Hans von Dach

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Swiss army Major Hans von Dach is the author of several army manuals, including the seminal stay-behind warfare book Der totale Widerstand: Eine Kleinkriegsanleitung für Jedermann ("Total Resistance: A Guerrilla War Manual for Everyone"), which first appeared 1957.

1 Der Totale Widerstand
2 Bibliography
3 See also
4 Notes and references
5 External links

[edit] Der Totale Widerstand

There are various editions of the book, ranging from 64 through 287 pages. The book was originally written for wide dissemination to the Swiss population via the SUOV (Schweitzer Unteroffiziersverband, ie. Swiss NCO association)^[1] during a time when there was a public perception that Switzerland needed to be prepared to resist external aggressors.^[2] As of 2007, at least one of von Dach's books (on chemical weapons) ships with sealed pages and the instruction "NUR BEI KRIEGSMOBILMACHUNG OEFFNEN" (=open only in case of mobilization).^[3]

The book contains advice on how to defend Switzerland through stay-behind guerrilla warfare in case of an enemy invasion. Detailed information on how to organize small "armies" and resistance groups is given; the readers are also taught on how to build explosives (which earned the book a ban in several countries, including Germany).

Summarized in a few words, the book explains:

the operative, tactical, technical and psychological basics of guerilla warfare
how to build-up, organize and command a guerilla warfare
how to build-up and command a civilian resistance movement
the enemy's methods of suppressing and combating guerilla warfare
explosives techniques, with the focus on placing the charges, optimizing the effects, and knowledge of the various types of explosives

This work, although legendary, is obsolete by today's technological standards, as it studies old cases like the German Wehrmacht occupying Warsaw and the Soviet intrusion into Prague and Budapest. Phrases like "A photocopier is as worthy as a machine gun" seem rustical in view of today's internet and readily available message encryption like PGP; and the book does not cover newer weapons and army tactics. Another points are that this combat manual only addresses how to organize the resistance locally, but not how to deter the occupation of a whole country. Then, in terms of geography, the book focuses on the situation that prevails in Switzerland (hilly and mountainous landscape; with many of the inhabitants living in villages) – a fact which dictates the possibilities of guerilla warfare; so the lessons of this book can not be readily transplanted to other countries.

[edit] Bibliography

Der Totale Widerstand is by far von Dach's most well-known book.

"Der totale Widerstand", ISBN 3-9521096-1-4 ("Total Resistance' reed. Paladin Press, 1992 ISBN-13: 978-0873640213)

Other works of von Dach are titled Gefechtstechnik ("Combat technique", various editions from 1958 to 1957), Kampfbeispiele ("Examples of Combat", 1977) and Kampfverfahren der Verteidigung ("Combat procedures of the Defense", 1959).

A sequel to von Dach's seminal work, titled Der Totale Widerstand II, Chemische Kampfstoffe (Total Resistance II: Chemical Weapons), appears to exist.^[3] It promises instruction about "Chemische Kampfstoffe für Widerstandskämpfer. Herstellung unter einer Besatzungsmacht mit einfachsten Mitteln im Küchenlabor" (Chemical weapons for resistance fighters. Production during occupation with the simplest of means in a kitchen laboratory).