Innocent Until Proven Guilty: The Myth of the Clean Wehrmacht

How much of the German army’s conduct during the Second World War can really be separated from Nazi Germany’s crimes?

In this episode of Hostile History, David Borys is joined by historian Waitman Beorn to examine one of the most persistent myths surrounding the Second World War: the idea that the German armed forces were largely honourable and professional, while responsibility for Nazi atrocities rested almost exclusively with the SS.

Why did the myth emerge after the war, and why did it prove so enduring? What did the Wehrmacht actually know, do, and tolerate? And what happens when we separate the image of the professional soldier from the reality of the war he was fighting?

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