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I have been reading the postings of Robert Rush and Allen Middlebro' with great interest. Based on research I've done in this period concerning this very issue, although with the German Volkssturm, I'd have to conclude that both are correct as they are often basing their points on different groups of soldiers. The factors involved with the motivation to continue fighting varying with individuals and with the enemy they faced. Volkssturm men showed a willingness to fight the Soviets that was rarely matched in the West; yet in the West they did fight and fight adequately, even well, in specific instances (often displaying more zeal against the French that the British or Americans it seems). Terror (by the Wehrmacht as well as Party and SS), opportunity--or lack thereof--to surrender, and ideology are the key factors and their impacts vary greatly from person to person and place to place. But I would identify another issue that plays a role--culture. The juncture between traditionally accepted German cultural values and National Socialism was the window of opportunity which Nazism could exploit to move the German public on any issue. Rush's quoted examples of anti-desertion/anti-defeatism pamphlets clearly illustrates this: to discourage desertion they noted the cultural consequences of a shameful loss of honor. I think that the juncture between German culture and National Socialist ideology needs to be more deeply explored if we want to understand the motivations of Germans of all types--military or civilian, officer or enlisted man--in the years between 1918 and 1945. David K. Yelton Gardner-Webb University
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