Territorial Changes of Germany and Expulsion of Ethnic Germans

Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler in Warszawa during the expansion of the German Reich

Zones of occupation – Germany's new borders

Sprung in die Freiheit –The Leap into Freedom

Bundesgrenzschutz/Federal Border Guard

The German territory east of the Oder-Neisse line (Pomerania, Neumark, Silesia and East Prussia) was attached to Poland and the Soviet Union. The northern portion of East Prussia with the ancient capital of Königsberg became the newly-formed Kaliningrad Oblast, a part of the Russian SFSR, with a small portion, Memelland, joined to the Lithuanian SSR. All territory annexed by the German Reich during World War II was returned or annexed by the Soviet Union. Following Germany's defeat an estimated 1.6 million ethnic Germans were deported from the Sudetenland and the rest of Czechoslovakia to the American zone. An estimated 800,000 were deported to the Soviet zone. According to researcher Stefan Banasiak, 3,109,900 Germans were expelled to the Soviet and British occupation zones in Germany from Poland and former eastern territories of Germany ceded by Poland. An unknown number left without formal registration or was expelled to USSR by Soviet military authorities. It is estimated by Professor Dr. Arfon Rees and Dr. Steffen Prauser that over 12 million Germans fled or were expelled from east-central Europe during the last year of the war and in its aftermath. People from all over Eastern Europe quickly moved in to replace the former German population in a process parallel to the expulsions. In Yugoslavia, the remaining Germans were not expelled; according to historian Anna Bramwell ethnic German villages were turned into internment camps where over 50,000 perished. German expellee organizations who did not accept the post-war territorial and population changes were dismissed as far-right revanchists. Top image: Adolf Hitler salutes the 8th Army of the Wehrmacht in Warszawa on October 5 1939 during the German-Soviet joint invasion of Poland. Germany expanded significantly between 1938 and 1939 as a result of the German Reich's annexations and conquests. The incorporated area of western Poland, which was deemed to be a part of the Reich, was to be ruthlessly Germanized. Photo by Kriegsberichter Lt. Eric Borchert. Credit: Mikołaj Kaczmarek. Entscheidende Stunden. FU. Second image: the Allied zones of occupation in post-war Germany. The provincial boundaries are those of Weimar Germany. Actual poster shown in Allied-occupied Germany after World War II. PD. Third image: this photo taken by the West German photographer Peter Leibing became known as The Leap into Freedom and became an iconic image of the Cold War. The East German border guard Hans Conrad Schumann was sent to the corner of Ruppiner Straße and Bernauer Straße to guard the Berlin Wall on its third day of construction. At 16.00 hrs on August 15 1961, Schumann leapt over the barbed wire that marked the border between the communist East and the free West. Credit: Paul Kerestes. FU. Bottom image: new Bundesgrenzschutz troops take their oath at Graf-Bernadotte-Platz in Kassel on May 15 1963. The BGS was established on March 16 1951 after the Cold War had begun to control and guard Germany's border and was organized along paramilitary lines. Occupation authorities judged the borders could be better policed by the Germans themselves. The first BGS inspector was the Knight's Cross holder and former Wehrmacht general Anton Grasser. In the 1950s, Grasser was involved in organizing an illegal underground army set up by Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS veterans in the event of a Soviet invasion of West Germany. Credit: Journalist and historian Klaus Wiegrefe. FU.

The History of the Waffen-SS - Military Branch of the Schutzstaffel

Adolf Hitler inspects an Honor Guard of the LSSAH – the forerunner of the Waffen-SS

