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Horst Boog | |
|---|---|
| Born | 5 January 1928 (1928-01-05) |
| Died | 8 January 2016 (2016-01-09) (aged 88) Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany |
| Occupation(s) | Historian, author, editor |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | University of Heidelberg |
| Academic work | |
| Era | 20th century |
| Institutions | Military History Research Office (MGFA) |
| Main interests | military history,historiography |
| Notable works | Germany and the Second World War |
Horst Boog (5 January 1928 – 8 January 2016)[1] was a German historian who specialised in the history ofNazi Germany andWorld War II. He was the research director at theMilitary History Research Office (MGFA). Boog was a contributor to several volumes of the seminal workGermany and the Second World War from the MGFA. He was an expert on theLuftwaffe and the German side of theaerial war in Europe during World War II.
Boog also wrote for the right-wing, nationalistic newspaperJunge Freiheit and became politically active in the context of debates about the Alliedstrategic bombing during World War II.[2] Since the early 1990s almost all of his work concentrated on arguing that Nazi Germany did not start bombing of civilians.[3]
Born in 1928 inMerseburg, Horst Boog grew up in Germany. In 1944, he joined theHitler Youth and trained as a glider pilot. Towards the end of the war, he was drafted into theVolkssturm. Unable to secure a placement for university studies in the difficult economic conditions of post-war Germany, he attended a foreign-language school inLeipzig. Subsequently, Boog worked as a translator at theInternational Military Tribunal atNuremberg. For the academic year 1949–50, he received a scholarship as anexchange student atMiddlebury College in the United States, where he earned the degree ofBachelor of Arts in history and philosophy.[4]
Returning from the U.S., Boog worked at theFederal Intelligence Service. He attended evening classes at theUniversity of Stuttgart in 1950/51 and took unpaid time off to attend classes at theUniversity of Heidelberg. In 1965 he earned hisPhD under the guidance ofJohannes Kühn [de] at Heidelbeg; the topic of his dissertation was the career ofErnst Graf zu Reventlow (1869–1943), a German naval officer, journalist andNazi politician.[4] He died on 8 January 2016 inFreiburg.[1]
Boog joined theMilitary History Research Office (MGFA) at Freiburg, where he became a senior research director. While at MGFA, Boog initiated the first scientific conference on theGerman air war of World War II. Boog contributed to several volumes of the seminal workGermany and the Second World War. Since the 1980s, he had been an internationally recognized expert on the Luftwaffe and on the laws of war, such as the right to war (jus ad bellum) and the law of war (jus in bello).[5] In his works, Boog started to identify with the Luftwaffe[6] and drew a distinction between the "brave Luftwaffe officers and their Nazi leaders", writing about "brave decisions and personal courage" of Wehrmacht General Staff in addition to strong condemnation of theAllies.[7]
Bas von Benda-Beckmann is critical of Boog, criticising him for stating the bombings of Guernica, Rotterdam and Warsaw were "tactical" attacks compared to the Allied strategic bombing raids during World War II, which Boog described "terror bombings".[8] Beckmann wrote further that Boog asserted that remained the case only until 1942.[9]
ProfessorRichard Overy argues the same case as Boog with respect to the German side, and the attacks on Warsaw, Rotterdam and Guernica. Overy notes that airmen were ordered to avoid civilians leaving the Polish capital.[10] Another airpower scholar,James Corum argues the rules of warfare in 1937 permitted the attack on Guernica and that the town was a legitimate target in supporting ground forces.[11] Corum argues that the Luftwaffe did not have a policy of so-called "terror bombing", where civilians and civilian infrastructure were targeted.[12]
In his writings Benda-Beckmann claimed Boog aimed at portraying Allied bombings of Nazi Germany as equal to Nazi crimes.[9] Boog also wrote for the right-wing, nationalistic newspaperJunge Freiheit and became politically active in the context of debates about the Alliedstrategic bombing during World War II.[2]
In his later writings starting from mid-90s, Benda-Beckmann claimed Boog engaged in criticism of German guilt for Second World War, which he accused of "hypersensitivity" and claimed that just because Hitler was presented as "villain" not everything done in his name was presented as "wrong".[13] Benda-Beckmann also claimed Boog asserted that it was Germany that was "victim" during Second World War air war and not everything done in Nazi Germany was "wrong" or "evil". In doing so he continued a narrative that presented Germans as suffering in Second World War and majority of Germans as "respectable".[14]
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