- Hardcover: 496 pages
- Publisher: University Press of Kansas; illustrated edition edition (30 April 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0700611789
- ISBN-13: 978-0700611782
- Product Dimensions: 23.8 x 15.8 x 3.7 cm
- Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,326,459 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Synopsis
On the murderous road to "racial purity" Hitler encountered unexpected detours, largely due to his own crazed views and inconsistent policies regarding Jewish identity. After centuries of Jewish assimilation and intermarriage in German society, he discovered that eliminating Jews from the rest of the population was more difficult than he'd anticipated. As this study shows, nowhere was that heinous process more fraught with contradition and confusion than in the German military. It reveals a startlingly large number of German military men were classified by the Nazis as Jews or "partial-Jews", in the wake of racial laws first enacted in the mid-1930s. This book documents that many of these men did not consider themselves Jewish, had embraced the military and were patriots eager to serve a revived German nation.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 36 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I have read this book recently, and was very disappointed.
The narrative is based upon the young history researcher's interview with ex-Wehrmacht soldiers, who were of partial Jewish origin and were hence classified as "Mischlinge" - the Nazi term for an individual who is not of purely Aryan origin. The author provides an overview of the grey area where these people were living in Nazi Germany, and in particular refers to those of them who had served in the German Army and fought in World War II.
Despite what the title of the book suggests, these people were not Jewish. People who were classified by the Nazis as Jews had no presence in the army whatsoever, and the author himself confirms that. They were outcasts and were later physically annihilated. The title suggests that these people were an integral part of the Wehrmacht. This would have no doubt been an exciting historical revelation, but after finishing the book, it is clear that there is little connection between the title of the book and its contents.
The book tells the story of the Mischlinge in the German army. Soldiers, often of higher ranks, who were of mixed origin. They were not regarded as such by the authorities (either the civil ones or the military ones), they were not regarded as Jews by the Jewish communities, and just as much - they very seldom regard themselves as Jews. They might have had a Jewish grandmother or were married to a person with one. This was not a rare thing in a society where the presence of Jews dated back to 1000 years earlier, and were inter-marriages were very wide spread from the middle of the 19th century. In most cases the Mischlinge themselves had been baptised and maintained no connection whatsoever to Jews or Judaism. Such connections were only revealed where those individuals chose voluntarily to associate themselves with the Jewish community, or were married to "full Jews". In most cases those people were left alone. Other than a few Nazi fanatics, most Wehrmacht commanders did not bother. If only for practical reasons...
Other than the misleading title, the book is characterised by random anecodes and sporadic hearsay recollection. The story usually repeats itself: "Yes, my wife had a Jewish great-grandmother, but I did not mention it on the forms".
It is not worth to be called a history book.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
51 reviews
112 of 121 people found the following review helpful
My own experience
15 July 2002
Format:Hardcover
I spent my youth and adolescence during WWII in the Third Reich.
Although Aryan by birth I followed the fate of and befriended
several 'Mischlinge' (half- and quarter-jews) during and after
the War, and even knew some who served in the Wehrmacht. I found
Brian Mark Rigg's book excellent in scope and fair in its
contents. The research he conducted is extraordinary. The author
shed light on an angle that hitherto has been neglected by
historians of Nazi-Germany. He also describes splendidly the
irrational stupidity of the racial laws with their tragic
consequences. I wonder whether these 'Mischlinge' fought
valiently in the German Army as a refuge from the Gestapo or
under the peer pressure of the 'comradeship' of one's fighting
unit.They wanted to prove to the system that they were real' Germans.
I vividly remember also Aryan friends who were strong
Anti-Nazis but who courageously fought in the Wehrmacht,
particularly on the eastern front. Some of them were even
scheming plots to kill Hitler. Was it again the bonding among
soldiers or did they consider Naziism the smaller evil to
Bolshevism? I think these questions can only be only answered
individually.
