You are wrong, Vice; we do not Whitewash Nazis

In a recently published article, Rob Zacny of Vice.com wrote that there is an “…ongoing affinity (that) white supremacist fascists have for the symbolism of the Third Reich”.  His article goes through a number of modern computer and board wargames and points out how there is a glorification of the Wehrmacht, which was the armed forces of the Third Reich.  I cannot comment on the wargames found online, as I do not play the games he mentioned; however, he does talk about Advanced Squad Leader and delves into what I consider my lane.  As such, I feel compelled to respond.

The first thing that strikes me is that Mr. Zacny appears to have a very superficial knowledge of the Second World War. He suggests that some Wehrmacht units worked with SS-Einsatzgruppen on the Eastern Front and he even provides a link in his article to back this claim up.  Unfortunately for him, however, the link talks exclusively about the SS units that followed the various Army Groups into the Soviet Union. 

Mr. Zacny almost gets things right, but it was by accident. On July 17, 1941, the OKW (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht) issued the so-called “Commissar Order”, which stated that the Wehrmacht was to:

"Free itself from all elements among the prisoners of war considered Bolshevik driving forces. The special situation of the Eastern Campaign therefore demands special measures…which are to be carried out free from bureaucratic and administrative influence and with a willingness to accept responsibility. While so far the regulations and orders concerning prisoners of war were based solely on military considerations, now the political objective must be attained, which is to protect the German nation from Bolshevik inciters and forthwith take the occupied territory strictly in hand"

Though the Einsatzgruppen were indeed rounding up targeted peoples in the occupied Soviet Union, the Wehrmacht was not working with them.  In order to understand what was happening, it is important to briefly consider the tangled web that was the Schutzstaffel, or as they were better known, the SS.

The SS was an instrument of terror in the Third Reich. Its roots were somewhat humble. In the confused political climate of German immediately following its defeat in the Great War, the Saal-Schutz began as Nazi Party members who volunteered to provide security at political party meetings. It grew as the Nazi Party grew, getting its final name by 1925 and eventually consisted of two major elements: the Allgemeine SS and the Waffen-SS.  A third component was the SS-Totenkopfverbände. The Allgemeine SS enforced Nazi racial policy and policing in general, the Waffen-SS consisted of combat units and the SS-Totnkopfverbände ran concentration camps.  Some well-known sub elements of the SS include the Gestapo and the Sicherheitsdienst (SD). All elements of the SS were just different tools that the Nazi party used to control both its people and the lands they conquered during the 1930s and 1940s. Each tool was used in different ways and the SS in its entirety was judged at Nuremberg to be criminal organizations.

Getting back to the Einsatztruppen, they were part of the Allgemeine SS.  As such, they worked independent of combat units, to include the elements of the Waffen-SS.  When they were conducting their pogroms in occupied lands, they did so away from the combat units, usually well after the battles had been fought and the front had moved on.  All this to say that the Wehrmacht and the Einsatztruppen may have been operating in the same areas, but they each were committing their own atrocities.

Next, Mr. Zacny suggests that the German commanders refused to believe that they were never beaten in the Second World War.  Mr. Zacny is quite wrong in this regard and maybe he is thinking of the First World War.  At the end of the Great War, the German Army was losing on the Western Front and more importantly, Germany was beaten at home. The war destroyed a generation of German men and the blockade starved many millions of Germans.  But because the German Army itself was still intact on the 11^th of November, 1918, the myth arose post bellum that Germany itself wasn’t beaten.

By the middle of May 1945, however, Germany was shattered. Many of its great cities lay in ruins and many millions of Germans were dead. The blame for the catastrophe was often shifted to the dead, namely Hitler. How Germany came to be destroyed is for another article. Mr. Zacny suggests that Hitler’s interference in the conduct of the war was amateurish. That may be up for debate; however, Hitler’s input into military decisions did result in many stunning victories for Germany, especially early in the war. This is where Mr. Zacny gets one thing wrong: he suggests that Hitler’s “stand fast” order in late 1941 on the Eastern Front was wrong.  I will dissect this.