Reichsführer-SS – head of the Allgemeine-SS

The Desert Fox Erwin Rommel and Paul Hausser, father of the Waffen-SS

Das Reich – elite Panzer division of the Waffen-SS

The topic of the Waffen-SS remains fresh; more remains to be said without simply rehashing what has come before. Many works exist which are rehashes. The result is that much misinformation has been spread, with the Waffen-SS order of battle suffering greatly in this regard. The Waffen-SS was a multinational European front line combat organization under the direct tactical control of the OKW, the German High Command of the Armed Forces, not to be confused with the notorious SS-Totenkopfverbände or the political Allgemeine-SS. For example, the Waffen-SS had its own recurring section and had nothing to do with the criminal activities of the Allgemeine-SS. Former Waffen-SS frontline soldiers routinely inveighed against Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler personally. Undoubtedly, this hatred was seen all throughout the ranks of the Waffen-SS, even as high as SS-Oberstgruppenführer Paul Hausser, who had specifically been recruited in the mid 1930‘s to found the precursor of the Waffen-SS, the SS-Verfügungstruppe. Hausser proclaimed that Himmler had deceived the troops by grouping them with the concentration camp personnel. This combination chained the actual Waffen-SS to the fate of those SS men who are responsible for the incidents in the concentration camps. Wiking veteran SS-Unterscharführer Richard Fuchs asserted: The Waffen-SS had no love for Himmler. To us he was more or less a stranger. At best, his connection with the Waffen-SS was nominal. The testimony of SS-Obergruppenführers Richard Hildebrandt and Karl von Eberstein corroborated this claim regarding the relationship between Himmler and the Waffen-SS. They and several other high ranking officers reported that Himmler's opinions were not taken seriously by the Waffen-SS. The history of the Waffen-SS began to be recorded before and during World War II, and many accounts were understandable biased, as they were written by pro-Nazi sources or wartime enemies. The atrocities committed by certain units made investigators ready to believe the worst about the entire Waffen-SS. These factors contributed to many incorrect concepts being taken into historiography as accepted truths. Credit: Assoc. Prof. of History Dr. Amy Beth Carney and Waffen-SS historian Marc Rikmenspoel. Top image: Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler inspecting an assembly of his personal honour guard of the Leibstandarte SS on arrival at Nürnberg on Sept. 10 1935. Press photo probably taken by his official photographer Heinrich Hoffmann during the 7th Reich Party Congress called the Rally of Freedom. "Freedom" referred to the German liberation from the Treaty of Versailles. The Leibstandarte's role in these ceremonies was a symbol of the close bond between Hitler and his personal guard, reflecting their significance within the Nazi power structure. Credit: GPFI. FU. Second image: the feared and disliked Heinrich Himmler, Reichsführer of the SS and Chief of the German Police, during his visit to Warszawa in Feb. 1939, seven months before the German Reich and the Soviet Union invaded and partitioned Poland. He is accompanied by Hans von Moltke, German Ambassador to Poland and General Kordian Józef Zamorski, Chief of the Polish State Police. Credit: Olga Shirnina. c. Bundesarchiv. Third image: Feldmarschall Erwin Rommel and Waffen-SS General Paul Papa Hausser, two exceptional commanders of World War II. Hausser became the father of the Waffen-SS and was in charge of the troop's military and ideological training. Credit: Ghermán Mihály. c. Bundesarchiv. Bottom image: an original Nazi era postcard of the Unsere Waffen-SS series showing Panzer III's from the famous Waffen-SS Panzer elite division – Das Reich. Photo taken by SS-Kriegsberichter Dürr. Credit: Julius Backman. c. Bundesarchiv.

Leibstandarte ϟϟ and ϟϟ-Verfügungstruppe - The Praetorian Guard

Führer und Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler at Erntedankfest in Bückeberge

Commander of the Leibstandarte SS Josef Sepp Dietrich

Guard at SS-Nachrichtenschule in Metz

On March 17 1933, SS-Gruppenführer Josef Sepp Dietrich was instructed to collect 117 reliable young SS men into a militarized SS bodyguard for the democratically elected Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler. This new unit was named the SS-Stabswache Berlin. It was the origin of what became the Leibstandarte SS. Eight of these 117 men went on to become regimental commanders in the Waffen-SS, and three attained division command. The Schutzstaffel, abbreviated SS – or ϟϟ with stylized Armanen sig runes, now began to grow rapidly and were set up in major cities to act in the event of a Communist strike. The SS-Verfügungstruppe, abbreviated SS-VT, was formed on September 24 1934. The unit consisted of military-trained men at the disposal of the Führer. It was made up of three regiments modeled on the infantry regiments of the German Army. In 1936, the Prussian officer SS-Brigadeführer Paul Hausser worked to transform the SS-VT into a credible military force that was a match for the regular army. They trained alongside Hitler's personal body guard the Leibstandarte SS. The Totenkopf formations were never part of the SS-VT. They belonged to the SS-Totenkopfverbände, another branch of the SS. The SS-VT received military – rather than political – training. By 1940 the SS-VT had become the nucleus of the Waffen-SS. Its units would spearhead some of the most crucial battles of World War II while its men would shoulder some of the most difficult and daunting combat operations of all the units in the German military. According to their enemy's opinion and those of Wehrmacht's own commanders-in-chief the Panzergrenadiers of the Waffen-SS ranged among the most effective and professional soldiers of all. Top image: Adolf Hitler during the celebration of the Thanksgiving Day in Bückeberge in 1937. The festival was part of a cycle of National-Socialist celebrations which included the annual party rally at Nürnberg, Hitler's birthday celebrations and other important events on the National-Socialist calendar. The photo was taken by Hitler's personal colour photographer Hugo Jäger. LIFE photo archive. Fair use. Middle image: Commander of the Leibstandarte SS Josef Sepp Dietrich here photographed by SS-Kriegsberichter Gunter d'Alquen. Dietrich is wearing the early style of gorget patches for SS-Obergruppenführer, which he was promoted to on July 1 1934. Dietrich loyalty to his elite Waffen-SS troops remained paramount throughout the war and beyond. He despised the Reichsführer of the SS Heinrich Himmler with every fibre of his being whom he frequently referred to with barely concealed contempt as the Reichsheini. Dietrich even banned Himmler from the Leibstandarte SS barracks. U.S. National Archives. Fair use. Bottom image: Leibstandarte SS guard at SS-Nachrichtenschule in Metz. Commons: Bundesarchiv.

