Hitler's Deserters
Breaking Ranks with the Wehrmacht
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
3 months free
Hitler's Deserters
Buy for $17.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
David de Vries
About this listen
The first English language account of deserters from the German army during World War II.
The German army was not apolitical, but rather a pillar of the Nazi state. Although much attention has been devoted to officers within the military who resisted Hitler—particularly those associated with the July 1944 attempt on Hitler's life—far less attention has been paid to those who refused military service or deserted during the war. While providing a full account of what constituted desertion, how it was punished, and how many were convicted for the crime, the book makes the Wehrmacht deserter its main subject. It examines their motivations and the paths they took to evade military service, ranging from hiding in the Third Reich, deserting at the front line, or fleeing to neutral Switzerland or Sweden.
After the WWII, Germans began a generation-long debate about the status that should be accorded Wehrmacht deserters. The topic would be debated between the two Germanies and engaged survivors and perpetrators, playwrights, and judges, those who had stayed in the ranks and those who had not. Was the Wehrmacht a coward, a victim, or a role model? The book's discussion of this postwar debate explains how and why Germany finally decided to overturn military court-martial verdicts from the Second World War fifty years after its conclusion.
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Nazis in the New World
- German Students in the United States, 1933–1941
- By: Aaron Gillette
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 1
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1
In Nazis in the New World, Aaron Gillette presents vivid narratives and personal accounts to reveal the unknown history of Nazi German exchange students sent to America in the 1930s. After receiving the Gestapo's stamp of approval, they were instructed to use their charm and charisma to promote the Third Reich. Some also served Hitler as covert operatives against the United States.
By: Aaron Gillette
-
Nothing but Courage
- The 82nd Airborne's Daring D-Day Mission—and Their Heroic Charge Across the La Fière Bridge
- By: James Donovan
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1
In June 1944, German and American forces converged on an insignificant bridge a few miles inland from the invasion beaches. If taken by the Nazis, the bridge might have gone down in history as the reason the Allies failed on D-Day. The narrow road over it was each side’s conduit to victory. Continued Nazi control over the bridge near an old manoir known as La Fière—one of only two bridges in the region capable of supporting tanks and other heavy armor—would allow the Germans to reinforce their defenses at Utah Beach, one of the five landing areas chosen for Operation Overlord.
By: James Donovan
-
Operation Ghost Reich
- From Bavaria to Buenos Aires: Tracking the Last Nazi Fugitives
- By: Gary Covella
- Narrated by: Virtual Voice
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars 1
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1
WHAT IF THE THIRD REICH NEVER REALLY ENDED? Operation Ghost Reich: From Bavaria to Buenos Aires rips open sealed archives, Vatican rat-lines, and Mossad dossiers to reveal the labyrinth that let Hitler's most ruthless lieutenants vanish, only to re-emerge as "respectable" neighbors, engineers, and even Cold War assets. THE CHASE BEGINS ON A FOG-SOAKED BAVARIAN PLATFORM May 1945: forged Red Cross papers, rosaries hiding SS gold, and a ghost train headed south mark the moment thousands of war criminals step off history's stage and into suburbia. Their escape ignites a five-part global pursuit...
By: Gary Covella
-
Opening the Gates of Hell
- Operation Barbarossa, June–July 1941
- By: Richard Hargreaves
- Narrated by: Philip Pope
- Length: 23 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1
Opening the Gates of Hell is based on over a decade’s research in archives and sites across Europe. It is a ground-breaking examination of the start of the Nazi–Soviet conflict, a narrative history not just of the fighting, but also the impact on civilians, the atrocities committed by both sides and ethnic cleansing carried out by the inhabitants of the regions invaded. This fascinating history tells the stories of bravery, cowardice, misery and horror through the eyes of those who were there including ordinary soldiers, generals, leaders, politicians and civilians on both sides.
-
To Die with Such Men
- Frontline Stories from Ukraine's International Legion
- By: Shannon Monaghan
- Narrated by: Danielle Rayne
- Length: 12 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1
Shannon Monaghan follows a core group of Western volunteers in Ukraine, fighting together from the early battle for Kyiv through to the last stands at Severodonetsk and Bakhmut. They arrived alone, but became a family—back when nobody bothered to learn names, because they all expected to die. These men knew they'd be fighting without the NATO support they were used to. They knew the danger they faced, and how they might be criticized for fighting someone else's war. But they also knew it was the right thing to do. This is their story.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Listened to this twice in a row!
