My Honor was Loyalty: SS-romanticization in contemporary media

[This article appeared previously in Dutch: https://www.historien.nl/kurowski/. It’s been translated and adapted into the current form. Netflix also removed the film My Honor was Loyalty in March 2021.]

In various media, a skewed perception of the SS is given. This twisted projection of the past can have different consequences, which again influence other media. But where does this representation come from and what is the role of historians in this process?

My Honor was Loyalty

The film My Honor Was Loyalty (2016) by Alessandro Pepe is made accessible to a large audience by making it available on Netflix. Netflix is an online streaming service, where people can watch movies or documentaries. The movie deals with a group of SS soldiers of the Leibstandarte-SS Adolf Hitler division, which is different than the German Army, the Wehrmacht. War crimes committed by these SS soldiers are shown but justified as emotional outbursts.
Soviet soldiers are executed to prevent them from being a threat later. An American prisoner is shot under the pretense of revenge for a killed friend. To make this all even more unbelievable, the main character, an SS sergeant, at a certain moment even helps a Jewish woman. The movie lacks all ideological reflection and the connection between the SS and the nazi worldview is barely established. No moments are spared to ponder on the extermination of the Jewish people or others deemed as subhumans. There is no reflection on the murder of civilians. The large number of war crimes that this Waffen-SS division committed are barely featured at all.

War crimes

There’s a clear gap between the image of the past that this movie projects and the historical events that have transpired. The SS soldiers were not just soldiers, like those in the German army. The Waffen-SS soldiers were ideologically motivated and they carried out the worldview and ideas of Hitler’s regime. The Leibstandarte-SS Adolf Hitler division was involved in several war crimes. The movie actively tries to excuse, downplay, or ignore it. Besides the bad implications this would have, such as nazi-glorification, it is also a falsification of history.
However, prohibiting this film from being shown is not the solution to this problem. This ‘creative expression’ has already been created, has received international attention, and has been watched many times. Even if this film is declared forbidden, it’s just a matter of time before another director, potentially out of ignorance, potentially out of other intentions, inappropriately treats this topic.

Two Black American soldiers carry away a victim of the Malmedy Massacre on a stretcher. The perpretrators inlcuded members of the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler Division. (Photograph courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration: NAID: 532956.)

Franz Kurowski

The bigger problem is not just a ‘wrong’ director, but a structural problem: public ignorance about skewed perceptions of the Waffen-SS. Several writers are actively pushing for a revisionist view of the Second World War, the SS, and the Holocaust. An example is Franz Kurowski, but several other writers also pursue this goal. Kurowski has written many books during his life, of which a significant part has been devoted to the SS. He wrote down the life story of several men. Take for example his writings about Karl Nicolussi-Leck, in the book Panzer Aces II, which contains several errors and mistakes. Through this, it will be shown that the problem of nazi-glorification is known to academic historians, but not to the larger public.
The Second World War was a conflict that was fought on a global scale. Enormous losses were sustained by all parties and two nuclear bombs were needed to force an end to the bloodshed. There were millions of casualties and many war crimes were committed by all major parties involved. A special category of victims is those who were murdered based on the despicable ideology of the nazis. In carrying out this ideology the SS, to which Karl Nicolussi-Leck belonged, played a large role. Although Karl Nicolussi-Leck might not have been actively involved in the Holocaust, he was part of an organization that actively carried out the killing of people deemed as subhumans.

Karl Nicolussi-Leck

Hauptsturmführer Karl Nicolussi-Leck (1917-2008) was a tank commander in the Waffen-SS during the Second World War. He had volunteered for the SS in 1940 and served in the Deutschland, Das Reich, and the Wiking division. In the book, his fighting experiences are stressed, while in the epilogue it’s stressed how he developed an ecological fruit and wine business. Besides that, he helped Germans who were displaced and on his initiative, an empty hospital was converted into two schools and later a museum. During the rebuilding he kept his personal motto, just like in the war; “There’s always plenty to do, let’s get at it!”

Positive characterization

A positive image of Karl Nicolussi-Leck is painted. He’s someone that helps others and even cares about the environment. The war was over and he wanted to focus on the future. There’s little negative to remark about him and every ideological reflection is missing. This is striking, because every person has good and bad characteristics and beyond doubt, Nicolussi-Leck must have had some thoughts about his period with the SS.
Whereas Nicolussi-Leck’s thoughts remain unknown, the writer Franz Kurowski can be faulted for selectively withholding information. After the Second World War, Nicolussi-Leck helped several nazi and SS officers escape to South Africa or the Middle East. In 1948 he went to Argentina but returned after several years. Afterward, he started several businesses with former SS comrades. There’s a clear connection between Nicolussi-Leck’s actions and the nazi worldview, which is lacking in the biography. By not mentioning this, a skewed perception of Nicolussi-Leck is given, as if he was ‘just a soldier’ instead of an ideologically motivated one. To push the argument even further, it’s an attempt by Kurowksi to paint a distorted and positive image of the SS. Kurowski combined these biographies in his book, Panzer Aces II, wherein he shared several experiences of Germans who won the Ritterkreuz.

