War of Annihilation: Combat and Genocide on the Eastern Front 1941 (War and Society)

About this book

On June 22 1941 Hitler began what would be the most important campaign of the European theater. The war against the Soviet Union would leave tens of millions of Soviet citizens dead and large parts of the country in ruins. The death and destruction would result not just from military operations but also from the systematic killing and abuse that the German army police and SS directed against Jews Communists and ordinary citizens. In War of Annihilation noted military historian Geoffrey P. Megargee provides a clear concise history of the Germans opening campaign of conquest and genocide in 1941. By drawing on the best of military and Holocaust scholarship Megargee dispels the myths that have distorted the role of Germanys military leadership in both the military operations themselves and the unthinkable crimes that were part of them.