RKT's of the SS & German Police, Vol. 1...

[Mori]

Well, my comment was a genuine reaction to the screenshots, and nothing personal. My comments are only based on the screenshots you shared.

I'm puzzled with what you explain : that you focus on the finest details of promotions but on purpose omit such things as "being prosecuted for war crimes after the war". I mean, if a reader is interested in the details of the career of an officer, it's hard to see why he would not also be interested in their post-war resume.

You suggest that mentioning that being prosecuted and/or found guilty of crimes would not be "basic data" - and this is really surprising, as it must have made quite some impact on the rest of the life of the individuals.

(As a matter of fact, on post-war career, checking whether some joined the Bundeswehr in the 50's could lead to truly interesting findings).

I can understand that you had to limit your research somewhere. But then the question comes: why there? Why stop at war end? The answer is not obvious and you should not be defensive about this being asked.

Besides, I'm pretty surprised with your assertion:

If one was an adult in Germany during the 1930's and 1940's, one was almost without exception a member of the NSDAP.

"almost without exception" sounds like "more than 90%" => I invite you to go check the facts. Applying to NSDAP membership war never mandatory and always was a voluntary, individual decision; and membership was not granted automatically.

PS1: I should mentioned that I am a seasoned reviewer ; and that I also wrote biographies (and did not interrupt them on VE day)

PS2: I do take it as a compliment that I could bring at least one NEW IDEA to your thinking, even after 15 years of discussion. Hope you see what is meant there: that some information weight more than others - and you reveal your perspective in the way you lay out data on the pages of your book.

[Michael Miller]

Think of it this way. They're "baseball cards". They present the primary milestones of each individual's military career. Should one wish to explore further, this is a first step toward that exploration. If I present data on postwar prosecution, then I must also present information on their primary schooling, the specific assignments of their military career, how they occupied themselves in the postwar years. But that was never my intention, nor have I ever stated it as my intention. My primary focus of research and writing is not the Waffen-SS. I write about the leadership of the Third Reich, generals and high-ranking politicians and civil servants, and in doing so, I include all that is missing in the study currently under discussion. In any case, I know that there are individuals who would find these biographical bits of some utility and interest, and that this introductory examination of the Knight's Cross holders of the SS & police will spur further research.

Thank you for your time and suggestions.

~ Mike

[Michael Miller]

Regarding my perspective, I think I make that clear in the introduction.
Requesting a change of font size and ink color for "NSDAP-Nr.:" would not be of much help in conveying a point.

I do appreciate the correction with regard to Germany's adult population and Party membership. You're absolutely correct. However, mere membership alone didn't necessary correlate to criminality.

~ Mike

[Mori]

Think of it this way. They're "baseball cards". They present the primary milestones of each individual's military career. Should one wish to explore further, this is a first step toward that exploration. If I present data on postwar prosecution, then I must also present information on their primary schooling, the specific assignments of their military career, how they occupied themselves in the postwar years. But that was never my intention, nor have I ever stated it as my intention.

As you point it out: the most important milestones of their education would be relevant. I don't mean primary schooling; but there would be value in knowing whether the guys went as far as Abitur, had any university degree, or - to stay within what should obviously be in scope - whether they graduated from any military institution.

You probably realize that your work can be mistaken for a handbook on "celebrating heroes of the SS" (I hope you do not find this comment provocative, as it does not mean to be). You actually raise the risk in the few lines quoted in the previous post. Adding data on education and on the most important facts on their post-war life - with the occasional photograph taken in front of court, in civil outfit and handcuffs, with a couple of GIs standing behind - would limit that risk somehow.

It is not satisfactory to say "I just bring the facts": you actually select which facts you bring (even if you pay extreme care to be exhaustive within the scope you consider). I am not asking you to give a reason why you decided of your scope, as I believe it can take some thinking until one realizes one's motivations. Some possible answers - the first coming to my mind:
- "no other sources exist"
- "I write what I would myself like to read and not what I wouldn't like to read" (variant: "what readers are interested in")
- "lack of time / energy to investigate more" (variant: "publisher set a deadline")
- "explicit political agenda"
Etc.

[Michael Miller]

I am aware that mistaken impressions are always a possibility. That's yet another unfortunate by-product of authorship, one that is all the more likely when one's focus is any aspect of the Third Reich. But- In 20 years of having a voice on the internet, I've made abundantly clear where I stand politically and ideologically, and there is no chance of my being perceived as in any way sympathetic toward Nazism, racism, and the like. Well- no chance outside of a mistaken impression.

Your opinions are duly noted and I've given all that I can in the way of a response.

Respectfully,
~ Mike

[Michael Miller]

Oh- just one last thing. There are pictures of a number of them on trial, war criminal ID cards, and mugshots. Only someone bent on seeing this as heroization could ever come to that conclusion.

~ Mike

[Christian Ankerstjerne]

I suppose others pointed it before: it is the way they make each displayed officer some kind of hero that conveys this uncomfortable feeling. You only read about their promotions and recommandations. Selected pictures play a significant part here: smiling, clean characters, like they were from an Osprey "Men at arms" series.

Mike was kind enough to send me a digital advance copy, and I think you do him injustice. The portrait and propaganda photographs are necessarily smiling and clean, but there are several entries with in-action photographs as well. With volume one being 429 pages, it would also be difficult to add much more detail without increasing the size beyond what would be practical to publish.

It can be argued ad nauseam what is objective description and what is hero worship. While I tend to stay away from such discussions, being of little value to advance actual research, Mike has unintentionally demonstrated previously in this thread how Nazi hero worship actually looks in other books:



Using the life and death runes, which were not even used in all contemporary death ads, overtly supports the language of the Third Reich. Compared to this, Mike as nothing to be ashamed of.

[Michael Miller]

A few more sample pages.

~ Mike

[Michael Miller]

Yet to receive my copy, thanks to an unfortunate accident of geography, but I've gotten word that it's been received by a few readers.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed putting it together. Volume II to be released later this year, once I've finished captioning another 800+ photos.

Best wishes and thanks again to all,
~ Mike

[krichter33]

Miller's Knight's Cross book is highly recommended, as it covers many aspects that have either not been covered yet, or are extremely dated. There has been more than enough original research. A number of authors and historians have helped review the work. It basically lays out all the relevant details of the soldiers career, correcting many numerous mistakes from the past, as well as adding a lot of new information, primarily on awards. It also has a lot of rare and some unreleased photos. Some people have been saying that this subject has been well covered before, however this is completely inaccurate. Krätschmer's book is originally from 1955, and does not cover much as far as awards are concerned. Also it is in German only, while most people who are interested in this topic speak English. Schneider's book is also dated and has even less information than Krätschmer's. Karl's new books are written in Krätschmer's style, and also lack a lot of information concerning awards, and is only in German. Other than those three books there is NO other work that completely focuses only on RK winners of the SS, and is as detailed and accurate. I highly recommend it!

[Klingsor]

Who are the men on the cover of the book? I recognize Hermann Fegelein on the right, but who are the other two?

[allenstein]

The Gruppenführer is Wilhelm Bittrich.

/Bengt

[Michael Miller]

...

[Mark Costa]

Mike:

Received mine yesterday. Looks fantastic. Will be spending the day going through it. Congratulations.

Mark

[ttvon]

Hi,
Are there any color pics in the book?

ttvon