Situation on the Eastern Front, 6 Dec 1941

By early December 1941, the German drive on Russia had culminated just short of Moscow. Many German units were at the end of a very long and tenuous logistical chain that led back to Germany itself. To put it another way, its neck was sticking out.  Against this force the Soviets unleashed a very powerful counterattack with fresh troops that sent the Wehrmacht reeling.  Many German Generals pleaded to Hitler for permission to withdraw in order to save itself. Instead, Hitler ordered the units to stand, fight and die where they were.  This resulted in many German units to be destroyed; however, it was the right decision, no matter how heartless it may appear to be.

To conduct a withdrawal against a superior enemy is a difficult operation and often leads to a retreat and then a rout. Hitler understood this, as did his General Staff.  His order to stand fast sentenced many Germans to death; however, it saved many more.  His order forced the Soviets to hurl bloody and costly attacks against desperate Germans who were now finding themselves on the receiving end of mass attacks.  Two well-known pockets formed as a result: one at Demyansk and one at Cholm.  These became figurative flames that attracted the moths of the Soviet Armies for months.  As such, these pockets and others like them were key in saving the Eastern Front, albeit at a cost of a great portion of Army Group Center.

Later in his article, Mr. Zacny suggests that cover art for games on the 2^nd World War glorify the Germans.  He correctly states that the cover for Avalon Hill’s game Squad Leader has German soldiers beginning an assault; however, he fails to note that the next three games in that series have a Soviet soldier, British Soldier and an American soldier respectively.  The narrative on the back of Squad Leader does capture the narrative of a German squad in the Soviet Union; however, to suggest that this narrative glorifies Nazis is insulting.  It is the story chosen to capture the imagination of the customer. The moral of this story is that you, the player, will be the one making the decisions. The story works, it captures the imagination and I know it worked for me.  And no, I am not a white supremacist fascist.

One side note, the article in question suggests that the cover for a 1990s computer game, “Across the Rhine”, shows “…triumphant panzers leaving fire and flames in their wake.”  Unfortunately for the author, he missed the fact that the German Panzer V “Panther” is passing a burning Panzer IV H, a German vehicle.  This is hardly a moment of triumph!

Panther passing a burning Panzer IV: not triumphant at all!

All this to say that the author is conveniently omitting many games that depict the victors of the Second World War.  The first that comes to mind is the already-mentioned Squad Leader and its successor games.  Three of Four covers have Allied soldiers. The computer series “Close Combat” has a number of games in its still-publishing series, the first five of which all depict Allied soldiers. In short, there are some games that have Germans on the cover; however, to suggest that the majority of them do is not accurate.

Before moving on, I must note that when Squad Leader was released in 1977, the Second World War was a relatively recent event.  A mere 32 years had passed since the Germans were defeated. Many teens had relatives who had lived through the war.  War stories then, and now, capture the imagination of many young people, especially boys. As a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, I have had kids in middle school ask me question after question about my time “over there”. Looking back to 1977, seeing a German on the cover of a war game would immediately capture the imagination of a young teen. It wasn’t for the glory; it was the mystique of battle itself.

The next part of Mr. Zacny’s article I find especially insulting, both personally and professionally. I’ll present his words here and then dissect them:

A curious debate unfolded around 2010 about whether the color of the counters in a new wargame expansion ended up glorifying the Waffen-SS, the specially-picked and equipped German units that reported directly to the Nazi leadership and which were notorious both for their fanatical Nazism and their inhumane conduct. The entire discussion occurred in one of the more niche communities in wargames (I've linked Mark Pitcavage’s blog, who is not an unbiased observer, but you can see traces of the debate in other forums). Advanced Squad Leader is an almost comically detailed wargaming system, and to be an ASL player is generally to embrace a lot of weird obsessions. But with the release of a module for the game called A Bridge Too Far, the game’s publisher Multi-Man, depicted Waffen-SS units on black cardboard counters with white icons and numbers. It was a throwback to an earlier edition of Squad Leader, before the series depicted the SS units in blue as opposed to black.

In a word, I reply thusly: poppycock!  I don’t even know where to begin, but I shall do so nevertheless. As stated previously, the story of the SS is rather complex. To suggest that the Waffen-SS was “specially-picked” is ludicrous. They did not report directly to Nazi Leadership and though some units were indeed notorious for their atrocities, that label does not rightly belong to the Waffen-SS units as a blanket statement.

