Editing Volkssturm (section)

==Postwar Treatment and Legacy==

Interrogated members of the ''Volkssturm''—when questioned as to where the regular forces had gone—revealed that German soldiers surrendered to the Americans and British instead of the Red Army for fear of reprisals related to the atrocities they had committed in the Soviet Union.{{sfn|Beevor|2002|p=308}} Correspondingly, Yelton writes that "Defeat and occupation by the Western Allies simply did not hold the same personal or collective horror for Germans as did losing to the Soviets."{{sfn|Yelton|2002|p=133}} He adds that many ''Volkssturm'' men began to believe it would be "better to let the Americans and British get as far east as possible."{{sfn|Yelton|2002|p=134}} 

After Germany’s surrender in May 1945, the fate of ''Volkssturm'' members varied dramatically based on the occupying power. In the Western Allied zones, most ''Volkssturm'' fighters were treated leniently, particularly if they had surrendered peacefully or had not participated in combat.{{sfn|Yelton|2002|p=150}}  American and British forces generally classified them as lightly-armed conscripts and released many after brief internment, unless specific war crimes were alleged.{{sfn|Yelton|2002|p=150}} By contrast, Soviet treatment was far harsher; ''Volkssturm'' members captured by Red Army forces were often viewed as partisans or ideological enemies and were frequently executed or deported to labor camps in the USSR.{{sfn|Yelton|2002|p=151}} Yelton argues that the legacy of the ''Volkssturm'' in postwar Germany was one of ambiguity. On one hand, it symbolized the desperation and collapse of the Nazi regime, as civilians were pressed into hopeless combat against overwhelming Allied forces.{{sfn|Yelton|2002|p=151}} On the other hand, some veterans and Nazi loyalists attempted to cast the ''Volkssturm'' as a heroic last stand for German sovereignty and unity.{{sfn|Yelton|2002|p=152}} In broader historiography, however, the militia is more often remembered as an expression of the regime’s refusal to surrender and its willingness to sacrifice its own people in pursuit of ideological goals.{{sfn|Yelton|2002|p=152}}