Werwolf!

Alexander Perry Biddiscombe

ISBN 10: 0802008623 / ISBN 13: 9780802008626

Published by Univ. of Toronto Press, 1998

About this Item

Aus Bibliothek aussortiert; Leichte Risse. The most complete history to date of the Nazi partisan resistance movement known as the Werwolf at the end of WWII. A fascinating history of great interest to general readers as well as to military historians.

Seller Inventory # b1680074-9f0b-4bb1-ac58-60f754d3a98a

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Werwolf!
• Publisher: Univ. of Toronto Press
• Publication Date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0802008623
• ISBN 13: 9780802008626
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Fair

About this title

Synopsis

Near the end of the Second World War, a National Socialist resistance movement, known as the Werwolf, flickered briefly to life in Germany and its borderlands. Dedicated to delaying the advance of the Allies on both fronts, the Werwolf succeeded in scattered acts of sabotage and violence. By the spring of 1945, it also showed signs of becoming a vengeful Nazi reaction against the German populace itself. 'Collaborators' and 'defeatists' were frequently assassinated, and crude posters warned that certain death would follow any failure to resist the enemy.

Werwolf violence failed to mobilize a spirit of national resistance. Biddiscombe argues that the group was poorly led, armed, and organized, and that it was doomed to failure given the war-weariness of the populace and the hesitancy of young Germans to sacrifice themselves on the funeral pyre of the regime. He also demonstrates that although the group failed to assume a popular character, its influence was still great and its revolutionary sentiments would have grave implications for the future.

Werwolf! is the most complete history to date of the Nazi partisan movement. It will be of great interest to general readers as well as to military historians.

About the Author

Perry Biddiscombe is an assistant professor in the Department of History at the University of Victoria.