Syrian army Panzer IV tank
The Panzer IV (PzKpf
The last appearance by WWII German tanks on the world’s battlefields came in 1967, when Syria’s panzer force faced off against modern Israeli armor. Quite improbably, Syria had assembled it’s collection of ex-Wehrmacht vehicles from a half-dozen sources over a decade and a half timeframe.
This was the most common German tank during WWII. It served the entire conflict from start to finish. It underwent great evolution during it’s production run, being made in ten main versions. The Panzer IVs Syria operated were of the late four versions.
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I have no doubt that one Alois Brunner, Adolf Eichmann's personal secretary was involved. Brunner fled Germany to Syria one step ahead of the Nazi hunters. Although the Syrians always denied he was there it was one of those open secrets and all extradition requests were refused. While there he was a leading advisor in the creation of the Syrian Baathist party. (It was the model for Saddam Hussein own Baath party. Late in life Brunner finally did give an interview. When asked if he had any regrets about WWII his only response was "Yes, we didn't kill enough Jews."
ReplyDeletePerhaps then the chaise and suffering in Syria is just the bad karma they earned.
Interesting and thanks.
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