Joachim Hoffmann
Encyclopedia
Joachim Hoffmann was a German
historian and scientific director of the German Armed Forces Military History Research Office
.
, East Prussia
in 1930. In the latter stages of World War II
Hoffmann's family fled to western Germany
to avoid the advancing Red Army
. There the family settled in Berlin
.
From 1951 Hoffmann studied modern history
, eastern European history and comparative ethnology at the Free University of Berlin
and University of Hamburg
. In 1959 he received his PhD
in history for his study Die Berliner Mission des Grafen Prokesch-Osten 1849-1852. From 1960 until 1995 Hoffmann was working in the German Armed Forces Military History Research Office
, where his field of expertise was the “Armed Forces of the Soviet Union”. In his later years he held the post of scientific director. In these years he was also awarded prizes for his work, such as the “Dr. Walter-Eckhardt” Award (1991) and the “General Andrej Andrejewitsch Wlassow” Cultural Prize (1992). After Hoffmann had retired in 1995, he continued to work as an independent author.
He died in February 2002.
. Most of his works were based on little-known topics like Deutsche und Kalmyken 1942 bis 1945 (Germans and the Kalmyk people
) (1977), Die Ostlegionen
1941 bis 1943 (1981) and Kaukasien 1942/43 - Das deutsche Heer und die Orientvölker der Sowjetunion (Caucasus 1942/43 - The German army and the eastern peoples of the Soviet Union) (1991). Also in 1984 he published the book Die Geschichte der Wlassow-Armee (History of the Vlasov Army
) (1984). This work became very popular. With the support of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
it was also introduced in Russia in 1990, where it caused great controversy.
In 1983 the Military History Research Office published the volume 4 of its Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg (The German Reich and the Second World War), which covered the prelude and opening phase of the German attack on the Soviet Union in 1941. Hoffmann contributed critical articles to this volume, which were almost entirely based on Soviet sources.
Hofmann's research led to a conflict with Wilhelm Deist in the following year. Deist, by this time executive scientific director of the Military History Research Office, sued Hoffmann, because in a letter to the director of the office (dating from September, 7th 1983) Hoffmann had accused him of suppressing of the truth about invasion of the Soviet Union for ideological reasons. Deist considered this to be offensive. However, the judge decided against Deist, because Hoffmann had only made use of his right of free speech.
Since the middle of the 1980s Hoffmann as well as critical Russian historians such as Alexander Nekrich
and Dmitri Volkogonov
were deeply involved in the emerging debate about possible Soviet preparations for an attack on Germany since the summer of 1940. In 1995, right after he had retired, he published his work Stalins Vernichtungskrieg 1941-1945 (Stalin's War of Extermination). This book caused great controversy, because of some of its thesis. Even the German Bundestag
had to pay some attention, because the foreword was written by Manfred Kehrig, who was by this time still employed by the Military History Research Office. This gave Hoffmann's book the look of an official work by the office. In later versions of the book, Kehrig was only allowed to sign this foreword as a private person and without his occupation written under his name.
historians for not being emotive enough in hyperbole against the Third Reich when writing about its war with the communist Soviet Union. Most critics concentrate on his last book „Stalins Vernichtungskrieg 1941-1945“ (1995).
in 1941. He mostly referred to newer research done by Russian historians such as Danilov, Gorkov or Viktor Suvorov
. According to this thesis, Stalin would have waged war on Nazi Germany in the late summer of 1941, if Hitler
had not struck first. According to Hoffmann there was no evidence that Hitler had any knowledge of these plans, which means that even if Stalin had planned a war, the German attack could not be considered a defensive action .
had spoken of about 4 to 5 million victims, for which he had no suitable explanation. Last Hoffmann referred to other historians, such as Dr. Franciszek Piper, the director of the Auschwitz museum, and Jean Claude Pressac, who had both been writing of about only 800,000 to 1.2 million (Piper) or even 631,000 to 711,000 (Cressac) victims of Auschwitz. Because of this argumentation, some critics accused Hoffmann of getting close to Holocaust denial
. It should be noted, however, that other scholars, such as R.J. Rummell have also come up with figures in the five million range for Nazi genocide of Jews.
. Still, the court found that phrases such as "supposed", "presumed", "victim of the Jews", "imputed forethought", "furious phantasies", denied the Holocaust and therefore qualified as the crime of race persecution. On June 15, 1996, judge Burkhardt Stein from Tübingen County Court ordered the confiscation and incineration of all books
Grundlagen zur Zeitgeschichte and the destruction of all means for manufacturing them. Later the certificate written by Hoffmann was published in Rudolf's magazine Vierteljahreshefte für freie Geschichtsforschung.
