Inside Hitler's Headquarters

Fülszöveg

INSIDE HITLER'S
HEADQUARTERS j
1939-45 |
Walter Warlimont
This is the story of World War II, as seen
from Germany's Supreme Headquarters
by General Walter Warlimont, who was
at the center of power during one of
history's most shattering periods. It is
the story of men whom the fates tempted
and then destroyed.
It is doubtful that ever before in a
great war had the supreme headquarters
of a major participant been such a
microcosm of that country's leadership
and society. The German Armed Forces
Supreme Headquarters during World
War II was a stage of truly Wagnerian
dimensions, with Hitler the all-powerful,
totally evil, almost godlike arbiter of life
and death over untold millions of com-
batants and noncombatants. Bold and
brilliant one day, cowering in fear the
next, Adolf Hitler displayed uncanny
military intuition but was incapable of
carrying out professional military opera-
tions. Greedy for praise, he carefully
picked the most spineless and syco-... Tovább

Fülszöveg

INSIDE HITLER'S
HEADQUARTERS j
1939-45 |
Walter Warlimont
This is the story of World War II, as seen
from Germany's Supreme Headquarters
by General Walter Warlimont, who was
at the center of power during one of
history's most shattering periods. It is
the story of men whom the fates tempted
and then destroyed.
It is doubtful that ever before in a
great war had the supreme headquarters
of a major participant been such a
microcosm of that country's leadership
and society. The German Armed Forces
Supreme Headquarters during World
War II was a stage of truly Wagnerian
dimensions, with Hitler the all-powerful,
totally evil, almost godlike arbiter of life
and death over untold millions of com-
batants and noncombatants. Bold and
brilliant one day, cowering in fear the
next, Adolf Hitler displayed uncanny
military intuition but was incapable of
carrying out professional military opera-
tions. Greedy for praise, he carefully
picked the most spineless and syco-
phantic general officers as Chief of Staff
and Chief of Operations, who were little
more than his servants, ever intent on
carrying out even his most illogical and
contemptible commands. Lusting for
power, he finally ran the war almost
singlehanded, racing from mistake to
mistake, from catastrophe to catastro-
phe, surrounded by his retinue of "yes
men."
It was from such a stage that the most
gigantic, complex, and monstrous war
in history was conducted—in an atmos-
phere of total confusion, with lines of
authority divided between Supreme
Headquarters and the service com-
mands, with deep suspicion between the
party men and Hitler's handpicked
continued on back flap
continued from front flap
generals on the one hand and the Army
traditionalists on the other. It was here
that Hitler, with incredible success,
managed to impose his will on the cream
of the German General Staff officers,
practically all of whom despised the man
and opposed his military concepts. And
here one could observe the fearful con-
flict of conscience when the tradition of
the German Officers Corps, military
honor, and human qualities bred into
these men apparently dictated a psycho-
logical resistance to Hitler and the Nazis,
and at the same time a flawless profes-
sional performance in conducting mili-
tary operations.
It is one of those quirks of history that
General Warlimont lived to tell this
story. Since the war, he has spent many
years in reflection and research—and
has held hundreds of probing discus-
sions with other participants—in an
effort to reconstruct uncompromisingly
those war years. Quotations from
general orders, command decisions,
stenographic protocols of briefings and
other high-level conferences, extracts
from memoirs, extensive excerpts from
diaries and logs of commanders lend
additional dimension and drama to
General Warlimont's cool, analytical,
and deeply disturbing story.
General Warlimont himself is a pro-
duct of the tough and demanding school
of the German General Officers Corps
and was long considered one of its most
brilliant representatives. He had held a
number of commands and staff positions
prior to the start of World War II. From
September, 1939, until September,
1944, he was, under General Jodl,
Deputy Chief of the Operations Staff; he
was thus, in fact—since Jodl's duties
revolved mostly around Hitler—the
chief operations officer at Supreme
Headquarters.
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