>The triumphant letters home did not mention the occasional massacres of British or French prisoners and even civilians. Nor did they relate the more frequent massacres of captured French colonial troops, especially [Senegalese tirailleurs](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Franz%C3%B6sische_Kriegsgefangene_afrikanischer_Abstammung_in_Frankreich_1940.jpg), who fought bravely to the racist fury of German troops. They were shot, sometimes fifty or a hundred at a time, by German formations which included the SS Totenkopf, the 10th Panzer Division and the Grossdeutschland Regiment. Altogether it is estimated that up to 3,000 colonial soldiers were shot out of hand after capture during the Battle of France.
* Antony Beevor, on Wehrmacht behavior during the 1940 Invasion of France
A culture for atrocities within the Wehrmacht was evident long before Operation Barbarossa. The brutality was most visible in Poland and Yugoslavia but also spilled over into the Western Front in numerous cases. For example, in addition to the infamous terror bombings of Rotterdam and London, Luftwaffe pilots confessed to strafing cyclists and [refugees for fun](https://preview.redd.it/the-battle-for-france-1940-v0-ium2j8280bme1.png?width=1080&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=bb1aece3a803329887f1059e0d000252aa912197). SS and Wehrmacht units massacred hundreds of Allied POWs and civilians in the outskirts of Dunkirk out of frustration over the successful British evacuation.
This behavior would only worsen over time. Besides Nazi Germany’s treatment of French Jews (with plenty of eager Vichy assistance), there was the mass deportation of hundreds of thousands of French men for forced labor in the Reich, mass reprisals for Maquis activity, and forced starvation against the Dutch in the winter of 1944-1945.
Great post. I’m gonna go play Hell Let Loose now.
I thought the Last photo was a screen shot from Fury.
u/Iron_Cavalry dropping another banger of a post, and I’m here for it
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[275,000 Allied soldiers ](https://cdn.cfr.org/sites/default/files/styles/open_graph_article/public/image/2023/06/DDay%20Blog%20Image.jpg)died on the Western Front, of which 111,000 were killed in 1940 (the vast majority French) and the rest between 1944 and 1945 (the majority American).
[Roughly 350,000 Germans soldiers ](https://preview.redd.it/on-the-road-between-lessay-and-coutances-france-this-young-v0-rkylzdbkdfhe1.jpeg?width=1080&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=ba32f5b1abb705d1119a96ff737c320a44a49531)were killed in the five years, 50,000 in the 1940 invasion and the rest between 1944 and 1945.
[Around 1,000,000 civilians died](https://preview.redd.it/the-battle-for-france-1940-v0-q4e2od280bme1.png?width=1080&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=73737077735c40835b1fc79501a0a91ddd7b37d2). 400,000 French, 200,000 Dutch, 90,000 Belgians, over 250,000 Germans.
>The triumphant letters home did not mention the occasional massacres of British or French prisoners and even civilians. Nor did they relate the more frequent massacres of captured French colonial troops, especially [Senegalese tirailleurs](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Franz%C3%B6sische_Kriegsgefangene_afrikanischer_Abstammung_in_Frankreich_1940.jpg), who fought bravely to the racist fury of German troops. They were shot, sometimes fifty or a hundred at a time, by German formations which included the SS Totenkopf, the 10th Panzer Division and the Grossdeutschland Regiment. Altogether it is estimated that up to 3,000 colonial soldiers were shot out of hand after capture during the Battle of France.
* Antony Beevor, on Wehrmacht behavior during the 1940 Invasion of France
A culture for atrocities within the Wehrmacht was evident long before Operation Barbarossa. The brutality was most visible in Poland and Yugoslavia but also spilled over into the Western Front in numerous cases. For example, in addition to the infamous terror bombings of Rotterdam and London, Luftwaffe pilots confessed to strafing cyclists and [refugees for fun](https://preview.redd.it/the-battle-for-france-1940-v0-ium2j8280bme1.png?width=1080&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=bb1aece3a803329887f1059e0d000252aa912197). SS and Wehrmacht units massacred hundreds of Allied POWs and civilians in the outskirts of Dunkirk out of frustration over the successful British evacuation.
This behavior would only worsen over time. Besides Nazi Germany’s treatment of French Jews (with plenty of eager Vichy assistance), there was the mass deportation of hundreds of thousands of French men for forced labor in the Reich, mass reprisals for Maquis activity, and forced starvation against the Dutch in the winter of 1944-1945.
Great post. I’m gonna go play Hell Let Loose now.
I thought the Last photo was a screen shot from Fury.
u/Iron_Cavalry dropping another banger of a post, and I’m here for it
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