or the parallel American, British, French or Russian agencies...Dr. de Zayas has made a significant contribution to the literature on war crimes...This scholarly contribution of Dr. de Zayas will undoubtedly be read with special interest as it has successfully attempted to fill a gap in the literature on war crimes by providing not only informtive and reveling material, but also pursuing a convincing and objective analysis. The exposition is augmented by an excellent bibliography for the readers to undertake futher in-depth studies."--
Professor R.P. Dhokalla, Secretary-General of the Indian Society of International Law, in a review article for the Indian Journal of International Law, vol. 29, pp. 214-219
"A pioneer study that describes the organization and work of a little-known German Army branch that was responsible for investigating war crimes charges by the Allies against the Germans and by Germans against Allied nationals ... Every victim of inhumanity, regardless of race, or creed, should be entitled to the equal protection of the law. The stated primary purpose of this interesting and well-written work is to help minimize the violations of international law in any future armed conflicts. If that goal is to be achieved, it is not enough merely to know that the rules are often broken by all sides. Americans learned that lesson at My Lai. There must be continuous improvment in the codes in order to meet the changing modes of warfare. There must be inculcation and acceptance of humanitarian values, even in time of war. Most important, there must be a more certain, objective, and effective judicial machinery, national and international, to improve the enforcement of international law and the rules of war. The de Zayas book sheds light on a problem that has not yet been resolved." Ben Ferencz, former US Nuremberg Prosecutor, in the American Journal of International Law.
"In his important book, Dr. de Zayas writes of the bureau staff members' belief that 'the German armed forces were fighting honorably, in compliance with the Hague and Geneva Conventions'...he points out that during the war years many were living in a moral and intellectual vacuum, professionally confined to their daily lawyer's tasks. The members of the Gladisch Committee were far more conscious of the gulf between Nazi theories and practice on the one hand, and the demands of international humanitarian law on the other. Some were to die for their beliefs." Professor L.F.E. Goldie, in the American Journal of International Law, vol. 85, pp. 748f
"Dr. de Zayas' book is an excellent analysis of a topic that is not discussed as much as it should be. This topic is Allied war crimes committed against Germany prior and during World War II. While most historians document German atrocities during the World War, Dr. de Zayas painstakingly researched 226 volumes of records left by the Wehrmacht-Untesuchungsstelle (Geman Army Bureau for the Investigation of War Crimes) in order to "... evaluate these records, to examine the establishment, function, and methods of the German bureau of investigation, and try to draw the line between historical events and mere propaganda.
In order to distinguish between propaganda and historical fact, Dr. de Zayas traced the stages of various documents in order to find contradictions or fabricated evidence. He fothermore interviewed more than 300 victims, witnesses and judges and verified the Bureau's records by cross decomentating with other German record groups and also the relevant American, British, French and Swiss files. Finally, as Dr. de Zayas notes, the bureau was influenced by its chief, Johannes goldsche -- who was not a member of the National Socialist Party and had no sympathy for Nazis or their methods ...
Dr. de Zayas' book is excellent. It is easy to understand, and present sinformation in an objective manner. Any one interested in obtaining unbiased information about an obscure aspect of World War Ii should read this book." David Rubin in Comparative Juridical Review, Voilume 27, 1990, p. 140..
"The facts were painstakingly researched by the author. Archives were consulted and cross-checked and survivors interviewed. It is an academic job well done, and a must for students of small islands of sanity in the ocean of madness called war. Professor Howard Levie states in his foreword: 'It can be said without fear of contradiction that this book opens a new dimension in the study of war crimes committed during World war II. It should generate much discussion and encourage other students of that period to further research, not only into the legal and historical, but also into the sociological and psychological aspects of this facet of that conflict'. I fully agree. Professor G.C. Berkhof, Leyden University, Netherlands International Law Review, 1990, p. 300.
"An eminent US scholar in Geneva works on 226 volumes of war-crimes evidence which were suppressed for 25 years. In this one volume, Alfred de Zayas summarizes the crimes along witht he manner in which they were documented. They were all committed by the Allies against the Germans. The author is making history by revealing it.