In the same year Hoffmann published Wartime bombings of neutral Switzerland in the revisionist
Journal of Historical Review
, published by the Institute for Historical Review
. Also the book „Stalins Vernichtungskrieg 1941-1945“ became very popular among revisionists and the far right. For all these reasons Hoffmann was often accused of being part of one or the other of these movements.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
historian and scientific director of the German Armed Forces Military History Research Office
German Armed Forces Military History Research Office
The German Armed Forces Military History Research Office is located at Potsdam, the capital of Brandenburg, Germany.-Mission:...
.
Life
Joachim Hoffmann was born in KönigsbergKönigsberg
Königsberg was the capital of East Prussia from the Late Middle Ages until 1945 as well as the northernmost and easternmost German city with 286,666 inhabitants . Due to the multicultural society in and around the city, there are several local names for it...
, East Prussia
East Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
in 1930. In the latter stages of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Hoffmann's family fled to western Germany
Evacuation of East Prussia
The evacuation of East Prussia refers to the evacuation of the German civilian population and military personnel in East Prussia and the Klaipėda region between 20 January, and March 1945, as part of the evacuation of German civilians towards the end of World War II...
to avoid the advancing Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
. There the family settled in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
.
From 1951 Hoffmann studied modern history
Modern history
Modern history, or the modern era, describes the historical timeline after the Middle Ages. Modern history can be further broken down into the early modern period and the late modern period after the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution...
, eastern European history and comparative ethnology at the Free University of Berlin
Free University of Berlin
Freie Universität Berlin is one of the leading and most prestigious research universities in Germany and continental Europe. It distinguishes itself through its modern and international character. It is the largest of the four universities in Berlin. Research at the university is focused on the...
and University of Hamburg
University of Hamburg
The University of Hamburg is a university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by Wilhelm Stern and others. It grew out of the previous Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen and the Kolonialinstitut as well as the Akademisches Gymnasium. There are around 38,000 students as of the start of...
. In 1959 he received his PhD
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
in history for his study Die Berliner Mission des Grafen Prokesch-Osten 1849-1852. From 1960 until 1995 Hoffmann was working in the German Armed Forces Military History Research Office
German Armed Forces Military History Research Office
The German Armed Forces Military History Research Office is located at Potsdam, the capital of Brandenburg, Germany.-Mission:...
, where his field of expertise was the “Armed Forces of the Soviet Union”. In his later years he held the post of scientific director. In these years he was also awarded prizes for his work, such as the “Dr. Walter-Eckhardt” Award (1991) and the “General Andrej Andrejewitsch Wlassow” Cultural Prize (1992). After Hoffmann had retired in 1995, he continued to work as an independent author.
He died in February 2002.
Work
Hoffmann published a number of books and articles mainly on the German-Soviet war (1941-1945)Eastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...
. Most of his works were based on little-known topics like Deutsche und Kalmyken 1942 bis 1945 (Germans and the Kalmyk people
Kalmyk people
Kalmyk people is the name given to the Oirats, western Mongols in Russia, whose descendants migrated from Dzhungaria in 1607. Today they form a majority in the autonomous Republic of Kalmykia on the western shore of the Caspian Sea. Kalmykia is Europe's only Buddhist government...
) (1977), Die Ostlegionen
Ostlegionen
Ostlegionen or Osttruppen were conscripts and volunteers from the occupied eastern territories recruited into the German Army of the Third Reich during the Second World War....
1941 bis 1943 (1981) and Kaukasien 1942/43 - Das deutsche Heer und die Orientvölker der Sowjetunion (Caucasus 1942/43 - The German army and the eastern peoples of the Soviet Union) (1991). Also in 1984 he published the book Die Geschichte der Wlassow-Armee (History of the Vlasov Army
Russian Liberation Army
Russian Liberation Army was a group of predominantly Russian forces subordinated to the Nazi German high command during World War II....
) (1984). This work became very popular. With the support of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn was aRussian and Soviet novelist, dramatist, and historian. Through his often-suppressed writings, he helped to raise global awareness of the Gulag, the Soviet Union's forced labor camp system – particularly in The Gulag Archipelago and One Day in the Life of...
it was also introduced in Russia in 1990, where it caused great controversy.
In 1983 the Military History Research Office published the volume 4 of its Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg (The German Reich and the Second World War), which covered the prelude and opening phase of the German attack on the Soviet Union in 1941. Hoffmann contributed critical articles to this volume, which were almost entirely based on Soviet sources.
