Talk:Richard Landwehr

This article must adhere to the biographies of living persons (BLP) policy, even if it is not a biography, because it contains material about living persons. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libellous. If such material is repeatedly inserted, or if you have other concerns, please report the issue to this noticeboard.

If you are a subject of this article, or acting on behalf of one, and you need help, please see this help page.

Biography: Arts and Entertainment / Science and Academia

	Biography portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize Wikipedia's articles about people. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation.BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Biographybiography articles
	This article is supported by the arts and entertainment work group.
	This article is supported by the science and academia work group.

Germany Low‑importance

	Germany portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Germany, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Germany on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.GermanyWikipedia:WikiProject GermanyTemplate:WikiProject GermanyGermany articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Military history: Historiography / European / German / World War II

This article is within the scope of the Military history WikiProject. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks. To use this banner, please see the full instructions.Military historyWikipedia:WikiProject Military historyTemplate:WikiProject Military historymilitary history articles

This article has been checked against the following criteria for B-class status:
Referencing and citation: criterion not met Coverage and accuracy: criterion not met Structure: criterion met Grammar and style: criterion met Supporting materials: criterion not met

Associated task forces:
/
	Military historiography task force
	European military history task force
	German military history task force
	World War II task force

Depiction of Waffen-SS[edit]

Landwehr's works about the Waffen-SS show the Nazi organisation in a favorable light. His article "The European Volunteer Movement in World War II" (20 1981 JHR 59-84) lauds the Waffen-SS and the ideals they fought for while assiduously avoiding any mention of war crimes (real or alleged). The world view that permeates Landwehr's work is best summed up in his own words from the 1981 article in JHR:

After a generation of slander, vilification and falsehood concerning the European volunteers, the first rays of light are beginning to shine through. Slowly, but surely, their story is being told. As for the soldiers themselves, many are of the belief that they were ahead of their time, both militarily and philosophically, and that their legacy is yet to be fulfilled. For myself, perhaps the most incisive observation was made by the former Waffen-SS Colonel Joachim Peiper in a letter to his comrades while he was being held in American confinement under sentence of death: 'Don't forget that it was in the ranks of the SS that the first European died'.

After citing the example of the Dutch SS volunteers, Landwehr claims that "the men who got into the Waffen-SS usually represented the best human material that their respective countries had to offer" (1981 JHR).

Dr. van Hoesel's 1948 study (cited in both George Stein's "The Waffen SS" and Henry L. Mason's 1952 "Purge of the Dutch Quislings") of 450 Dutch SS volunteers revealed some joined to avoid prosecution for petty crime or delinquency. Others joined out of boredom and a desire for adventure, some for prestige, better food or to avoid labour service.
The records left by the Nazis themselves serves to contradict Landwehr's misleading image of the idealistic European SS volunteer. Stein notes that Gottlub Berger, who dealt with foreign volunteers, was aware of the prevalence of criminal elements and noted that "many criminals are quite outstanding soldiers if one knows how to handle them" (Berger to Gruppenfuhrer Rauter, April 9, 1942, Geheim, RFSS/T-175, 111/2635463ff.).
In A European Anabasis - Western European Volunteers in the German Army and SS 1940 - 1945, historian Kenneth Estes authoritatively documented the motivations of the western European volunteers and came to markedly different conclusions than those of Landwehr.

Above is copy/paste from the article, as possibly OR and uncited. The Criticism section covers this area sufficiently. K.e.coffman (talk) 20:28, 4 November 2016 (UTC)[reply]