Although Aryan by birth I followed the fate of and befriended
several 'Mischlinge' (half- and quarter-jews) during and after
the War, and even knew some who served in the Wehrmacht. I found
Brian Mark Rigg's book excellent in scope and fair in its
contents. The research he conducted is extraordinary. The author
shed light on an angle that hitherto has been neglected by
historians of Nazi-Germany. He also describes splendidly the
irrational stupidity of the racial laws with their tragic
consequences. I wonder whether these 'Mischlinge' fought
valiently in the German Army as a refuge from the Gestapo or
under the peer pressure of the 'comradeship' of one's fighting
unit.They wanted to prove to the system that they were real' Germans.
I vividly remember also Aryan friends who were strong
Anti-Nazis but who courageously fought in the Wehrmacht,
particularly on the eastern front. Some of them were even
scheming plots to kill Hitler. Was it again the bonding among
soldiers or did they consider Naziism the smaller evil to
Bolshevism? I think these questions can only be only answered
individually.
41 of 44 people found the following review helpful
Assimilation...
30 April 2003
Format:Hardcover
The book is about the phenomenon of people of partial Jewish descent (mischlinge in German) that served in the German military (Wermacht) during the World WarII. The book is the result of a ten years' study including 430 interviews with mischlinge that had served in Wermacht. The book is very serious: for example, index and references comprise one third of the volume. The author claims that about 150,000 mischlinge (probably, about half of them - halachic Jews) served in Wermacht.
The first chapter discusses the question: who is a Jew? Several points of view are presented. The Halacha says that person born to a Jewish mother is also a Jew; and also one that converts to Judaism (makes "giyur"). However, many Jews believe that Jewishness means "ethnic allegiance". Reform Jews believe that "paternal descent" is also enough to be a Jew. The author mentions that this problem (who is a Jew) in modern Israel is "second only to Israel's preoccupation with problems of peace and security."
The second chapter explains who were mischlinge and how they felt in Nazi Germany. In most cases, mischlinge felt themselves as Germans. Part of them felt like second-class Germans, and many of them made their best to be considered as Aryans (i.e. pure Germans).
The third chapter is about the assimilation in Germany and Austria, and also about Jews serving in German Military prior to WWII. The assimilation rate in Germany and Austria was very high: for example, between 1901 and 1929 ther were over
36,000 mixed marriages in Germany alone. And from all the facts we see that many Jews served in the German army during WWI and afterwards. They felt united to fight for Germany.
The next three chapters give the historical background. When Hitler came to power, he started the racial policy. This policy was established by "Nuremberg laws" that were legislated in 1935. The aim of these laws was to stop connection between Jews and non-Jews. The term "Jew" was not defined by these laws, and as a wide-spread practice mischlinge were not treated as such. Later, around 1941, mischlinge in the Army felt that something bad towards them was happening. At that time in the SS offices "the mischlinge question" was discussed. In 1943 there was a "turning point" for mischlinge: the Party decided that half-Jews could not serve in in elite military units. Many mischlinge were removed from their positions. After that it was decided that half-Jews should be exterminated in the long-term perspective. Many were sent to forced labor camps.
The next two chapters are about exemptions from the racial policy. The author says that thousands applied for racial exemptions, i.e. for the right to continue military service. Many of them obtained such exemptions, and the first question
is why Hitler granted such exemptions (he treated each case personally with little or no advice from anybody else). B.M. Rigg points that several authors say that this is because of his own allegable Jewish past, i.e. Hitler feared that his grandfather had been Jewish. However, we have no facts to confirm or deny this allegation.
At first, if the person was a Party member, Hitler gave exemption in many cases. From 1940 more mischlinge had problems with obtaining an exemption, and after the July 1944 bomb attack on Hitler almost no more exemptions were granted.
The last chapter discusses the question: what did mischlinge know about the Holocaust? We can see from the author's study that they did not know about killing Jews. Mischlinge soldiers did not know that the Nazis killed their relatives. Similarly, most half-Jews did not realize what would happen to them after deportation.
19 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Beyond belief
23 Sep 2005
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Best thing I have read in awhile.
