Forget Nazi Zombies…
The picture of this article is the Werwolf flag.
Autumn 1944, Heinrich Himmler, commanding the SS, began organizing an elite troop of volunteer forces to operate secretly behind enemy lines. While this operation did not succeed the way it was planned, the propaganda of fear struck at the Allies. Operation Werwolf was underway.
On 23 March 1945, Goebbels gave what is known as the Werwolf Speech, tasking Germany to fight to the death.
Most of us know, from the Indiana Jones movies and other works of fiction, that Nazi Germany was obsessed with the occult. This was true. It is even said that it began with an occult club. Everything from witchcraft to the Holy Grail was on the table for power grabs against the rest of the world.
The Werewolf was a big player. According to 19th and early 20th century German folklorists, werewolves represented flawed but well-meaning characters who are tied to the woods, blood, and soil. They represented a German strength and purity against interlopers.
Hitler used the wolf concept repeatedly, from the name of one of his headquarters, the Wolf's Lair, to the implementation of Operation Werwolf, which by the way was the group of commandos that rescued Benito Mussolini from a prison in Italy.
In 1945, national radio broadcasts urge to the German population to join the Werewolf movement, fighting the allies and any German collaborators who welcomed the enemy. One female broadcaster proclaimed "I am so savage. I am filled with rage. Lily the Werewolf is my name. I bite, I eat, I am not tame, my werewolf teeth bite the enemy!"
However effective Werewolf propaganda was against the allies, it hurt the German citizens as well. It's stoked fears and lied about the situation and caused many to fight for a lost cause. There were reports of activity up until 1947, thousands of deaths attributed to Werewolf activity and even a printed pocket guide to Germany emphasized the need for caution when dealing with teenagers who grew up as Hitler Youths and who were reported to be the most active in Werewolf terror.
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