Hofmann's research led to a conflict with Wilhelm Deist in the following year. Deist, by this time executive scientific director of the Military History Research Office, sued Hoffmann, because in a letter to the director of the office (dating from September, 7th 1983) Hoffmann had accused him of suppressing of the truth about invasion of the Soviet Union for ideological reasons. Deist considered this to be offensive. However, the judge decided against Deist, because Hoffmann had only made use of his right of free speech.
Since the middle of the 1980s Hoffmann as well as critical Russian historians such as Alexander Nekrich
Alexander Nekrich
Aleksandr Moiseyevich Nekrich was a Soviet Russian historian, since 1976 in emigration to the United States, known for his works on the history of the Soviet Union, especially under Joseph Stalin’s rule....
and Dmitri Volkogonov
Dmitri Volkogonov
Dmitri Antonovich Volkogonov was a Russian historian and officer.-Biography:...
were deeply involved in the emerging debate about possible Soviet preparations for an attack on Germany since the summer of 1940. In 1995, right after he had retired, he published his work Stalins Vernichtungskrieg 1941-1945 (Stalin's War of Extermination). This book caused great controversy, because of some of its thesis. Even the German Bundestag
Bundestag
The Bundestag is a federal legislative body in Germany. In practice Germany is governed by a bicameral legislature, of which the Bundestag serves as the lower house and the Bundesrat the upper house. The Bundestag is established by the German Basic Law of 1949, as the successor to the earlier...
had to pay some attention, because the foreword was written by Manfred Kehrig, who was by this time still employed by the Military History Research Office. This gave Hoffmann's book the look of an official work by the office. In later versions of the book, Kehrig was only allowed to sign this foreword as a private person and without his occupation written under his name.
Controversial aspects
More than once Hoffmann has been criticised by politically correctPolitically Correct
Politically Correct may refer to:*Political correctness, language, ideas, policies, or behaviour seeking to minimize offence to groups of people-See also:*Politically Correct Bedtime Stories, book by James Finn Garner, published in 1994...
historians for not being emotive enough in hyperbole against the Third Reich when writing about its war with the communist Soviet Union. Most critics concentrate on his last book „Stalins Vernichtungskrieg 1941-1945“ (1995).
Stalin's war plans against Nazi Germany
One of the main theses of Hoffmann book (Chapter 1 and 2) was that Stalin had planned a war against Nazi GermanyNazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
in 1941. He mostly referred to newer research done by Russian historians such as Danilov, Gorkov or Viktor Suvorov
Viktor Suvorov
Viktor Suvorov is the pen name for Vladimir Bogdanovich Rezun , a former Soviet and now British writer of Russian and Ukrainian descent who writes primarily in Russian, as well as a former Soviet military intelligence spy who defected to the UK...
. According to this thesis, Stalin would have waged war on Nazi Germany in the late summer of 1941, if Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
had not struck first. According to Hoffmann there was no evidence that Hitler had any knowledge of these plans, which means that even if Stalin had planned a war, the German attack could not be considered a defensive action .
Total number of Holocaust victims
In one part of the book Hoffmann also wrote about the absolute number of victims of the Holocaust. He criticised the evidence for the accepted number of about 6 million victims, claiming that it was a propaganda figure of the Soviet leadership for which there were no evidence. Hoffmann stated that according to papers now lying in Russian archives only 74.000 victims could be identified by name. However, he added that these figures would naturally make up only a small part of the absolute number. In view of the lack of archive material, Hoffmann then raised the question of the basis for the estimation of about 5 to 6 million victims. He came to the conclusion that the Soviet commission examining the concentration camp Auschwitz (which did not find any of the German paperwork) had made the best estimate the number of victims. From interviews with former prisoners, the Soviet officers learned that it had been theoretically possible to burn about 5 million corpses. Through they also estimated that 20% of the prisoners were occupied by forced labor, they reported a total number of 4 million victims to Moscow. This report was published later in the Communist party newspaper Pravda (May 8, 1945). Hoffmann added, that some former Nazis had also reported a similar figure. SS-Organiser Adolf EichmannAdolf Eichmann
Adolf Otto Eichmann was a German Nazi and SS-Obersturmbannführer and one of the major organizers of the Holocaust...
had spoken of about 4 to 5 million victims, for which he had no suitable explanation. Last Hoffmann referred to other historians, such as Dr. Franciszek Piper, the director of the Auschwitz museum, and Jean Claude Pressac, who had both been writing of about only 800,000 to 1.2 million (Piper) or even 631,000 to 711,000 (Cressac) victims of Auschwitz. Because of this argumentation, some critics accused Hoffmann of getting close to Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial is the act of denying the genocide of Jews in World War II, usually referred to as the Holocaust. The key claims of Holocaust denial are: the German Nazi government had no official policy or intention of exterminating Jews, Nazi authorities did not use extermination camps and gas...