The Waffen-SS had a number of divisions that fought in the war.  Many were formed early in the war and consisted of Germans who volunteered.  Many earlier-formed disivional recruits had to have certain physical and moral characteristics and training was rigorous. Other Divisions were formed of former police, former concentration camp guards and other thugs.  Later in the war, as Germany conquered much of Europe, there was a new potential pool of manpower from which they could recruit. Having said this, the Wehrmacht was prevented by German law from recruiting foreigners. There were exceptions to this, of course, such as the Spanish “Blue” Division, but by and large, this pool was untapped.

The Waffen-SS had no such restrictions and then began to recruit in the occupied lands.  This was of course tainted by race, so these new divisions were named accordingly. There were divisions of ethnic Germans (“Volksdeutsch”), Germanic divisions (such as from the Netherlands, Denmark, etc) and even division of Bosnian Muslims. This is far from specially-picked units; it was an opportunistic grab of manpower that the leadership of the Waffen-SS exploited.

In the field, the Waffen-SS fought alongside and as part of Wehrmacht corps and armies. Their record is mixed, with some units performing as abject amateurs to others fighting with great skill and courage. Some of these units were used in anti-partisan operations in occupied nations, and other formed the very cutting edge of German offensives.  As some would say, your mileage may vary.  But the Waffen-SS was quite diverse in its structure, manning and effectiveness.

To suggest that Advanced Squad Leader is “almost comically detailed” is ignorant, and to suggest that the typical ASL player embraces weird obsessions is personally insulting. The detail in ASL is very well done and considering that it has withstood the test of time quite well is a compliment to its design team, especially Mr. Don Greenwood. I’m not sure about others, but for the majority of ASL players I know and have played against, the one shared obsession we generally share is our passion for military history, specifically of the Second World War. We take pride in our knowledge of various battles and we treat our hobby seriously, not as a mere game. This is why many players from around the world spend thousands annually in order to travel the globe to pursue this hobby.

Finally, allow me to dissect the myth of the glorification of the Waffen-SS by having their counters printed in black as of 1999. Firstly, I must note that in game terms, Waffen-SS units are separate and unique from Wehrmacht units. They do not fight as a single entity, and in some scenarios (the vast majority of which are based on real battles, researched to the nth degree), Waffen-SS units fight against Wehrmacht units. So, knowing this, when they were first depicted in the Squad Leader module Cross of Iron, not only were they white ink on black backgrounds, but they also had unique characteristics. When ASL was released in 1985, the first module, Beyond Valor, had the Waffen-SS in the same color as the Wehrmacht units.  Coincidently, the units of Finland were in the same color as the Germans. The reason for this? Most likely due to printing costs.  And not noted by the author of the article in question is that in order to show that these units were Waffen-SS, there were the double-lightning bolt runes in the top right of each unit counter. Of note, when A Bridge Too Far was released, the Waffen-SS units had no such iconography. In ASL, each nationality has a unique color and this is important in game play. By 1999, printing costs had lowered to the point that it was cost effective to produce the Waffen-SS units in a distinctive color. Almost every wargame that I have has the Waffen-SS in black, probably because of the color of their distinctive dress uniform. In fact, most of the colors of the units in ASL reflect a certain element of that nation’s uniform, but I digress. (Of note: the original article shows a counter sheet of Waffen-SS units, all of which have a Totenkopf device in the top right. These counters are not official counters and are instead from a third-party producer of ASL products, “Heat of Battle”).

In conclusion, wargamers of the ASL variety, and of most for that matter, do not glorify the Wehrmacht, the Waffen-SS or any other element of the Third Reich. We play our games mainly for the enjoyment, but in so doing, we gain a much better understanding of the greatest event in history, the Second World War. There may be some who do so, but such people don’t have the patience to play any serious wargame. This article is inflammatory at best and downright ignorant at worst. It is insulting and any non-wargamer reading that article alone would walk away with a grossly inaccurate understanding of what we wargamers, are like.

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