Abstract

Already in 1934, the poet Gottfried Benn had sketched the outline of a certain type of warrior befitting the new Third Reich. In a surrealistic style, he invoked the image of a Spartan as representative of a “white race” suitable for and capable of dictatorship. All feminine characteristics were expunged from this figure. He represented a prototype of biological virility with a steely torso and a relatively small head designed solely for the reception of orders. In 1941, once German paratroopers had finally conquered the island of Crete after “battles with heavy losses,” Erhart Kästner, a soldier in the pursuing..