Ordinary Wehrmacht troops proved at least as brutal as the SS in camps

Evidence

Originally, only special units of the SS—the Death Head formations—were employed in the concentration camps. Later replacements came from the Armed SS divisions. From 1944 on, units of the regular armed forces were also employed but usually incorporated in the Armed SS. (See the Affidavit of a former SS official of the concentration camp of Neuengamme in Nazi Conspiracy, VII, 211.) How the active presence of the Wehrmacht made itself felt in the concentration camps has been described in Odd Nansen’s concentration camp diary Day After Day, London, 1949. Unfortunately, it shows that these regular army troops were at least as brutal as the SS. — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 2760

Categorization

Category: Contrarian or Surprising Claims

Broader Connections

• Systematic bureaucratic destruction replaced spontaneous atrocity in the camps #complicates (0.85) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 1019