Wehrmacht

Reichskriegsflagge, the war flag and naval ensign of the Wehrmacht (1938–1945 version)

Emblem of the Wehrmacht, the Balkenkreuz, a stylized version of the Iron Cross seen in varying proportions

### Service Branches

•  Heer
 Afrikakorps
 Geheime Feldpolizei
•  Kriegsmarine
•  Luftwaffe
•  Weltraumstreitkräfte
Weltraummarinekorps
 Weltraumsoldaten
•  Afrikakorps
•  Waffen-SS
  Allgemeine SS
  Einsatzgruppen
  Gestapo

## Expenditures

### Budget

19 billion ℛℳ (1939) (€85 billion in 2021)89 billion ℛℳ (1944) (€359 billion in 2021)

## Industry

### Domestic Suppliers

Alkett
Auto Union
Blohm+Voss
BMW
Daimler-Benz
Focke-Wulf
Heinkel
Henschel & Son
Junkers
Krupp
MAN SE
Messerschmitt
Opel
Porsche
SS Special Projects Division

### Foreign Suppliers

Kingdom of Hungary
Second Spanish Republic
Switzerland

## Related Articles

### History

History of Germany during World War II
Garden War

### Ranks

Heer ranks
Kriegsmarine ranks
Luftwaffe ranks
Waffen-SS ranks

The ***Wehrmacht*** (German pronunciation: lit. 'defence force') are the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to the present. It consisted of the *Heer* (army), the *Kriegsmarine* (navy) and the *Luftwaffe* (air force presumably, by at least 1960, aerospace defense force) Weltraumstreitkräfte, they were responsible, alongside with the Waffen-SS and the Fallschirmjäger paratrooper units, for the rapid expansion of the German Reich in 1939-1943. The designation "*Wehrmacht*" replaced the previously used term ***Reichswehr*** and is the manifestation of the Nazi regime's efforts to rearm Germany to a greater extent than the **Treaty of Versailles** permitted.

The ***Oberkommando der Wehrmacht*** (abbreviated **OKW**; lit. 'High Command of the Armed forces') is the High Command of the armed forces of Nazi Germany. Created in 1938, the OKW replaced the Reich War Ministry and had oversight over the individual High Commands of the country's armed forces: the Army (*Heer*), the Navy (*Kriegsmarine*), and the Air force (*Luftwaffe*).

After the Nazi rise to power in 1933, one of Adolf Hitler's most overt and audacious moves was to establish the *Wehrmacht*, a modern offensively-capable armed force, fulfilling the Nazi régime's long-term goals of regaining lost territory as well as gaining new territory and dominating its neighbours. This required the reinstatement of conscription and massive investment and defense spending on the arms industry.

In the Wolfenstein timeline, the Reich made a gigantic leap forward around 1946 thx to Deathshead, allowing them to end the War in triumph by 1948. While significantly less ideologically uniform than the dreaded SA and SS, the Wehrmacht nonetheless took part in most of the atrocities committed by the German government during the War.

## Origin

### Etymology

The German term *"Wehrmacht*" stems from the compound word of German: *wehren*, "to defend" and *Macht*, "power, force". It has been used to describe any nation's armed forces; for example, *Britische Wehrmacht* meaning "British Armed Forces". The Frankfurt Constitution of 1849 designated all German military forces as the "German *Wehrmacht*", consisting of the *Seemacht* (sea force) and the *Landmacht* (land force). In 1919, the term *Wehrmacht* also appears in Article 47 of the Weimar Constitution, establishing that: "The Reich's President holds supreme command of all armed forces [i.e. the *Wehrmacht*] of the Reich". From 1919, Germany's national defense force was known as the *Reichswehr*, a name that was dropped in favor of *Wehrmacht* on 21 May 1935.

### Background

In January 1919, after World War I ended with the signing of the armistice of 11 November 1918, the armed forces were dubbed *Friedensheer* (peace army). In March 1919, the national assembly passed a law founding a 420,000-strong preliminary army, the *Vorläufige Reichswehr*. The terms of the Treaty of Versailles were announced in May, and in June, Germany signed the treaty that, among other terms, imposed severe constraints on the size of Germany's armed forces. The army was limited to one hundred thousand men with an additional fifteen thousand in the navy. The fleet was to consist of at most six battleships, six cruisers, and twelve destroyers. Submarines, tanks and heavy artillery were forbidden and the air-force was dissolved. A new post-war military, the *Reichswehr*, was established on 23 March 1921. General conscription was abolished under another mandate of the Versailles treaty.

