Sippenhaft and the NKFD and the BDO

Abstract

A particular example of the application of Sippenhaft within the Wehrmacht was against German soldiers who, as prisoners of war, collaborated with the Soviet Union. These activities were most prominently focussed through the creation of the groups, the Nationalkomittee Freies Deutschland ‘National Free Germany Committee’ (NKFD) and the Bund Deutscher Offiziere ‘League of German Officers’ (BDO). The response of the Nazis and the Wehrmacht to these organizations defines the rela-tionship between Sippenhaft, the Wehrmacht High Command and the bomb plot of 20 July 1944. The way the Nazis dealt with the resistance of the NKFD/BDO affected their approach to Sippenhaft. The fact that these resistance activities were ongoing — unlike the 20 July bomb — presented special challenges to the Nazi regime and the Wehrmacht. For a great deal of time, at least publicly, the Nazis refused to acknowledge the activities of the NKFD/BDO, or believe that the propaganda activities, the broadcasts and articles produced were genuine. The version of Sippenhaft that was applied to career officers by the Army High Command before the events of 20 July 1944 was largely a ‘symbolic’ punishment of particular officers and their families, such as forcing a family to dissociate itself publicly from a ‘traitor’. However, there are indications that the families of lower-ranking officers linked to these groups were punished more severely.