Tapping Hitler's Generals

RAMCKE: I’ll tell you something: imagine the tables turned, and ENGLAND had had all her towns destroyed in the same way as we have in GERMANY today; then the Germans had come over and occupied the country, for five, ten or fifteen years maybe. Imagine the country faced with great economical difficulties, etc. The German occupation authorities are in charge. What would the English do? They’d look on every single German in the occupation force as an arch-enemy; they’d create stumbling blocks for every German coming their way and either stick a knife in his ribs, poison him or bump him off in some way or another. You may rest assured of it that if the English and Americans occupy the country and even if they take French or Czechs, etc., to do it, they won’t be able to annihilate a population of eighty million; they can’t kill the lot of us.

You can take it from me that the German people have been convinced since the 1914–18 period to the very bedrock of their beliefs that it’s the Germans who are always the victims of attack. This time RUSSIA attacked us (sic), ENGLAND attacked us and AMERICA, whom we have never harmed at all, also attacked us. War is being waged against us from all quarters.[101] It has created a feeling of utter enmity against all these powers in the entire German people. The Germans will say: ‘Well, what do you want? Our towns are in ruins anyhow; you’re welcome to come with your air force and smash them up still more, but we’ll do in your men on the ground!’

BAO: No one has anything left to lose.

RAMCKE: Yes, they will say: ‘We have nothing to lose! We’ll stab this fat American in the back and take his coat; then at least I’ll have a coat!’ The Americans thought they’d enter GERMANY and penetrate up to the SIEGFRIED LINE–then they’d plaster us with bombs and a revolution would break out in GERMANY; the Germans would kow-tow and the Americans would say: ‘We only wanted to fight the Nazis and not the German people; therefore we shall be welcomed as harbingers of peace. We’ll throw the Nazis out and then we’ll establish peace in no time.’ That is a sadly mistaken conclusion. Just think what kind of people are in the SS. From an honest soldier’s point of view, I personally utterly condemn Gestapo measures and those of the SS police organisations. It isn’t German. But nowadays the SS, the ‘Waffen’ SS, not those few police organisations, contains the flower of German youth. It contains Counts So-and-so, the sons of Baron So-and-so, sons of the old German, Prussian nobility,[102] real good thoroughbreds, the best youth GERMANY has, the flower of her yeomanry, etc., Anglo-Saxons, Schleswig-Holsteiners, Lower Saxons, etc., lads from STYRIA and peasants’ sons from the mountains; they’re all in the SS. And then you keep saying: ‘The SS, always the SS!’ Who is it you’re hitting at? The best stock in GERMANY!