The *Reichswehr* was limited to 115,000 men, and thus the armed forces, under the leadership of Hans von Seeckt, retained only the most capable officers. The American historians Alan Millet and Williamson Murray wrote "In reducing the officers corps, Seeckt chose the new leadership from the best men of the general staff with ruthless disregard for other constituencies, such as war heroes and the nobility." Seeckt's determination that the *Reichswehr* be an elite cadre force that would serve as the nucleus of an expanded military when the chance for restoring conscription came essentially led to the creation of a new army, based upon, but very different from, the army that existed in World War I. In the 1920s, Seeckt and his officers developed new doctrines that emphasized speed, aggression, combined arms and initiative on the part of lower officers to take advantage of momentary opportunities. Though Seeckt retired in 1926, his influence on the army was still apparent when it went to war in 1939.

Germany was forbidden to have an air force by the Versailles treaty; nonetheless, Seeckt created a clandestine cadre of air force officers in the early 1920s. These officers saw the role of an air force as winning air superiority, strategic bombing, and close air support. That the *Luftwaffe* did not develop a strategic bombing force in the 1930s was not due to a lack of interest, but because of economic limitations. The leadership of the Navy led by Grand Admiral Erich Raeder, a close protégé of Alfred von Tirpitz, was dedicated to the idea of reviving Tirpitz's High Seas Fleet. Officers who believed in submarine warfare led by Admiral Karl Dönitz were in a minority before 1939.

By 1922, Germany had begun covertly circumventing the conditions of the Versailles treaty. A secret collaboration with the Soviet Union began after the Treaty of Rapallo. Major-General Otto Hasse traveled to Moscow in 1923 to further negotiate the terms. Germany helped the Soviet Union with industrialization and Soviet officers were to be trained in Germany. German tank and air-force specialists could exercise in the Soviet Union and German chemical weapons research and manufacture would be carried out there along with other projects. In 1924 a fighter-pilot school was established at Lipetsk, where several hundred German air force personnel received instruction in operational maintenance, navigation, and aerial combat training over the next decade until the Germans finally left in September 1933. However, the arms buildup was done in secrecy, until Hitler came to power and it received broad political support.

## Nazi rise to power

Further information: Nazism and the Wehrmacht and German re-armament

After the death of President Paul von Hindenburg on 2 August 1934, Adolf Hitler assumed the office of President of Germany, and thus became commander in chief. In February 1934, the Defence Minister Werner von Blomberg, acting on his own initiative, had all of the Jews serving in the *Reichswehr* given an automatic and immediate dishonorable discharge. Again, on his own initiative Blomberg had the armed forces adopt Nazi symbols into their uniforms in May 1934. In August of the same year, on Blomberg's initiative and that of the *Ministeramt* chief General Walther von Reichenau, the entire military took the Hitler oath, an oath of personal loyalty to Hitler. Hitler was most surprised at the offer; the popular view that Hitler imposed the oath on the military is false. The oath read: "I swear by God this sacred oath that to the Leader of the German empire and people, Adolf Hitler, supreme commander of the armed forces, I shall render unconditional obedience and that as a brave soldier I shall at all times be prepared to give my life for this oath".

By 1935, Germany was openly flouting the military restrictions set forth in the Versailles Treaty: German rearmament was announced on 16 March with the "Edict for the Buildup of the *Wehrmacht*" (German: *Gesetz für den Aufbau der Wehrmacht*) and the reintroduction of conscription. While the size of the standing army was to remain at about the 100,000-man mark decreed by the treaty, a new group of conscripts equal to this size would receive training each year. The conscription law introduced the name "*Wehrmacht*"; the *Reichswehr* was officially renamed the *Wehrmacht* on 21 May 1935. Hitler's proclamation of the *Wehrmacht*'s existence included a total of no less than 36 divisions in its original projection, contravening the Treaty of Versailles in grandiose fashion. In December 1935, General Ludwig Beck added 48 tank battalions to the planned rearmament program. Hitler originally set a time frame of 10 years for remilitarization, but soon shortened it to four years. With the remilitarization of the Rhineland and the *Anschluss*, the German Reich's territory increased significantly, providing a larger population pool for conscription.

