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The Anti-Terror Campaign That Succeeded
By: Steven Plaut / JewishPress.comThursday, June 28, 2007
By: Steven Plaut / JewishPress.comThursday, June 28, 2007
A valuable lesson for our confrontation with radical Islam.
After their military defeat by regular forces, the occupied population produced terrorists who engaged in bombings, sniping, poisonings, and other attacks on occupation forces and on the civilian population. They operated as irregulars in small terror units, armed with automatic weapons and bazookas.
After their military defeat by regular forces, the occupied population produced terrorists who engaged in bombings, sniping, poisonings, and other attacks on occupation forces and on the civilian population. They operated as irregulars in small terror units, armed with automatic weapons and bazookas.
Women
and minors as young as eight participated in the terror attacks. They
attempted to build weapons of mass destruction, using chemical poisons.
They assassinated officials of the occupation regime. They had a special
obsession with torturing and murdering "collaborators." They murdered
hundreds of civilians, while thousands of the terrorists themselves were
killed by the occupation armed forces. The occupiers responded to
terror with brutality and force, sometimes using collective punishment.
The above does not refer
to or describe the anti-American and anti-British terror in Iraq and
Afghanistan. Nor does it describe Palestinian terrorism against Israel
launched from the West Bank and Gaza.
What
it does refer to is the campaign of terrorism directed against Allied
forces in Europe in the aftermath of the defeat of Nazi Germany. The
terrorists were members of a number of underground "resistance"
organizations attempting to punish the Allied "occupiers" and drive them
out. The most important of the terror groups was known as Werwolf
(German for werewolf).
Until
recently, relatively little was known about groups like Werwolf. But
several books, particularly those authored by Perry Biddiscombe, a
professor of history at the University of British Columbia, have shed
light on the activities of the groups and on the anti-terror strategies
that ultimately defeated them.
Most
of what follows is based on the research of Biddiscombe. There are
valuable lessons to be learned from the campaign against the Werwolf,
both for the U.S.-led coalition fighting in Iraq and for Israel in its
battles against Arab terrorism.
For
many years now the conventional wisdom has been that terrorism cannot
be defeated militarily, that it can only be stopped when its underlying
grievances are redressed and appeased. Moreover, the entire strategy of
dealing with terrorism militarily has long been under assault by the
Western chattering classes as ineffective and unjust.
Anti-terror
tactics used by the contemporary Allies in Iraq and Afghanistan or by
Israel against its enemies have been denounced by the media and by
countless public figures, especially in Western Europe. But the claim
that terrorism and guerilla warfare cannot be defeated militarily is
false, as illustrated by the campaign against the Werwolf.
Origins and Tactics
Nazi
preparations for a campaign of terrorism against the invading Allies
were underway by 1943. At first the intention was for irregular fighters
to serve as a diversionary force operating behind enemy lines. The name
"Werwolf" (also spelled "Wehrwolf") was chosen from a book by Hermann
Lons (Der Wehrwolf) glamorizing a 17th century German guerilla fighter.
The
Werwolf developed into a large full-fledged terrorist organization,
operating under the command of the SS. It operated in "groups"
consisting of 4 to 6 fighters, with 6 to 10 groups forming a "sector"
and 6 to 8 sectors forming a "section." At its height, the Werwolf
organization probably had about 6,000 fighters, though it could call on
the support and cooperation of other units such as the Volksturm,
a militia of the elderly and very young set up by Hitler near the end
of the war. Himmler took personal control of operations starting in
1944.
The
technology of those terrorists was of course far more primitive than
that used by modern Middle East terrorists, but some of the similarities
in technique are striking. Beheadings were a common Werwolf tactic.
Decades before the pilfering of the museums of Baghdad, the Werwolf were
under orders to sabotage and destroy art galleries, museums and other
cultural institutions. While Germany never produced a campaign of
suicide bombers, Werwolf terrorists were equipped with cyanide tablets
and expected to commit suicide rather than be taken captive.
In
the campaign against the Werwolf, an estimated 3,000-5,500 terrorists
were killed. Werwolf terrorism continued well after formal hostilities
ended and Germany had surrendered. In the German area of Italy, South
Tyrol, where a German separatist movement was active, sabotage, bombings
and Werwolf guerilla violence continued into the 1960’s.
