Heroes and Cripples, Obey!

A variety of Germans got a variety of orders last week:

P: Wehrmacht officers who took too literally the order to "save themselves" for World War III were confronted with a modified order: "Division commanders will nominate certain junior officers for a hero's death with their men."

P: The High Command ordered a heavy penalty for shirkers in the front lines who deliberately broke their false teeth or glass eyes to avoid combat. Further order: "False teeth must not be taken out except for cleaning purposes."

P: Just short of an order was the cynical suggestion from Das Schwarze Korps that all cripples and incurables offer themselves for suicide missions. Already a 50-year-old widow, paralyzed, had offered to drive a one-man torpedo into its target; a 19-year-old boy with spinal tuberculosis wanted to drive a dynamite-filled car against Allied lines. Heinrich Himmler's mouthpiece approved.

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