Notes:

German to English Translation

Leicheoberschütze (Lit. Tran.: Corpse Shooter. Without the ü, it becomes Corpse Protector, which seems more fitting)

Im namen des führer (In the leader's name)

Artist's description:

LEICHEOBERSCHÜTZE

Many commanders panic as the Allied forces press on to Berlin. Some disappear, others commit suicide, and most don blinders to the future, continuing their tasks regardless of the futility. A select few however begin to pull back from directionless rationalism and pore over the occult texts so commonly passed around among the officer classes. This infusion of unwholesome study coupled with the inventiveness of a strained weapons industry has seen soldiers unable, or unwilling to continue defense of the Fatherland return to the front cinched into obscene contraptions. These mutilated puppets are often left behind during controlled retreats, erupting from piles of corpses amidst the oncoming Allied troops working their way through the wreckage.