ϟϟ-Junkerschulen: Waffen-SS Officer Candidate Schools

The Runes of the Schutzstaffel represented all branches of the SS

Main Gate at SS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz

The SS-VT addressed the creation of an organic officer corps by creating two officer candidate schools. SS-Brigadeführer Paul Hausser's school system was designed to provide necessary education to men who demonstrated potential. The first facilities were established at Bad Tölz in 1934 and at Braunschweig in 1935. By 1936, the SS-VT was highly selective. For recruits, it only accepted young men who were healthy, in good physical shape, and who had clean police records. Additionally, recruits had to show proof of pure Germanic ancestry back to 1800, while those who became officers had to further demonstrate this to 1750. Officers and men exercised and trained together, breaking down social barriers and creating comrades, with each man prepared to take the place of his superior, should the latter become a casualty. Party membership was not required for joining the SS-VT. Additional SS leadership schools were founded at Klagenfurt and Posen-Treskau in 1943, and in Prague 1944. Credit: Marc Rikmenspoel. Top clip: according to German librarian and historian Ulrich Hunger the Siegrune was designed in 1929 by graphic designer Walter Heck. Heck's simple but striking device consisted of two sig runes drawn side by side like lightning bolts, and was soon adopted by all branches of the SS, both by the Allgemeine-SS and the Waffen-SS. Heck himself was promoted to SS-Obersturmführer on November 9 1933. This iconic symbol is both ubiquitous and widely banned today. Footage from Die Deutsche Wochenschau. Bottom image: the main gate at SS first leadership school in Bavarian Bad Tölz in 1942. The Waffen-SS officer candidate school Tölz also had a building dedicated to boxing, gymnastics, indoor ball games, a heated swimming pool and a sauna. c. Bundesarchiv.

Waffen-SS Officer Candidates at ϟϟ-Junkerschule Bad Tölz

Waffen-SS officer candidate at SS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz

Knight's Cross holder Fritz Klingenberg at Bad Tölz

Waffen-SS recruits at SS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz

Austrian Knight's Cross holder Ludwig Kepplinger at Bad Tölz

Training in the Waffen-SS placed high emphasis on physical standards of attainment which are only paralleled today by those of élite units. Each young man who was accepted into the Waffen-SS, a veteran recalled, was very proud of this. Out of 500 volunteers in my group, only 28 qualified. Being accepted at all was a great honor because such a strict selection process. Only the best applicants were accepted. Of those, only the most promising were selected for officer training, and only 60 percent of these passed their courses. Those men who became battalion and higher-level commanders in the SS-VT after beginning their careers as simple enlisted men were in many ways the “best of the best”, and in that light, it is not surprising that so many were highly considered. Credit: the author Marc Rikmenspoel. Clips: Waffen-SS volunteers at SS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz. One cadet in three was eliminated from the course during examinations. One of the goals of the SS-Schule Tölz was to produce fighting officers, and classes were given in assault tactics, which built on the mobile tactics. The school adjutant and Wiking commander Felix Steiner is reported to have said: We require a supple adaptable type of soldier, athletic of bearing and capable of more than the average endurance. The timetable of SS-Schule Tölz was as follows: tactics, terrain and map reading, combat training and weapons training, weapons technology, shooting training, war exercises, religious education, military, SS and police, administration, physical training, weapons doctrine, pioneer teaching, current events, tank tactics, vehicle maintenance, sanitary engineering, air force doctrine. The average age of a Waffen-SS division throughout the war was 18. Even the vaunted Leibstandarte SS division was not that old. The average age among enlisted soldiers was 19 years, and for non-commissioned officers, it was 25 years, leading to a unit average of 22 years. For most young boys, they chose the Wehrmacht over the Waffen-SS because they were too daunted by the elite standards of the latter organization. Credit: Associate Professor of History Dr. Amy Beth Carney. Film footage: fascinating clips from the Tölz officer training centre, where men from all over Europe were trained by the staff and personalities of the Waffen-SS who made history. Die Deutsche Wochenschau. Fair use.