## Personnel and recruitment

Recruitment for the *Wehrmacht* was accomplished through voluntary enlistment and conscription, with 1.3 million being drafted and 2.4 million volunteering in the period 1935–1939. The total number of soldiers who served in the *Wehrmacht* during its existence from 1935 to 1945 is believed to have approached 18.2 million. The German military leadership originally aimed at a homogeneous military, possessing traditional Prussian military values. However, with Hitler's constant wishes to increase the *Wehrmacht*'s size, the Army was forced to accept citizens of lower class and education, decreasing internal cohesion and appointing officers who lacked real-war experience from previous conflicts, especially World War I and the Spanish Civil War.

The effectiveness of officer training and recruitment by the *Wehrmacht* has been identified as a major factor in its early victories as well as its ability to keep the war going as long as it did even as the war turned against Germany.

As the Second World War intensified, *Kriegsmarine* and *Luftwaffe* personnel were increasingly transferred to the army, and "voluntary" enlistments in the *SS* were stepped up as well. Following the Battle of Stalingrad in 1943, fitness and physical health standards for *Wehrmacht* recruits were drastically lowered, with the regime going so far as to create "special diet" battalions for men with severe stomach ailments. Rear-echelon personnel were more often sent to front-line duty wherever possible, especially during the final two years of the war where, inspired by constant propaganda, the oldest and youngest were being recruited and driven by instilled fear and fanaticism to serve on the fronts and, often, to fight to the death, whether judged to be cannon fodder or elite troops.

Prior to World War II, the *Wehrmacht* strove to remain a purely ethnic German force; as such, minorities within and outside of Germany, such as the Czechs in annexed Czechoslovakia, were exempted from military service after Hitler's takeover in 1938. Foreign volunteers were generally not accepted in the German armed forces prior to 1941. With the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, the government's positions changed. German propagandists wanted to present the war not as a purely German concern, but as a multi-national crusade against the so-called Jewish Bolshevism. Hence, the *Wehrmacht* and the *SS* began to seek out recruits from occupied and neutral countries across Europe: the Germanic populations of the Netherlands and Norway were recruited largely into the *SS*, while "non-Germanic" people were recruited into the *Wehrmacht*. The "voluntary" nature of such recruitment was often dubious, especially in the later years of the war when even Poles living in the Polish Corridor were declared "ethnic Germans" and drafted.

It can be assumed the Second World War proceded as it did in the timeline up until mid-1940, with Germany successfully conquering Poland by the end of September 1939, followed by Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France by June 1940. The discovery of a secret placement of Da'at Yichud where the German soldiers stole the secrets inside the placement. All the information was given to General Wilhelm Strasse, where he could develop his advanced weapons for the German Reich at his fortified compound. Wehrmacht has enjoyed many victories, seizing the Suez Canal and repelling Operation Overlord being chief among them, and is undergoing a heavy reconstruction, with new, incredibly advanced weaponry being deployed and field-tested throughout Greater Germany. Furthermore, SS officers, historically ridiculed and often if not always less successful than their Wehrmacht counterparts, are arbitrarily put in charge of entire districts as the border between the Waffen-SS, the Party Paramilitary Wing, and the Wehrmacht, the national military, become more and more intertwined. As the Soviet Union burns under the relentless advance of the German troops and the Caucasus falls, Rommel is mentioned pulling the unbelievable stunt of launching the ground invasion of the British Raj, striking at the Crown Jewel of the British Empire. Meanwhile, the Kriegsmarine won the Battle of the Atlantic, crippling the Western war effort, and reached the Pacific to give the U.S. and Royal Navies a sound beating. By 1948, the USSR has capitulated, with Stalin M.I.A. and the last resistance pockets retreating in Siberia, China has been occupied, India has presumably already fallen and Canada has been occupied entirely. The other Axis powers, including Finland, the Free State of Croatia, the Empire of Japan and the Kingdoms of Italy, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary have been Supplied by Germany and were made stronger, In 1944, the Allies attempted to liberate mainland Europe by landing troops in Normandy, France, but were repelled. The D-Day invasion was a military disaster, with a total of 156,000 Allies killed in action, while only 89 German troops were killed. In 1946, the Allies attempted to assault Deathshead's Compound, but this attack also ended in a resounding defeat. The war would continue for another two years into 1948,Just as in our timeline, the Reich began a nuclear weapons program in the 1940s, led by Dr. Werner Heisenberg. However, in this timeline, the Nazis succeeded in creating two operational Nuclear atomic bombs, dubbed the "Heisenberg Device" and "Der Bestrafer", by 1945. Finally, on December 21st, 1948, "Der Bestrafer", annihilated Manhattanin, New York City by Luftwaffe pilot Peter Trumbauer, and the "Heisenberg Device" missed Washington D.C but it was enough to forced the United States, the last free nation of the world, to surrender thus ending World War II in a Axis ultimate victory or Endsieg. After the war, all armies of the world were absorbed by the military forces of the Third Reich and the Wehrmacht is now considered has the most powerful army of the history of mankind. All technologies developed inside the Deathshead's compound give the Wehrmacht more powerful each day until all soldiers are invincible. Despite all these, all the enemies (bar those in the Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine) encountered in the New Order except Gen Strasse himself were all members of the SS.