- By Nicholas Klein on 06-18-25
By: Shannon Monaghan
-
Peace Is a Shy Thing
- The Life and Art of Tim O'Brien
- By: Alex Vernon
- Narrated by: Shawn Compton
- Length: 21 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall2 out of 5 stars 1
-
Performance0 out of 5 stars 0
-
Story0 out of 5 stars 0
Featuring over one hundred interviews with family, friends, peers, and others—not to mention countless exchanges with Tim O'Brien himself—Peace Is a Shy Thing provides a nearly day-by-day, gripping account of O'Brien's thirteen months as an infantryman in Vietnam and gives equal diligence to reconstructing O'Brien's writing process.
By: Alex Vernon
-
Nazis in the New World
- German Students in the United States, 1933–1941
- By: Aaron Gillette
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 1
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1
In Nazis in the New World, Aaron Gillette presents vivid narratives and personal accounts to reveal the unknown history of Nazi German exchange students sent to America in the 1930s. After receiving the Gestapo's stamp of approval, they were instructed to use their charm and charisma to promote the Third Reich. Some also served Hitler as covert operatives against the United States.
By: Aaron Gillette
-
Nothing but Courage
- The 82nd Airborne's Daring D-Day Mission—and Their Heroic Charge Across the La Fière Bridge
- By: James Donovan
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1
In June 1944, German and American forces converged on an insignificant bridge a few miles inland from the invasion beaches. If taken by the Nazis, the bridge might have gone down in history as the reason the Allies failed on D-Day. The narrow road over it was each side’s conduit to victory. Continued Nazi control over the bridge near an old manoir known as La Fière—one of only two bridges in the region capable of supporting tanks and other heavy armor—would allow the Germans to reinforce their defenses at Utah Beach, one of the five landing areas chosen for Operation Overlord.
By: James Donovan
-
Operation Ghost Reich
- From Bavaria to Buenos Aires: Tracking the Last Nazi Fugitives
- By: Gary Covella
- Narrated by: Virtual Voice
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars 1
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1
WHAT IF THE THIRD REICH NEVER REALLY ENDED? Operation Ghost Reich: From Bavaria to Buenos Aires rips open sealed archives, Vatican rat-lines, and Mossad dossiers to reveal the labyrinth that let Hitler's most ruthless lieutenants vanish, only to re-emerge as "respectable" neighbors, engineers, and even Cold War assets. THE CHASE BEGINS ON A FOG-SOAKED BAVARIAN PLATFORM May 1945: forged Red Cross papers, rosaries hiding SS gold, and a ghost train headed south mark the moment thousands of war criminals step off history's stage and into suburbia. Their escape ignites a five-part global pursuit...
By: Gary Covella
-
Opening the Gates of Hell
- Operation Barbarossa, June–July 1941
- By: Richard Hargreaves
- Narrated by: Philip Pope
- Length: 23 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1
Opening the Gates of Hell is based on over a decade’s research in archives and sites across Europe. It is a ground-breaking examination of the start of the Nazi–Soviet conflict, a narrative history not just of the fighting, but also the impact on civilians, the atrocities committed by both sides and ethnic cleansing carried out by the inhabitants of the regions invaded. This fascinating history tells the stories of bravery, cowardice, misery and horror through the eyes of those who were there including ordinary soldiers, generals, leaders, politicians and civilians on both sides.
-
To Die with Such Men
- Frontline Stories from Ukraine's International Legion
- By: Shannon Monaghan
- Narrated by: Danielle Rayne
- Length: 12 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1
Shannon Monaghan follows a core group of Western volunteers in Ukraine, fighting together from the early battle for Kyiv through to the last stands at Severodonetsk and Bakhmut. They arrived alone, but became a family—back when nobody bothered to learn names, because they all expected to die. These men knew they'd be fighting without the NATO support they were used to. They knew the danger they faced, and how they might be criticized for fighting someone else's war. But they also knew it was the right thing to do. This is their story.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Listened to this twice in a row!
