World War II: Justified by Former German Soldiers as a Defense Against Communism and Stalin

By Bobby Darvish, Iranian-American Ex-Muslim, Former Vegan, Former Democrat, Former Socialist, Former CAIR-Columbus Executive Director, Former Muslim Forum of Utah President, Christian Conservative LDS Priest

In the years following World War II, many former German soldiers justified their involvement in the conflict by arguing that they were not fighting for the ambitions of Hitler or the Nazi regime, but rather for the defense of Europe against communism and the expansion of Joseph Stalin’s Soviet Union. This perspective, while controversial, reflects a broader debate about the ideological nature of the war, particularly on the Eastern Front, where the German Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS waged a brutal struggle against the Red Army.

While the Nazi regime undoubtedly pursued aggressive expansionist policies, many German soldiers—especially those on the Eastern Front—believed that their fight was necessary to prevent Europe from falling under Stalinist totalitarianism. This argument has been supported by post-war memoirs, Cold War narratives, and geopolitical analyses that highlight the existential threat posed by Soviet communism to Western civilization.

The Soviet Threat: Why Some Germans Saw Themselves as Defenders of Europe

By the late 1930s, Joseph Stalin’s Soviet Union was already seen by many as an expansionist power intent on spreading communist revolution beyond its borders. The Great Purge (1936–1938) had demonstrated Stalin’s brutality, with millions of Soviet citizens—including military officers—executed or sent to the Gulag (Conquest, 1990).

The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (1939) between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union initially delayed a direct conflict, but Stalin’s invasion of Poland, Finland (Winter War), and the Baltic states demonstrated the USSR’s willingness to expand westward (Snyder, 2010). When Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, many Germans and other Europeans saw the invasion as a preemptive strike against Soviet aggression.

German Soldiers' Justifications for the Eastern Front War

1. Preventing the Spread of Bolshevism

   • Many German soldiers viewed themselves as the last line of defense against Bolshevism, which they saw as a destructive, anti-Christian, and totalitarian ideology.
   • The atrocities committed by Soviet forces during their occupation of Eastern Poland (Katyn Massacre, 1940) and later in Germany (rape of German women, 1945) reinforced this belief (Beevor, 2002).

2. Fighting for the Survival of Western Civilization

   • The Soviet Union sought to spread communist revolution throughout Europe.
   • The German campaign in the East was framed by Nazi propaganda as a European Crusade against Communism, with volunteers from Italy, Spain, Finland, Hungary, and even neutral Sweden joining the Waffen-SS to fight against the Red Army (Forczyk, 2014).

3. Atrocities by the Red Army

   • The brutality of the Red Army, especially during its advance into Prussia and Silesia, convinced many German soldiers that surrender was not an option.
   • The mass killings, rapes, and deportations of German civilians in areas captured by the Soviets fueled the belief that fighting to the last man was a necessity rather than a choice (Beevor, 2002).

The Waffen-SS and European Volunteers

The Waffen-SS, particularly divisions like the 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking, was composed of European volunteers who saw themselves as fighting for a greater cause beyond Germany. These men were recruited under the banner of defending Christian Europe from the "atheistic communist East."

Many post-war Waffen-SS veterans continued to justify their participation in the war on these grounds, particularly in Cold War Europe, where communism was viewed as the greatest threat to freedom (Lumsden, 2001).

The Cold War Vindication of the Anti-Communist Argument

Ironically, just a few years after the defeat of Nazi Germany, the Western Allies found themselves in direct conflict with the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The Berlin Blockade (1948), the Korean War (1950–1953), and Soviet aggression in Hungary (1956) and Czechoslovakia (1968) reinforced the perception that communism was indeed an existential threat to Europe.

Many former German soldiers who fought on the Eastern Front later joined NATO militaries and intelligence agencies in the fight against Soviet communism. The Bundeswehr (West German Army) recruited many Wehrmacht officers to prepare for a possible Soviet invasion, and former Waffen-SS members found employment in anti-communist organizations such as Operation Gladio, a NATO-backed paramilitary network (Ganser, 2005).

Criticism and the Nazi Factor

While the argument that German soldiers were fighting to defend Europe from communism is partially valid, it does not absolve the Nazi regime’s crimes. The Eastern Front saw some of the worst atrocities of the war, including the Holocaust, mass executions, and the starvation of Soviet POWs. Many historians argue that while some German soldiers may have fought for anti-communist reasons, they still served a criminal regime that engaged in genocide and aggression (Snyder, 2010).

Conclusion: A Complex Justification

The justification that German soldiers were defending Europe from Stalin and communism is a viewpoint that gained traction in the Cold War and among veterans of the Eastern Front. While this argument holds some truth—given the horrors of Soviet communism and Stalin’s expansionist policies—it must be balanced with the reality that Nazi Germany’s war aims went far beyond mere self-defense.

Nevertheless, the anti-communist motivations of many German soldiers, particularly those who saw themselves as defenders of Christian Europe, cannot be ignored. Their fight against Bolshevism, though overshadowed by the crimes of the Nazi state, was later echoed by NATO’s struggle against the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

In hindsight, the fear of Soviet domination that drove many Germans to fight in World War II was not unfounded—as Eastern Europe would experience firsthand under communist rule for nearly half a century after 1945.

Citations

1. Beevor, Antony. The Fall of Berlin 1945. Penguin, 2002.
2. Conquest, Robert. The Great Terror: A Reassessment. Oxford University Press, 1990.
3. Forczyk, Robert. Where the Iron Crosses Grow: The Crimea 1941–44. Osprey, 2014.
4. Ganser, Daniele. NATO’s Secret Armies: Operation Gladio and Terrorism in Western Europe. Routledge, 2005.
5. Lumsden, Robin. A Collector’s Guide to the Waffen-SS. Ian Allan Publishing, 2001.
6. Snyder, Timothy. Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin. Basic Books, 2010.