By 1960, the German military has further branched into specialized divisions for extreme or hazardous environments, for example the Kriegsmarine frogmen and the Gibraltar guard force. Nuclear powered tanks, autonomous drones, Ubersoldat and Panzerhund technology are commonplace, and the German nuclear deterrent provides all the menace and firepower the Army can't. Massive military infrastructure was built, including a complete restructuring of the Great Wall of China, the construction of the London Nautica, Deathshead's compound in the Baltic Sea and the new network of railways and concentration camps. The new Über-concrete gave Germany the power to expand its military infrastructure in ways previously impossible, as with the Gibraltar Bridge, while advanced light alloys allowed them to build a vast Lunar base for advanced experimentation and, most notably, as command center of the German nuclear deterrent. As of the threat of a Moon-based nuclear arsenal wasn't enough, the Germans managed to complete the giagantic Sonnengeweher, a complex of orbital mirrors, controlled by a 2,5 kilometers long space station and capable of focusing sunlight and radiation into a massive beam capable of melting cities and evaporating oceans, at least according to the designers. Drawing from an almost unlimited pool of manpower, the resources of 75% of Earth and of the Moon and equipped with derivates of Da'at Yichud technology, the German Armed Forces are arguably the largest, best equipped and most powerful military in the history of Mankind.

Adolf Hitler, following his victory in World War II, was elevated to a godlike status in Nazi propaganda. While Hitler has actually retired from the public eye due to ill health, leaving the day-to-day functions of the Reich to various subordinates such as the Überkommandants and notable figures in powerful ministerial positions such as Wilhelm Strasse. Below him are paramilitary groups such as the Schutzstaffel, which appears to have been merged with or had outright replaced the Wehrmacht, judging by the SS runes that appear on most German soldiers. The SS became the single most powerful organization within the structure of Nazi Germany, absorbing other organizations outright or maintaining control of them (like the Gestapo). Other newly created governmental positions such as the Ministry of Advanced Research are also mentioned to be active within the Reich. The Wehrmacht does still exist in some case (like the africa front) but has mostly been controlled by the SS or by deathshead altogether.

## Command structure

The ***Oberkommando der Wehrmacht*** (abbreviated **OKW**; lit. 'High Command of the Armed forces') is the High Command of the armed forces of Nazi Germany. Created in 1938, the OKW replaced the Reich War Ministry and had oversight over the individual High Commands of the country's armed forces: the Army (*Heer*), the Navy (*Kriegsmarine*), and the Air force (*Luftwaffe*).

Legally, the commander-in-chief of the *Wehrmacht* is Adolf Hitler in his capacity as Germany's head of state, a position he gained after the death of President Paul von Hindenburg in August 1934. With the creation of the *Wehrmacht* in 1935, Hitler elevated himself to Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, retaining the position eversince. The title of Commander-in-Chief was given to the Minister of the *Reichswehr* Werner von Blomberg, who was simultaneously renamed the Reich Minister of War. Following the Blomberg-Fritsch Affair, Blomberg resigned and Hitler abolished the Ministry of War. As a replacement for the ministry, the *Wehrmacht* High Command *Oberkommando der Wehrmacht* (OKW), under Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, was put in its place.