- By Nicholas Klein on 06-18-25
By: Shannon Monaghan
-
Peace Is a Shy Thing
- The Life and Art of Tim O'Brien
- By: Alex Vernon
- Narrated by: Shawn Compton
- Length: 21 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall2 out of 5 stars 1
-
Performance0 out of 5 stars 0
-
Story0 out of 5 stars 0
Featuring over one hundred interviews with family, friends, peers, and others—not to mention countless exchanges with Tim O'Brien himself—Peace Is a Shy Thing provides a nearly day-by-day, gripping account of O'Brien's thirteen months as an infantryman in Vietnam and gives equal diligence to reconstructing O'Brien's writing process.
By: Alex Vernon
-
The Cruel Sky
- A Heavy Bomber Group in World War II
- By: Robert Thompson
- Narrated by: David Marantz
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall0 out of 5 stars 0
-
Performance0 out of 5 stars 0
-
Story0 out of 5 stars 0
The men who flew American heavy bombers over Europe in World War II were very young—most were either in their late teens or early twenties. There they faced a gauntlet of razor sharp antiaircraft artillery bursts and fighter aircraft firing cannons that shattered Plexiglas, metal, engines, and bone. It is no wonder that bomber crews suffered some of the highest casualty rates of any service during the war. Yet, their courage and sacrifice would help the Allies secure an overwhelming victory. That bravery and the extreme dangers these young men faced are vividly portrayed in The Cruel Sky.
By: Robert Thompson
-
Twelve Years with Hitler
- Secretary to the Führer
- By: Albert Zoller, Christa Schroeder, Roger Moorhouse -foreword by, and others
- Narrated by: Peter Noble, Petrea Burchard
- Length: 5 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall0 out of 5 stars 0
-
Performance0 out of 5 stars 0
-
Story0 out of 5 stars 0
In 1930, as a young woman, Christa Schroeder became a stenographer for the Nazi party, before being noticed by Hitler who, in 1933, hired her as his private secretary. Schroeder remained by Hitler's side, fiercely loyal, for twelve years, living at the Wolfsschanze and even joining him and his staff in the Führerbunker in Berlin in January 1945.
By: Albert Zoller, and others
-
The Prophet
- The Life of Leon Trotsky
- By: Isaac Deutscher
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 62 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall0 out of 5 stars 0
-
Performance0 out of 5 stars 0
-
Story0 out of 5 stars 0
Few political figures of the twentieth century have aroused such intensities of fierce admiration and reactionary fear as Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky. His extraordinary life and extensive writings have left an indelible mark on the revolutionary consciousness. Yet there was once a danger that his life and influence would be relegated to the footnotes of history. Published over the course of ten years, beginning in 1954, Deutscher's magisterial three-volume biography turned back the tide of Stalin's propaganda, and has since been praised by everyone from Tony Blair to Graham Greene.
By: Isaac Deutscher
-
The Sailing of the Intrepid
- By: Montel Williams, David Fisher
- Narrated by: Montel Williams, Jonathan Yen, Eric Priessman
- Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 3
-
Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 3
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 3
1944. The USS Intrepid set sail on its first combat voyage, only to be struck by a Japanese torpedo plane, jamming its rudder at a forty-five-degree angle. It could only sail in circles amid treacherous waters. The task force abandoned ship as it tried to make the 3,300-mile voyage to Pearl Harbor. For a day, the captain was able to slalom, alternating use of the ship’s engines, but the seas became too perilous. Until one resilient crewman came up with the ingenious idea of rigging a twenty-eight-inch-high sail on the second deck to steer the ship home safe.
By: Montel Williams, and others
-
Eagle Days
- Life and Death for the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain
- By: Victoria Taylor
- Narrated by: John Sackville
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 2
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1
Eagle Days transforms the Luftwaffe’s historical role during the RAF’s ‘Finest Hour’ from a cartoonish antagonist to a multidimensional, flawed-yet-formidable opponent. The narrative contains not just the voices of the air crews who conducted the fighting, but uniquely never-before-translated primary source material of other contemporary eyewitnesses, (Luftwaffe’s paratroopers, anti-aircraft gunners and air signalmen). Eagle Days will offer all fans of this period a refreshing, comprehensive and exciting account of the Luftwaffe’s real experiences during the Battle of Britain.