Author Bryan Mark Riggs was in his late twenties when he wrote this a couple of years ago. He is a (Reform?) Jew. At that point he had already earned a PhD at Cambridge, served as a volunteer in the Israeli Army and US Marines, and was teaching at SMU. This book grew out of his (undergraduate!) thesis at Yale. He found and interviewed a huge number of "Mischlinge" -- half or quarter-Jews who served in the Nazi military during WWII, sometimes with as high a rank as general.
Rigg improbably estimates there may have been as many as 150,000 such soldiers under Hitler.
Many of these men served to escape death. Some were just strong German nationalists.
The interesting part is that both Jewish halakah and Nazi law regarded many of these men as Jews, while most themselves did not! By Nazi law anyone who was 25% Jewish was a Jew whether or not he was baptized, a Nazi Party member, practiced another religion, etc. But those who had already shown loyalty to the German military often were given special exemptions if they continued to serve. Remarkably, most of those part-Jews were proud Germans, with roots in the nation hundreds of years back, who did not practice Judaism. Some were even somewhat anti-Semitic, looking down on the culturally, economically and educationally less advanced (and religiously more Orthodox) East European Jewish immigrants (Ostjuden) as inferior.
Sadly most fought bravely for the very government that was murdering their relatives, and would surely murder most of them when the war was over and they were no longer needed. (Some lost their exemptions even during the war).
The madness and the vicious absurdity of the Nazis is portrayed very skillfully by Rigg.
Rigg goes on longer than he needs to. But the topic is so engrossing, the mini-biographies so complex and full of contradictions, and the writing style so clear and enthusiastic that I am wanting more. I will read everything he writes in the future.
The next book Rigg wrote last year, BTW, I just started -- its about how the Lubivitcher Rebbe was rescued from Warsaw during Nazi occupation and smuggled out of the country by cooperation between American spies and a part-Jewish Nazi intelligence agent! That book is the most unbelievable story I have ever read. (A Past in Hiiding by Mark Roseman being a close second).
Any WWII buff MUST read both of these.
Author Bryan Mark Riggs was in his late twenties when he wrote this a couple of years ago. He is a (Reform?) Jew. At that point he had already earned a PhD at Cambridge, served as a volunteer in the Israeli Army and US Marines, and was teaching at SMU. This book grew out of his (undergraduate!) thesis at Yale. He found and interviewed a huge number of "Mischlinge" -- half or quarter-Jews who served in the Nazi military during WWII, sometimes with as high a rank as general.
Rigg improbably estimates there may have been as many as 150,000 such soldiers under Hitler.
Many of these men served to escape death. Some were just strong German nationalists.
The interesting part is that both Jewish halakah and Nazi law regarded many of these men as Jews, while most themselves did not! By Nazi law anyone who was 25% Jewish was a Jew whether or not he was baptized, a Nazi Party member, practiced another religion, etc. But those who had already shown loyalty to the German military often were given special exemptions if they continued to serve. Remarkably, most of those part-Jews were proud Germans, with roots in the nation hundreds of years back, who did not practice Judaism. Some were even somewhat anti-Semitic, looking down on the culturally, economically and educationally less advanced (and religiously more Orthodox) East European Jewish immigrants (Ostjuden) as inferior.
Sadly most fought bravely for the very government that was murdering their relatives, and would surely murder most of them when the war was over and they were no longer needed. (Some lost their exemptions even during the war).
The madness and the vicious absurdity of the Nazis is portrayed very skillfully by Rigg.
Rigg goes on longer than he needs to. But the topic is so engrossing, the mini-biographies so complex and full of contradictions, and the writing style so clear and enthusiastic that I am wanting more. I will read everything he writes in the future.
The next book Rigg wrote last year, BTW, I just started -- its about how the Lubivitcher Rebbe was rescued from Warsaw during Nazi occupation and smuggled out of the country by cooperation between American spies and a part-Jewish Nazi intelligence agent! That book is the most unbelievable story I have ever read. (A Past in Hiiding by Mark Roseman being a close second).
Any WWII buff MUST read both of these.
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