David Yelton

A more descriptive title for this book might be "Borman's Volkssturm," in as much as a major portion of the study is devoted to Martin Borman's maneuvers to keep control of this organization away from the SS and the German Army proper. Not only was self-aggrandizement in play, but the real purpose of the force was not so much to be an auxiliary to the combat troops, but to be a movement capable of regenerating the fanatical fervor that the Nazi leadership believed could still win the war. This is presuming the Nazi fairy tale that the German people was of superior warrior blood was actually true. The small irony is that the Volkssturm actually did serve well as a militia, but that the human resouces to make a real go of it no longer existed. A good case study of the late-war German experience and a demonstratin of why it's important to take Nazi ideology seriously as an explanatory factor.… (mer)