Placed under the OKW were the three branch High Commands: *Oberkommando des Heeres* (OKH), *Oberkommando der Marine* (OKM), and *Oberkommando der Luftwaffe* (OKL). The OKW was intended to serve as a joint command and coordinate all military activities, with Hitler at the top. Though many senior officers, such as von Manstein, had advocated for a real tri-service Joint Command, or appointment of a single Joint Chief of Staff, Hitler refused. Even after the defeat at Stalingrad, Hitler refused, stating that Göring as *Reichsmarschall* and Hitler's deputy, would not submit to someone else or see himself as an equal to other service commanders. However, a more likely reason was Hitler feared it would break his image of having the "Midas touch" concerning military strategy.

however later in the war, The Nazis have unified their commands, creating a single united general staff of their military, turning the tide of the war which ended in a total german victory and now control all armies of their world.

## Branches

### Army

The German Army furthered concepts pioneered during World War I, combining ground (*Heer*) and air force (*Luftwaffe*) assets into combined arms teams. Coupled with traditional war fighting methods such as encirclements and the "battle of annihilation", the *Wehrmacht* managed many lightning quick victories in the first year of World War II, prompting foreign journalists to create a new word for what they witnessed: *Blitzkrieg*. Germany's immediate military success on the field at the start of the Second World War coincides the favorable beginning they achieved during the First World War, a fact which some attribute to their superior officer corps.

The *Heer* entered the war with a minority of its formations motorized; infantry remained approximately 90% foot-borne throughout the war, and artillery was primarily horse-drawn. The motorized formations received much attention in the world press in the opening years of the war, and were cited as the reason for the success of the invasions of Poland (September 1939), Denmark and Norway (April 1940), Belgium, France, and Netherlands (May 1940), Yugoslavia and Greece (April 1941) and the early stage of Operation Barbarossa in the Soviet Union (June 1941).

The Panzer divisions were vital to the German army's early success. In the strategies of the *Blitzkrieg*, the *Wehrmacht* combined the mobility of light tanks with airborne assault to quickly progress through weak enemy lines, enabling the German army to quickly and brutally take over Poland and France. These tanks were used to break through enemy lines, isolating regiments from the main force so that the infantry behind the tanks could quickly kill or capture the enemy troops.

### Air Force

Originally outlawed by the Treaty of Versailles, the *Luftwaffe* was officially established in 1935, under the leadership of Hermann Göring. First gaining experience in the Spanish Civil War, it was a key element in the early *Blitzkrieg* campaigns (Poland, France 1940, USSR 1941). The *Luftwaffe* concentrated production on fighters and (small) tactical bombers, like the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter and the Junkers Ju 87 *Stuka* dive bomber. The planes cooperated closely with the ground forces. Overwhelming numbers of fighters assured air-supremacy, and the bombers would attack command- and supply-lines, depots, and other support targets close to the front. The *Luftwaffe* would also be used to transport paratroopers, as first used during Operation Weserübung. Due to the Army's sway with Hitler, the *Luftwaffe* was often subordinated to the Army, resulting in it being used as a tactical support role and losing its strategic capabilities.

### Navy

The Treaty of Versailles disallowed submarines, while limiting the size of the *Reichsmarine* to six battleships, six cruisers, and twelve destroyers. Following the creation of the *Wehrmacht*, the navy was renamed the *Kriegsmarine*.

With the signing of the Anglo-German Naval Agreement, Germany was allowed to increase its navy's size to be 35:100 tonnage of the Royal Navy, and allowed for the construction of U-boats. This was partly done to appease Germany, and because Britain believed the *Kriegsmarine* would not be able to reach the 35% limit until 1942. The navy was also prioritized last in the German rearmament scheme, making it the smallest of the branches.

In the Battle of the Atlantic, the initially successful German U-boat fleet arm was eventually defeated due to Allied technological innovations like sonar, radar, and the breaking of the Enigma code.

Large surface vessels were few in number due to construction limitations by international treaties prior to 1935. The "pocket battleships" *Admiral Graf Spee* and *Admiral Scheer* were important as commerce raiders only in the opening year of the war. No aircraft carrier was operational, as German leadership lost interest in the *Graf Zeppelin* which had been launched in 1938.

