Myth of the clean Wehrmacht
The myth of the clean Wehrmacht (German: Mythos der sauberen Wehrmacht) is the pseudohistorical and negationist notion that Nazi Germany's regular armed forces (the Wehrmacht) were not involved in the Holocaust or other war crimes during World War II. The myth, heavily promoted by West German authors and military personnel after World War II, denies the culpability of the German military command in the planning and perpetration of war crimes. Even where war crimes and the waging of an extermination campaign, particularly in the Soviet Union—the populace of which was viewed by the Nazis as "sub-humans" ruled by "Jewish Bolshevik" conspirators—have been acknowledged, they are ascribed to the "Party soldiers corps", the Schutzstaffel (SS), but not the regular German military. The myth began during the war, being promoted in the Wehrmacht's official propaganda and by soldiers of all ranks seeking to portray their institution in the best possible light; as prospects for victory faded, these soldiers began to portray themselves as victims. After Germany's defeat, the verdict of the International Military Tribunal (1945–1946) was misrepresented as exonerating the Wehrmacht.
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