By: Victoria Taylor
-
The Nuremberg Trial
- By: John Tusa, Ann Tusa
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 25 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,448
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,290
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,283
Here is a gripping account of the major postwar trial of the Nazi hierarchy in World War II. The Nuremberg Trial brilliantly recreates the trial proceedings and offers a reasoned, often profound examination of the processes that created international law. From the whimpering of Kaltenbrunner and Ribbentrop on the stand to the icy coolness of Goering, each participant is vividly drawn.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Detailed and rewarding listen for history buffs
- By Ronnie on 08-25-17
By: John Tusa, and others
-
The Battle of Manila
- Poisoned Victory in the Pacific War
- By: Nicholas Evan Sarantakes
- Narrated by: Christopher Grove
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 2
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1
In 1945 the United States and Japan fought the largest and most devastating land battle of their war in the Pacific, a month-long struggle for the city of Manila. It was a key piece of the campaign to retake control of the Philippine Islands, which itself signified the culmination of the war, breaking the back of Japanese strategic power and sealing its outcome. In The Battle of Manila, Nicholas Sarantakes offers the first in-depth account of this crucial campaign from the American, Japanese, and, significantly, Filipino perspective.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Masterful, Balanced Account of a Pivotal Battle
- By Scott Brownell on 06-12-25
-
Zero Sum
- The Arc of International Business in Russia
- By: Charles Hecker
- Narrated by: Rich Miller
- Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall0 out of 5 stars 0
-
Performance0 out of 5 stars 0
-
Story0 out of 5 stars 0
Zero Sum brings to life the complex, vivid color of one of the greatest experiments in the history of global commerce. What have businesses learnt—or failed to learn—from this adventure, both about Russia and about dynamics between countries and companies in the face of relentless change?
By: Charles Hecker
-
Bagration 1944
- The Great Soviet Offensive
- By: Prit Buttar
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 20 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 24
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 24
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 24
Throughout the war on the Eastern Front, there were two consistent trends. The Red Army battled to learn how to fight and win, while involved in a struggle for its very survival. But by 1944 it had a leadership that was able to wield it with lethal effect and with far more effective equipment than before. By contrast, the Wehrmacht had commenced a slow process of decline after the invasion of the Soviet Union. Hitler became increasingly unwilling to delegate decision-making to commanders in the field, which had been crucial to earlier success.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Impressive amount of detail, as expected from the author.
- By Zoran Jovic on 03-30-25
By: Prit Buttar
-
Phantom Fleet
- The Hunt for Nazi Submarine U-505 and World War II's Most Daring Heist
- By: Alexander Rose
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 2
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 2
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 2
In this swashbuckling adventure story, bestselling historian Alexander Rose draws on long-classified encrypted documents and intercepted German transmissions to unravel, for the first time, the astounding tale of a daring heist cooked up by an owlish egghead and a glory-seeking buccaneer to score the richest prize on the high seas.
By: Alexander Rose
-
Secrets of a Suitcase
- The Countess, the Nazis, and Middle Europe's Lost Nobility
- By: Pauline Terreehorst, Brent Annable -translated by
- Narrated by: Rachel Perry
- Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall0 out of 5 stars 0
-
Performance0 out of 5 stars 0
-
Story0 out of 5 stars 0
When Pauline Terreehorst bid for a vintage Gucci suitcase at Sotheby's Amsterdam, she had no idea what was inside. The case turned out to be full of fine dresses, furs, and lace, with boxes of postcard albums showing grand castles and churches in Austria, France, England, and Scotland. The curious correspondence revolved around Austrian philanthropist Countess Margarethe Szapary, and her daughter.
By: Pauline Terreehorst, and others
-
1942
- When World War II Engulfed the Globe
- By: Peter Fritzsche
- Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall0 out of 5 stars 0
-
Performance0 out of 5 stars 0
-
Story0 out of 5 stars 0
In 1942, historian Peter Fritzsche offers a gripping, ground-level portrait of the decisive year when World War II escalated to global catastrophe. With the United States joining the fight following Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, all the world’s great powers were at war. The debris of ships sunk by Nazi submarines littered US beaches, Germans marauded in North Africa, and the Japanese swept through the Pacific.
By: Peter Fritzsche