Sergeant Clarence Mageriea, of the 83rd Division, with two captured German SS troopers against a wall in Sart, Belgium. (Photograph courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration: NAID: 532956.)

Ritterkreuz

The inclusion of the Knight’s Cross (Ritterkreuz) is important, because all men had earned this decoration. However, this medal also had a symbolic value. Between 1939 and 1945 the Ritterkreuz des Eisern Kreuzes handed out just 7,282 times. Recommendations for his award needed to be personally approved by Adolf Hitler. The ideological value is obvious because portrait photos were made of the decorated persons and they gave speeches to other people. The Knight’s Cross holders were supposed to serve as an example. This moralistic approach means that these soldiers were used to spread the nazi worldview. They were thus much more than ‘just’ soldiers. It is remarkable that in the story of Nicolussi-Leck the ideological aspects of his identity are left behind. The focus is on combat and personal motivations instead of any ideological ideas. Many experiences are viewed from a strictly military perspective. Whereas it’s undeniable that being a soldier was part of the SS experience, they also had a close connection to the nazi paradigm. The Waffen-SS is after the war marked as a criminal organization due to the many war crimes committed during its brief existence.

Writers about the Waffen-SS

The used version of the book Panzer Aces II is published by Stackpole Books, a well-known publisher when it comes to military history. This gives the book Panzer Aces II certain pretensions, such as being historically accurate, which don’t apply to this book. The large volume might also give it a certain value, which makes it more difficult for readers to appropriately judge Kurowski’s work. Thus, the book has an air of legitimacy, which is simply wrong.
Publishing these distorted histories as if they were authentic biographies, gives fuel to perfidious processes. The book lacks any warning about the author. A mention in the foreword or a warning about the lack of historical accuracy could have prevented a lot of problems. The reader then knows that certain suspicion towards Kurowski is necessary. Although the book might be correct on all technological aspects related to tanks and the German armed forces, it doesn’t mean that the book is also historically accurate. Furthermore, the book contains many little references which are incorrect. The bombing of Dresden is referred to as a terror bombing. Kurowski makes this kind of reference often in his books and is also accused of having a revisionist view of the bombardment. In all Kurowski’s books, he is positive about the German armed forces and often it lacks any nuance.

Consequences

In this distorted history lies a task for the historian. Historians need to warn society against this sort of evil powers who use selective history to further their own nefarious goals. With the rise of the ‘alt-right’ movement or other revisionist movements, it is important to remain alert about the published material, because these kinds of books feed such figures.
People with a history background might know that the books by Kurowski are not entirely trustworthy, but this knowledge needs to be shared with a larger audience. Certain people might not know the difference between the writings of Kurowski and a respected historian and assume both are equally trustworthy while Kurowski’s books are little more than nazi hagiography.

Fact and fiction

The sad result of these inaccurate books is pathetic films like My Honor was Loyalty by Alessandro Pepe. In this film, intentionally or unintentionally, the SS and its deeds are romanticized. To a large audience, this movie pretends that the SS members are just soldiers and that their crimes can be excused. The line between fact and fiction is not made obvious. Every analysis of the racial ideology of the nazis is missing. Films like this aid nazi worship and the wrongdoings of the nazi regime are pushed into the background, whereas their wrongdoings are things that must never be forgotten.
Films from the German perspective of the Second World War can be difficult. Due to the Holocaust, there’s an enormous emotional baggage that needs to be taken into account. The German miniseries, Ünsere Mütter, ünsere Väter, makes a good attempt to show several German perspectives of the Second World War.
It’s impossible to prevent a movie like this and by being available on Netflix, this film will reach a larger audience. However, historians should seize this moment to warn people about the dangers of falsifying history and to raise awareness of the crimes of the nazi regime. As the production of this film shows, not everyone seems to be aware of this, but historians have the possibility to change this. And Pepe should visit the concentration and extermination camps to think about a side of the SS that he has not shown in his movies.

Sources:

Kurowski, Franz, Panzer Aces II: Battle stories of German tank commanders of WWII (Mechanicsburg 2004).
Williams, Gordon, Knight’s cross and oak-leaves recipients 1939 – ’40 (Oxford 2012).
Messenger, David A., & Katrin Paehler (eds.) A Nazi past: Recasting German identity in postwar Europe (Kentucky 2015).
Kellerhof, Sven Felix, ‘Eine Null anhängen,’ Die Welt (25 January 2005) https://www.welt.de/print-welt/article371489/Eine-Null-anhaengen.html (28 March 2017)