As
part of the campaign of terrorism, German Red Cross ambulances
routinely carried arms and munitions, long before the Palestinians
perfected that technique. Buildings thought to be designated for use as
Allied barracks were mined, especially in Lorraine (where the attacks
were directed against the U.S. Third Army). Werwolf terrorists collected
caches of poison gases and chemical weapons, most of which were
discovered by Allied forces before they could be used.
The
Werwolf used death squads and assassination hit teams, often against
German civilians whom the terrorists suspected of collaboration or
defeatism. Civil authorities in German towns under Allied occupation
were favorite targets. Priests, public officials, and even German
villagers flying white surrender flags were attacked.
Werwolf
terrorists were each typically equipped with 15-20 pounds of explosives
and small arms, often including bazookas. Generally they operated
stealthily without uniform, in civilian clothes. They set up caches of
armaments in farms, caves, forests, and abandoned mines. Interestingly,
there was a female contingent of terrorists, a unit of which, equipped
with bazookas, played an important role in the last weeks of fighting
around Berlin.
Children were also frequently used in terror attacks. The Hitlerjugend,
or Hitler Youth, was one of the main sources of recruits for the
Werwolf. Entire units of Werwolf consisted of minors. Teenage Werwolf
terrorists were involved in bombing the Red Army barracks near
Hindenberg. Child snipers shot and threw grenades at advancing American
forces. Himmler himself invented an incentive system for Hitler Youth
serving in the Werwolf: 100 cigarettes for ten sniper kills; 20 days’
leave for twenty kills; a watch and Iron Cross for fifty kills.
A
unit of 14-year-olds attacked U.S. forces near Nuremberg. "Operation
Nursery," a campaign against Werwolf terrorism by minors, was mounted by
U.S. and British troops and continued well into 1946.
The
terrorists used a variety of techniques. In addition to sniping and
bombings, decapitation wires were popular – thin piano wire stretched
across a road just at the height of the necks of drivers of Allied
vehicles or motorcycles. Allied forces sometimes retaliated against such
attacks by beheading captured terrorists. In Schleswig-Holstein, the
British lopped off the heads of a dozen terrorists.
Mass
poisoning was another favorite terrorist method. It was used with
horrific success especially, but not exclusively, against Red Army
troops. Between February and July 1945, 180 American troops were
murdered with poisoned liquor. The Werwolf would spike liquor and food
with odorless poison and wait for the troops to indulge. A special
entity called the KTI, or Criminal Technical Institute, would prepare
the poisons.
While
the armed conflict raged, Werwolf terrorists were active in capturing,
torturing and murdering enemy troops. But as the war drew to a close,
the Werwolf began to specialize in terrorizing German civilians
suspected of collaborating with or failing to resist the Allies’
advance.
Werwolf
terrorism was strongest on the Eastern front, as Soviet forces
threatened East Prussia, Silesia, and other areas regarded by Germans as
part of their heartland. The Werwolf even ran its own radio station.
Ferocious Response
How
were those terrorists eventually defeated? With brutal military force
and counter-terrorism combined with a long-term program of
denazification of German civilians.
The
Soviets were by far the least squeamish of the Allies when it came to
suppressing Werwolf terrorism. According to a Vatican report, "Russian
reprisals…were terrible. Using flame-throwers the Russians destroyed
entire blocks of houses causing the deaths of hundreds of the
inhabitants."
Soviet
troops dealt with the threat through mass executions, mass arrests,
marauding, and arson directed against German civilians. Hostages were
grabbed from areas where any Werwolf sabotage took place and often were
summarily executed. Any Germans – even hunters – possessing any weapons
were shot on the spot as terrorists. Any German witnessing terror
attacks who did not come forward to testify about them was shot. Those
hiding terrorists or weapons were shot and their homes burned to the
ground.
As of
October 1946, the Soviets were holding 3,336 Werwolf terrorists in
prison within the Soviet zone. The Soviets also crowded 240,000
suspected Werwolf sympathizers into a prison camp (where fully a third
simply perished). In Jarmin in Pomerania, when German terrorists killed
two Soviet troops, the entire town was demolished. In Schivelbein, after
a Soviet general was killed by a sniper, the Soviets murdered every man
in town.
