Includes bibliographical references (pages 555-607) and index.

On June 22, 1941, Adolf Hitler launched the greatest land assault in history on the Soviet Union, an attack the Führer deemed crucial to ensure Germany's economic and political survival. Operation Barbarossa, as the assault was known, was Hitler's attempt to annihilate the Soviet Union in order to fulfill the Nazi desire for Lebensraum (living space) and to finally resolve the "Jewish question." What resulted was a devastating and barbaric campaign that consumed enormous resources and accounted for 75 percent of all German casualties during World War II. The ruthless conflict also left tens of millions of Eastern Europeans dead or destitute, at rates dramatically outnumbering Anglo-American casualties on the western front. Despite the enduring significance of the eastern front, few English-language books have addressed these pivotal events. Ostkrieg: Hitler's War of Extermination in the East incorporates recent historical research on the German-Soviet war into an accessible, comprehensive, and insightful narrative. Stephen G. Fritz analyzes the German-Soviet war from the German perspective, covering all aspects of the eastern front and exploring the interrelated military events, economic strategy, resource exploitation, and racial policy that motivated the pitiless invasion and war of extermination

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