Comments by "James the Other One" (@jamestheotherone742) on "Poor Combat Performance of Waffen SS & NKVD Divisions? #WW2" video.

Himmler styled them as "elite" the SS officers and troops thought of themselves (were indoctrinated) as "elite". The rest of the Wehrmacht thought they were pikers. No they really did stuff like that. The reason why they had such high casualties is because the really did believe the "Ubermensch" BS they had been fed. So when they were told to charge that machine gun! They charged that machine gun and died in droves doing it. And they kept at it all the way to the bitter end.
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The regular Soviet units had their own political officers and "rear security" troops who would provide "motivation" to the infantry. That is what is being portrayed in "Enemy at the Gates" . Were the 10th SS Panzer that got shot up at Nimajen infantry or support troops? I can't recall off hand, but a division has a lot of people who aren't shooters, clerks, mechanics, etc. They would break or "unauthorized withdrawal" and not know how to react to contact.
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