De Zayas gives a brief history of the Wehrmacht War Crimes bureau, reviewing the evidence accumulated through six war years. The British sank the hosptial ship Tübingen in 1944, although it was plainly marked with huge red crosses. Survivors of sunken German warships were machine-gunned in the sea. More than 100 Germans died in a U.S. prison train in 1945. These were allegations that the western Allies took seriously, because they were well documented. Also outlined are the titanic massacres on the Eastern front... De Zayas is the first scholar to make use of the material, in an edition published in 1980 in Germany, where it was a bestseller.... Your average academic historian is a flightless swan. De Zayas is a different, precious breed. Masked as a historian, unmaking history, he is the rarest: a man who tells the truth." The Globe and Mail, Toronto, 24 February 1990, C5.
"During the Second World War innocent civilians were shot, shipwrecked sailors slaughtered in freezing waters, prisoners executed as they lay tied up on the ground, and hospital ships repeatedly and deliberately bombed. These war crimes have been meticulously documented after investigations by experienced and impartial military judges who considered themselves 'protectors of accepted human values'. But they were committed by British and Allied soldiers, sailors and airmen, and the judges were German, according to archives discovered by a young American historian. The allegations - uncovered by Dr. Alfred de Zayas - show many of the key events of the war in an enteirely new light.... Until they were found by Dr. de Zayas, the archives had lain, undisturbed and forgotten, in a United States military archive -- part of the booty which was taken from the ruins of German public buildings in 1945. For more than 30 years they were treated as classified material and access was forbidden.... Each case was the subject of careful inquiry by the German judges Dr. de Zayas records: 'The War Crimes Bureau was not established to fabricate documents on Allied war crimes. Its records are genuine...' Dr. de Zayas's book on Allied War crimes first appeared in 1979, but only in German; it sold widely in Germany and was made into a two-part television special which was watched by a huge audience. But despite some attention in America, it was virtually ignored in Britain -- and branded 'a terrible lie' by the Russians, who were accused of the worst of the atrocities..." The Independent, 27 May 1990, page 4.
"Dr. de Zayas first came upon the previously undiscovered 226 volumes of WUSt documents as a Fulbright fellow on leave from his studies in International Law at Harvard. After concluding his legal studies, de Zayas subsequently earned a Ph.D. in history and the University of Göttingen, where he later became an associate. The Institute supported the research on which this study is based and arranged for the assistance of a Dutch international law specialist, Dr. Walter Rabus ... Mindful that the WUSt might have been manipulated by Goebbels's Propaganda Ministry, the authors were punctilious in their verification. They carefully examined the documents for internal consistency and continuity and then verified the reports and testimony, where possible, with judges, medical examiners and witnesses still alive. In addition, they compared WUSt documents with those of other German agencies in seven additional German archives, and with documents in British,.Dutch, Swiss, and American archives. In this exhaustive analysis, it becomes clear that the WUSt operated with scrupulous objectivity and therefore that its documents constitute a valuable new source for the study of the conduct of war. This carefully documented administrative history together with its excellent bibliography will therefore become an important introduction to this extensive archive. The Wehrmacht-Untersuchungsstelle is at once an interesting history of an internal agency of the Third Reich and an important archival and historiographical contribution to the study of the war." German Studies Review, Vol. 4, No. 1 (Feb., 1981), pp. 150-151.
"Conduite avec une grande rigueur scientifique, cette recherche jette un éclairage nouveau et précieux sur certains aspects de la deuxième guerre mondiale. Elle montre que la défense des causes les plus justes peux entrainer les pires abominations et que ceux qui défendent le droit ne craignent pas toujours d'en violer les principes les plus élémentaires."
Revue belge de droit international (Vol. XXII, 1989, p. 684)
The Wehrmacht War Crimes Bureau, 1939–1945 is the only account to date of the German investigations of war crimes allegedly committed by the Allied armies against the Nazi regime. During World War II the little known German Bureau on Crimes documented and filed reported cases of Allied violations of the laws of war. Filling 226 volumes, these files were seized in 1945 by American troops and brought to the United States, where they were treated as classified material. They were returned to the Federal Republic of Germany's Bundesarchiv in 1968 and released in 1973. Alfred deZayas is the first researcher to evaluate this material, which represents one of the most important discovery of World War II records since the Nuremberg trials. In addition, he studied related files in German, American, British, and Swiss archives and interviewed more than three hundred German military judges and witnesses involved in the bureau's investigations. His book documents many of the alleged violations and also describes the bureau's origin, organization, and modus operandi. Among the important revelations of this book are the many war crimes trials, or "little Nurembergs", that the Germans conducted against French, Polish, and Soviet prisoners of war, and the US and British investigations of German diplomatic protests. Widely praised, the German edition was the subject of a prime-time German television special in 1983.
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