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Wolfram Wette | |
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 Wette in 2008 | |
| Born | (1940-11-11)11 November 1940 (age 85) Germany |
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| Awards | Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany |
| Academic work | |
| Era | 20th century,World War II |
| Institutions | Military History Research Office University of Freiburg |
| Main interests | Modern European history[broken anchor], military history,historiography |
| Notable works | Germany and the Second World War The Wehrmacht: History, Myth, Reality |
Wolfram Wette (born 11 November 1940) is a German military historian andpeace researcher. He is an author or editor of over 40 books on the history ofNazi Germany, including the seminalGermany and the Second World War series from the GermanMilitary History Research Office (MGFA).
Wette's 2002 book,The Wehrmacht: History, Myth, Reality has been translated into five languages and deals with the issue ofWehrmacht criminality duringWorld War II and thelegend of its "clean hands". In 2015, Wette was a recipient of theOrder of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, the only federal honour awarded to German citizens for exceptional achievements.
From 1971 to 1995 Wette worked at theMilitary History Research Office (MGFA). Afterwards, he was a professor of history at theUniversity of Freiburg. Wette was a co-founder of the Historical Peace Research Working Group (Arbeitskreis Historische Friedens- und Konfliktforschung e.V.). He was a member of themunicipal council ofFreiburg from 1980 to 1989 as a member of theSocial Democratic Party of Germany, and was also the chairman of the SPDparliamentary group and the SPD city association chairman.[1]
Wette is an author or editor of forty books on the history of Nazi Germany, including theWehrmacht (armed forces), its leadership and itsrelationship with Nazism. Wette's works explored topics that at the time of their publication were considered taboo or not widely discussed in Germany, such as desertion, treason and aid to victims of the Nazi regime from military personnel. Despite thousands of executions for "undermining of military morale", Wette's research has shown that only three Wehrmacht servicemen were executed for helping Jews. Wette explored the topic in his bookFeldwebel Anton Schmid: Ein Held der Humanität [Feldwebel Anton Schmid: A Hero of Humanity]. The book told the story ofAnton Schmid, who aided Jews confined to theVilna Ghetto. He was sentenced to death by his military superiors and executed in 1942. Because of the controversial nature of Wette's work, he has receiveddeath threats.[1]
Wette's 2002 bookDie Wehrmacht. Feindbilder, Vernichtungskrieg, Legenden [The Wehrmacht: Images of the Enemy, War of Extermination, Legends] was published in 2006 in English asThe Wehrmacht: History, Myth, Reality byHarvard University Press. Building onOmer Bartov's 1985 studyThe Eastern Front, 1941–1945: German Troops and the Barbarisation of Warfare, the book deconstructs the myth of theclean Wehrmacht. According toThe Atlantic, it shows that "the Wehrmacht—and not, as postwar accounts by German generals would have it, merely theSS—freely and even eagerly joined in murder and genocide, which were central, rather than incidental, features of its effort".[2]
The book complements the earlier studies that focused on the averageLandser (soldier) and also discusses the complicity of the highest levels of the Wehrmacht.[3] Reviewing the work, the historianGeoffrey P. Megargee notes that "until Wette's work, there was no concise, general survey on the Wehrmacht's crimes, at least for an English-speaking audience. Thus, his work fills a significant gap in the literature". The review goes on to criticize the book for omitting key areas, according to Megargee, for assessing the Wehrmacht's criminality, including themurder of more than 3 million Soviet prisoners of war, theBandenbekämpfung (bandit-fighting) doctrine of carrying out counter-insurgency warfare with maximum brutality, and criminal orders, such as theCommissar Order.[4]