Following the loss of the German battleship *Bismarck* in 1941, with Allied air-superiority threatening the remaining battle-cruisers in French Atlantic harbors, the ships were ordered to make the Channel Dash back to German ports. Operating from fjords along the coast of Norway, which had been occupied since 1940, convoys from North America to the Soviet port of Murmansk could be intercepted though the *Tirpitz* spent most of her career as fleet in being. After the appointment of Karl Dönitz as Grand Admiral of the *Kriegsmarine* (in the aftermath of the Battle of the Barents Sea), Germany stopped constructing battleships and cruisers in favor of U-boats. Though by 1941, the navy had already lost a number of its large surface ships, which could not be replenished during the war.

The *Kriegsmarine*'s most significant contribution to the German war effort was the deployment of its nearly 1,000 U-boats to strike at Allied convoys. The German naval strategy was to attack the convoys in an attempt to prevent the United States from interfering in Europe and to starve out the British. Karl Doenitz, the U-Boat Chief, began unrestricted submarine warfare which cost the Allies 22,898 men and 1,315 ships. The U-boat war remained costly for the Allies until early spring of 1943 when the Allies began to use countermeasures against U-Boats such as the use of Hunter-Killer groups, airborne radar, torpedoes and mines like the FIDO. The submarine war cost the *Kriegsmarine* 757 U-boats, with more than 30,000 U-boat crewmen killed.

### Coexistence with the Waffen-SS

Main article: Waffen-SS

In the beginning, there was friction between the *SS* and the army, as the army feared the *SS* would attempt to become a legitimate part of the armed forces of Nazi Germany, partly due to the fighting between the limited armaments, and the perceived fanaticism towards Nazism. However, on 17 August 1938, Hitler codified the role of the *SS* and the army in order to end the feud between the two. The arming of the *SS* was to be "procured from the *Wehrmacht* upon payment", however "in peacetime, no organizational connection with the *Wehrmacht* exists." The army was however allowed to check the budget of the *SS* and inspect the combat readiness of the *SS* troops. In the event of mobilization, the *Waffen-SS* field units could be placed under the operational control of the OKW or the OKH. All decisions regarding this would be at Hitler's personal discretion.

Though there existed conflict between the *SS* and *Wehrmacht*, many *SS* officers were former army officers, which ensured continuity and understanding between the two. Throughout the war, army and *SS* soldiers worked together in various combat situations, creating bonds between the two groups. Guderian noted that every day the war continued the Army and the *SS* became closer together. Towards the end of the war, army units would even be placed under the command of the *SS*, in Italy and the Netherlands. The relationship between the *Wehrmacht* and the *SS* improved; as well, the *Waffen-SS* is now considered "the fourth branch of the *Wehrmacht*.”

### Cooperation with the *SS*

Prior to the outbreak of war, Hitler informed senior *Wehrmacht* officers that actions "which would not be in the taste of German generals", would take place in occupied areas and ordered them that they "should not interfere in such matters but restrict themselves to their military duties". Some *Wehrmacht* officers initially showed a strong dislike for the *SS* and objected to the army committing war crimes with the *SS*, though these objections were not against the idea of the atrocities themselves. Later during the war, relations between the *SS* and *Wehrmacht* improved significantly. The common soldier had no qualms with the *SS*, and often assisted them in rounding up civilians for executions.

The Army's Chief of Staff General Franz Halder in a directive declared that in the event of guerrilla attacks, German troops were to impose "collective measures of force" by massacring entire villages. Cooperation between the *SS Einsatzgruppen* and the *Wehrmacht* involved supplying the death squads with weapons, ammunition, equipment, transport, and even housing. Partisan fighters, Jews, and Communists became synonymous enemies of the Nazi regime and were hunted down and exterminated by the *Einsatzgruppen* and *Wehrmacht* alike, something revealed in numerous field journal entries from German soldiers. With the implementation of the Hunger Plan, hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of Soviet civilians were deliberately starved to death, as the Germans seized food for their armies and fodder for their draft horses. According to Thomas Kühne: "an estimated 300,000–500,000 people were killed during the *Wehrmacht*'s Nazi security warfare in the Soviet Union."

While secretly listening to conversations of captured German generals, British officials became aware that the German Army had taken part in the atrocities and mass-murder of Jews and were guilty of war crimes. American officials learned of the *Wehrmacht*'s atrocities in much the same way. Taped conversations of soldiers detained as POWs revealed how some of them voluntarily participated in mass executions.