Posted on 06/20/2011 7:25:43 PM PDT by hecht
On Jan. 4, 1944, Field Marshal Erich von Manstein flew from the Eastern Front to see Adolf Hitler, determined to change the Führer's mind. Manstein had tried before—he had pushed hard for a radical realignment of forces in the east—but now his army was facing defeat. "One thing we must be clear about, mein Führer," Manstein said, "is that the extremely critical situation we are now in cannot be put down to the enemy's superiority alone, great though it is. It is also due to the way in which we are led." Hitler, Manstein later recalled, "stared at me with a look which made me feel he wished to crush my will to continue. I cannot remember a human gaze ever conveying such willpower." Three months later Manstein was relieved of his command. The confrontation is one of the better moments in "Manstein: Hitler's Greatest General," Mungo Melvin's interesting if flawed biography of the master strategist and military commander who fought in two wars, on fronts from the Somme to Stalingrad. Perhaps the most compelling questions surrounding Manstein's career involve the moral imperatives of military leadership. Was he the innocent leader of a professional army, blind to Hitler's ideology and ignorant of what the SS and other extramilitary outfits were up to? Or was he, with other German commanders, aware of the extremes of National Socialism and an enabler of its cruelest policies? Manstein: Hitler's Greatest General By Mungo Melvin
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
OOPs, I clipped the title:
Not a Fanatic, Also Not Blind
A master military strategist in the Prussian tradition—but one who approved of ruthless treatment for Jews.
Apparently Hitler (SS no 1) and Emil Maurice (SS no 2) both had Jewish ancestry. Hitler’s grandfather was apparently a Leopold Frankenburger. DNA tests of Hitler’s relatives showed Berber/Jewish markers in the genes.
This makes me think of the Special Ops General from Afghanistan whose troops were erroneously reported to have dissed The Messiah. Himself of course fired the General since Dear Leader is never wrong. What’s his name? McChrystal?
Was he Jewish? Being a Lewinski or (y) it seems to me that he had so called Junker Polish blood in him.
Yeah and Manstein wasn’t that bright at non-military affairs either. When Hitler forced him into retirement he gave Manstein a fat check by way of thanks. Manstein ignored the war situation and plunked the whole amount down on an estate in...(wait for it)...East Prussia in...(again)...1944, less than 6 months before the Russians ran the Germans out of Prussia for good. Talk about making a bad bet.
I found this book fascinating:
http://www.kansaspress.ku.edu/righit.html
The section on Jews working for the SS was both fascinating and disturbing as all hell.
The father of Contrarian Investing...
Bet he got a good price for the estate he purchased.
Sometimes you win ... and sometimes you don't.
Who knows how many generations back his Jewishness was, but the name Lewinsky is unmistakably Jewish in origin.
Who knows how many generations back his Jewishness was, but the name Lewinsky is unmistakably Jewish in origin.
I always thought that names ending in -sky or -ski were largely interchangeable, i.e., based only on spelling and not indicative of ethnic origins. My mothers family comes from Poland and it was common to meet Ukrainians, Poles, and Russians who spelled their names that way. While I realize that a Jewish person can be any of the above, being a “Pole” often precluded Jewishness.
ski or sky is a slavic adjectival suffix in surnames meaning from of of,. Lewin or Levin is unmistakably Jewish meaning of the tribe of Levi.
O.K., Thanks for the info.
Of course, this was still sometimes better than their treatment by their own government. Poor SOBs.
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