CREW 34: GERMAN NAVAL OFFICERS UNDER AND AFTER HITLER.

摘要

This study examines, as a collective biography, the lives of the 318 men who joined the German Reichsmarine in 1934 to become professional naval officers. Born around 1914, this "Crew 34" grew up in the Weimar Republic, received its military apprenticeship prior to 1939, and fought with distinction in the Second World War, incurring casualties of over forty percent. The Crew's survivors were forced into civilian occupations after 1945. With few exceptions they excelled in their new roles, some reaching positions of the highest responsibility before retiring in the 1970s. A third of the Crew chose to resume their original profession after 1956 in West Germany's Bundesmarine. Six officers reached flag rank, one as commander-in-chief (Inspekteur) of the Bundesmarine in the early 1970s.;The post-war era has witnessed much continuity in the men's views, attitudes and performance. The Crew, as an institution, still functions as a close-knit "band of brothers," as a community of equals that shares common experiences and a similar philosophy. This is borne out in uncounted yearbooks, newsletters, informal get-togethers and nationwide reunions. While accepting democracy, capitalism and West Germany's place in the NATO alliance, most Crew members have retained conservative political convictions. In particular they favor a distinctly German national identity, strong external security and domestic order, while opposing socialism in any form.;Well-educated, somewhat elitist, politically conservative with a deutsch-national ideological bent, and socially drawn from the solid and upper middle class, Crew 34 came overwhelmingly from Prussia and Germany's coastal sections. Hitler's seizure of power with its promise of domestic order, national sovereignty as well as territorial and military expansion, found general, even enthusiastic approval on conservative-nationalist grounds. Otherwise the Navy beckoned as an institution where simple patriotism, old-fashioned romanticism, a largely homogeneous officer corps, social prestige and technical challenges created an almost irresistible ambience. World War II was accepted as inescapable fate, providing an opportunity to display soldierly expertise, courage and virtues. Emphatically the Crew maintains it suffered its sacrifices for Volk and Vaterland, never for the brown regime.