"Just obeying orders". This means precisely what it says.Failure to obey orders for Germans in any of the armed forces meant the firing squad or punishment battalion.Incompetence also equalled failure to obey orders.A punishment battalion usually meant that your days were numbered.So strictly adhering to orders was the only option for Germans in WW2.And of course not all would have been "nazis" ie members of NSDAP.Putting the General Staff of a nation on trial is definitely a dangerous precedent.
by maiden July 5, 2004