The Continuum of Brutality: Wehrmacht Security Divisions in Central Russia, 1942

The complicity of the Wehrmacht as an institution in the crimesof the Third Reich, and its participation in that régime'swar of extermination, are matters of historical record. Yetconduct and motivation amongst lower-level units are only recentlyreceiving extensive attention. It is a picture which, whilstfar from exculpatory, is nuanced and complex. This paper examinesconduct and motivation, during 1942, within one of the Wehrmachtsecurity divisions involved in one of the war of extermination'smost destructive aspects, the anti-partisan campaign in theSoviet Union. This campaign was directed far more against civilians,through such measures as massive reprisals and largescale operationsoften immensely destructive of lives and property, than againstactual partisans. That said, multiple influences, includingideological and military doctrine, physical conditions and officers'individual perceptions, shaped actual conduct, and conduct itselfranged from ruthless brutality to measures encouraging popularnative support and partisan desertion. One of the paper's keypoints is that the physical pressures of anti-partisan warfare—inhospitableterrain, insufficient security forces and a ruthless, unseenenemy—did not always translate, as past research has oftenargued, into brutality. In certain circumstances, they compelledsome units to pursue conciliatory policies even more rigorously.