According to a Wehrmacht report, drafted on 19 March, of an inspection visit in the area around the Remagen-Siegburg bridgehead over the Rhine: ‘Apart from exceptional cases – there really are no signs of a revolution-soldier in the mould of 1918.’
Nevertheless, while the ‘old fighters’ allegedly remained ‘steadfast’ and while ‘the Army from the general to the foot-soldier is bearing a constant burden that really deserves appreciation’, the report noted that many exhausted and dispirited soldiers were reacting passively to their dire predicament.
An unwelcome phenomenon that already has spread widely is the apathetic and tired soldier who fights only when he is directed by an officer but then quickly collapses again. He is often completely listless, neither courts martial nor punishments nor the harshest orders impress him.
The next type is the coward and deserter who just allows himself to be overrun without shooting.
Source:
Bessel, Richard. “A World in Flames.” Germany 1945: From War to Peace. New York, NY, HarperCollins, 2009. 44. Print.
Original Source Listed:
BA-MA, RW4, Nr. 495, ff. 23-27: Der chef des NS-Fuehrungsstabes, ‘Truppenbesuch im Bereich OB West und Ersatzheer’, 19 March 1945.
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