. It should be noted, however, that other scholars, such as R.J. Rummell have also come up with figures in the five million range for Nazi genocide of Jews.
Political heresies
Shortly after he had retired Hoffmann as an expert took part in a trial against the extremist Grabert-Publishing-company. In the process he granted some degree of respectability to the book "Dissecting the Holocaust", which had been published by the Holocaust denier Germar RudolfGermar Rudolf
Germar Rudolf is a German chemist and Holocaust denier.-Background:Rudolf was born in Limburg an der Lahn, Hesse. After finishing secondary education in 1983 in Remscheid, Rudolf studied chemistry in Bonn, completing his studies in 1989. As a student, he joined A.V. Tuisconia Königsberg zu Bonn...
. Still, the court found that phrases such as "supposed", "presumed", "victim of the Jews", "imputed forethought", "furious phantasies", denied the Holocaust and therefore qualified as the crime of race persecution. On June 15, 1996, judge Burkhardt Stein from Tübingen County Court ordered the confiscation and incineration of all books
Book burning
Book burning, biblioclasm or libricide is the practice of destroying, often ceremoniously, books or other written material and media. In modern times, other forms of media, such as phonograph records, video tapes, and CDs have also been ceremoniously burned, torched, or shredded...
Grundlagen zur Zeitgeschichte and the destruction of all means for manufacturing them. Later the certificate written by Hoffmann was published in Rudolf's magazine Vierteljahreshefte für freie Geschichtsforschung.
In the same year Hoffmann published Wartime bombings of neutral Switzerland in the revisionist
Historical revisionism (negationism)
Historical revisionism is either the legitimate scholastic re-examination of existing knowledge about a historical event, or the illegitimate distortion of the historical record such that certain events appear in a more or less favourable light. For the former, i.e. the academic pursuit, see...
Journal of Historical Review
Journal of Historical Review
The Journal of Historical Review is a non-peer reviewed serial, periodical, or journal published by the Institute for Historical Review in Torrance, California. Its subject is primarily Holocaust denial...
, published by the Institute for Historical Review
Institute for Historical Review
The Institute for Historical Review , founded in 1978, is an American organization that describes itself as a "public-interest educational, research and publishing center dedicated to promoting greater public awareness of history." Critics have accused it of being an antisemitic "pseudo-scholarly...
. Also the book „Stalins Vernichtungskrieg 1941-1945“ became very popular among revisionists and the far right. For all these reasons Hoffmann was often accused of being part of one or the other of these movements.
Selected works
- Die Ostlegionen 1941 - 1943. Turkotartaren, Kaukasier, Wolgafinnen im deutschen Heer, 1976
- Deutsche und Kalmyken 1942 - 1945, 3. Auflage 1977
- Der Angriff auf die Sowjetunion, in: Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg, mit Jürgen Förster; Horst Boog, 1987
- Kaukasien 1942/43. Das deutsche Heer und die Orientvölker der Sowjetunion, 1991
- Die Angriffsvorbereitungen der Sowjetunion 1941 ,in: Zwei Wege nach Moskau. Vom Hitler-Stalin-Pakt bis zum "Unternehmen Barbarossa" , München und Zürich 1991
- Stalins Vernichtungskrieg 1941-1945, Herbig Verlag, [3rd edition] 1999 ISBN 3-7766-2079-X
- Reviewed by R.C.Raack in Slavic ReviewSlavic ReviewSlavic Review is a leading international peer-reviewed academic journal publishing scholarly studies and book reviews in all disciplines concerned with Russia, Central Eurasia, and Eastern and Central Europe...
Vol. 55, No. 2 (Summer, 1996), pp. 493–494 - English Edition: Stalin's War of Extermination, 1941–1945, 2001, Theses & Dissertation Press, Capshaw AL, ISBN 978-0-9679856-8-8
- Reviewed by R.C.Raack in Slavic Review
- Berlin Friedrichsfelde. Ein deutscher Nationalfriedhof, 2001
- Die Tragödie der 'Russischen Befreiungsarmee' 1944/45. Wlassow gegen Stalin, Herbig Verlag, 2003 ISBN 3-7766-2330-6