Soviet
looting and marauding in occupied German areas continued unrestrained
into 1947. While such behavior may strike us as barbarous retaliation,
Biddiscombe describes it thus: "None the less, given what the Werwolf
was doing, or trying to do, the responses of the occupiers do not lay
beyond the realm of comprehension." The Soviets were still concerned
about threats of Werwolf sabotage and terror in Eastern Europe during
the 1950’s.
The French were second to the Soviets in the viciousness and ferocity of their suppression of Werwolf terrorism.
French soldiers pillaged German areas as they fell under their control.
Random beatings of Germans by the French were common. The French
forcibly expelled all German civilians from numerous towns and villages
in their area of control. General Le Clerc issued an edict on November
25, 1944 to shoot five Germans for every act of sniping near Strasbourg.
Following
some Werwolf activity around Constance, French forces grabbed 400
hostages and executed two. Any building in the French zone with Werwolf
graffiti on it was immediately demolished. Owners had at most an hour to
remove such graffiti once it appeared in order to avoid such a fate.
Collective fines were imposed on German civilians for sabotage
activities in their area. Wholesale travel and curfew restrictions were
imposed on the entire German population.
While
American troops generally avoided the excesses of the Soviets and
French, they were sharply criticized by the British for using excessive
brutality and force in suppressing the Werwolf. General Eisenhower
ordered the execution of all Werwolf fighters captured in civilian garb.
It
was understood among U.S. troops that they had a green light for
applying frontier justice to terrorists, with no lawyers or trials. The
counterinsurgency manual issued by the Supreme Headquarters Allied
Expedition Force (SHAEF) recommended that troops simply ignore Geneva
Convention rules when dealing with the Werwolf.
SHAEF
instructions allowed using captive Germans in forced labor; seizure of
German civilians as hostages; collective punishment; shooting of
hostages; and massive bombings of civilian areas containing terrorists.
Threats to shoot all curfew violators were commonly made. At Lutzkampen,
Allied troops threatened to burn down the village if there were any
violations of curfew.
When
U.S. troops were attacked at Aschaffenburg in Lower Franconia, the
entire town was annihilated by Seventh Army artillery. In the fall of
1945, well after the surrender, U.S. forces still regarded Werwolf bands
as "one of the biggest potential threats to security in both the
American and Allied Zones of Occupation."
Around
Stuttgart, members of Werwolf bazooka teams were shot on sight by
American troops. Massive artillery bombardment of civilian areas with
snipers was used whenever it was thought such action could prevent
Allied troop casualties. In Krefeld, one of the first towns taken by the
Americans, 120,000 civilians were rounded up and held in detention
camps.
Other
Allied forces were vicious in suppressing the Werwolf. The Czechoslovaks
routinely tortured and abused captured terrorists. The most dramatic
Czechoslovak actions took place in the Sudetenland. After some Czechs
were murdered by the Werwolf, local authorities threatened to shoot all
German refugees there who had arrived from Silesia.
In
July 1945 a large explosion took place in Aussig an der Elbe, killing
50 people. Blaming local ethnic Germans, the authorities killed German
civilians in reprisal. The remaining German population was expelled from
the town. Slovaks and Poles often treated Germans little better.
Canadian
forces were also brutal in suppressing terrorism. Canadian General
Chris Vokes carried out large-scale destruction of German property in
retaliation for guerilla activities. Towns from which sniper fire was
directed against Canadian troops were reduced to rubble. Orders were
given to demolish buildings housing snipers rather than risk the lives
of troops. German homes were bulldozed. No "solidarity" protesters
picketed the corporate headquarters of the companies manufacturing the
bulldozers.
As
is the case with the terrorism directed against U.S. troops in Iraq and
against Jews in Israel, Werwolf terror was never in and of itself an
existential threat, nor did it represent a serious military strategy
capable of defeating regular armies. Rather, it was designed to
demoralize – to defeat the enemy by generating growing casualties over
long periods and trigger defeatism among the enemy’s home population.
While
no one in his or her right mind would advocate some of the more
excessive means used to suppress the German terrorists of the late
1940’s, that era nevertheless teaches us that a determined no-nonsense
campaign of wiping out terrorism with armed force is capable of
succeeding, even against the most brutal of opponents. Determined
denazification of fanatic violent populations was also shown to work.
Such success is not easy, nor does it come cheaply.
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