« Everyone was ready to exercise violence » – DiePresse.com
The end of the Second World War marks the 80th anniversary. Many crimes on retreat are still unclear, says historian Dieter Pohl.
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During the withdrawal in front of the Red Army, many crimes happened, especially in Eastern Europe. Very few were informed. In the picture: Wehrmacht soldier during the retreat battles in 1944. Scherl/SZ-Photo/Picturedesk.com
The press: At the end of March 1945, Soviet troops reached the border in Burgenland, on April 13th the Red Army defeated the Wehrmacht in Vienna. Before that there was a series of retreat crimes. What exactly does this mean?
Dieter Pohl: The term end phase crime appeared in the 1960s. This meant crimes by members of the Reich in members of the Reich. So if someone hanged the white flag out too early and was shot by the roll command. Since the 1990s, it was increasingly about final phase crimes on the Nazi main victim groups. The problem is that the end of the war has developed differently in the individual countries, which is why you arrange all events related to it as a retreat crime.
When did the withdrawal began?
Actually with the Battle of Stalingrad in 1943. But there was a retreat crime earlier, in 1941 when the Wehrmacht failed in front of Moscow. Most of these crimes passed in Eastern Europe and were decentralized. They are little known to the western public.
