Watch the German women of Berlin prepare to wreck Soviet troops
Let’s start this with the obvious: The Nazis were moral stains on the underwear of humanity. Militarily, they were stains in the armpits of humanity. And politically…fine. Like, they did get power from average Germans. So I guess they were successful there. Terrible, but successful.
But they were also a military of bank robbers that smashed and grabbed their way across Europe in order to fund genocide, and they got righteously smacked down for it.
But, all that said, there is a cool video from just prior to the fall of Berlin where dolled-up ladies are learning to fire anti-tank weapons with training from the Volkssturm. And that’s a cool image.
Imagine Pin-Ups for Vets if someone actually thought to give them a bunch of oversized weapons—in Pin-Ups for Vets’ case, that would actually work, since most of them are veterans themselves (and the Pin-Ups are not Nazis. Can’t emphasize that enough).
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Who Were the Volkssturm
The Volkssturm, the German home guard, wa sestablished in October 1944 and was responsible for conducting the kind of training depicted in the video. Although we highlighted the pretty women with their (probably bright red) lipstick, the Volkssturm militia actually consisted primarily of men aged 16 to 60. The woman in the video likely received the training without being a formal part of the organization.
The Volkssturm reported to Heinrich Himmler, another huge winner in life who was most famous as leader of the SS. The premise of the home guard was simple: break Berlin’s male population into four groups, called levies, that could be pressed into service when required.
(Side note: Himmler once went full “Footloose” on German teens who danced in rebellion of the Nazi state.)
As mentioned, the Volkssturm was broken up into four levies. Men aged 16 to 60 who were physically capable of combat and not busy in defense industries worked in Levy I and were focused on the coming fight. Men of the same age who did have other defense duties reported into Levy II and would pivot to combat operations as needed. Levy III held boys, mostly from the Hitler Youth, too young for Levy I or II. And Levy IV got the elderly who could still pull guard duty but were incapable of combat.
Of course, German women pressed into service in 1945 did not save Berlin. Neither did the boys or the elderly men. It’s weird, but maybe throwing the last of your citizens into a meat grinder after a failed war of choice is a bad idea.
If it sounds crazy to earmark boys younger than 16 and men older than 60 for combat and guard duty, then maybe a future in the Nazi home defense isn’t for you. Which is a good thing because, again, they were morally stains on the underwear of humanity. They also didn’t have much of a future—they got wrecked by the Red Army.
Soviet troops launched the Battle of Berlin on April 16, 1945. They pressured that dork Adolf Hitler into suicide just two weeks later.
Speaking of which, the more I learn about that guy, the more I don’t care for him.
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