Waffen-SS Bound by the Oath of Allegiance - Meine Ehre heißt Treue

Entrance gate to the Leibstandarte SS barracks in Berlin-Lichterfelde

Der Führer Adolf Hitler and SS-Standartenführer Felix Steiner

Leibstandarte SS Honour Guard after the victorious Western Campaign

The term Waffen-SS became official during the spring of 1940, and it indicated those units concerned with frontline military duty. The men of the Waffen-SS had considered themselves as elite soldiers since well before World War II. This was because of the teachings of their officers, inspired by SS-Brigadeführer Paul Hausser and SS-Standartenführer Felix Steiner, and a logical consequence of their rigorous military training. Numerous Waffen-SS men who only attained junior officer rank during the 1930's become effective division commanders during World War II, including Theodor Wisch, Werner Ostendorff, Hermann Prieß, Karl Ullrich, Otto Kumm, Sylvester Stadler, Heinz Harmel, Fritz von Scholz, Fritz Witt, Georg Bochmann, Bruno Streckenbach, Franz Augsberger and Jürgen Wagner. Augsburger earned the Knight's Cross, and all others attained the Oakleaves or higher to that decoration. Members of the Schutzstaffel swore the following oath: Ich schwöre Dir, Adolf Hitler, als Führer und Kanzler des Deutschen Reiches Treue und Tapferkeit. Wir geloben Dir und den von Dir bestimmten Vorgesetzten Gehorsam bis in den Tod. So wahr mir Gott helfe. The oath was renewed publicly at an annual ceremony. After January 30 1941, foreign-born members of the SS swore to Hitler only as Führer, not as "Führer and Chancellor". Credit: Marc Rikmenspoel. Top image: Kaserne der Leibstandarte-SS Adolf Hitler in Berlin-Lichterfelde in the 1930s. Source: Herbert Walther. FU. Middle image: Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler and SS-Standartenführer Felix Steiner before the outbreak of World War II. Bottom image: Leibstandarte SS at attention during medal award ceremony by SS-Obergruppenführer and Commander of the Leibstandarte SS Josef Sepp Dietrich. The ceremony takes place in the inner square of the Technical High School of Metz in 1940, soon to be re-named SS-Nachrichtenschule. Photo believed taken by Propaganda-Abschnittsführer SS-Untersturmführer d. R. Jobst Gösling. Commons: Bundesarchiv.

Uniforms and Insignia of the Waffen-SS

Joachim Peiper as SS-Sturmbannführer

Max Wünsche as SS-Obersturmführer

The Schutzstaffel wore uniforms to differentiate themselves from the regular German armed forces, the German state and the Nazi Party. Commander of the Leibstandarte SS Josef Sepp Dietrich ordered his men in 1933 to wear the uniform without a swastika armband in order to differentiate themselves from the rank and file of the Allgemeine-SS units throughout the German Reich. Among the uniforms of the SS, the all black SS uniform is the most well known. However, after the outbreak of war black uniforms were seldom worn, except for the black uniform worn by SS-Panzer crews. The combat units of the Waffen-SS wore a variation of the Army uniform with distinguishing SS insignia. SS uniforms used a variety of insignia, the most standard of which were the classic SS skull and collar patches and shoulder boards to denote rank and position. The basic SS rune collar patch was standard for all German and Germanic Waffen-SS formations except Totenkopf units, whose men wore the embroidered skull patches throughout the conflict. Cuff titles, worn on the lower left sleeve of the tunic, were another distictive part of the SS uniform. The SS arm eagle was also a distinctive part of the uniform. Only the Heer, Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine wore the eagle on their right breast, thus the SS wore theirs on the upper left arm, a left-facing eagle and straight wings tapering to a point. The uniforms and insignia of the SS was designed by Professor Dr. Karl Diebitsch, promoted to SS-Oberführer on April 20 1944, and graphic designer Walter Heck, promoted to SS-Obersturmführer on Nov. 9 1933. The German fashion house Hugo Boss produced these uniforms along with the uniforms of the youth organisation Hitlerjugend. The belt buckle featuring the motto Meine Ehre heißt Treue was produced by the Overhoff firm. Images: many famous high-ranking Waffen-SS commanders like Joachim Peiper and Max Wünsche, both officers of the Leibstandarte SS, began their pre-wartime careers in the SS-Verfügungstruppe. Credit: Julia Kotterias. FU.

Classic Waffen-SS Divisions

Ceremonial Guard Mounting of the Leibstandarte SS at the Reichskanzlei in Berlin

Waffen-SS officers conducting a wargame exercise

 SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Das Reich during 'Zitadelle'

The so-called classic Waffen-SS Divisions – Leibstandarte SS, Das Reich, Totenkopf and Wiking – began receiving small quantities of ethnic German replacements by the spring of 1942. The classic divisions were able to maintain a degree of quality, and the divisions reached a comparable level, because their experienced cadre carried on the traditions established in the pre-war SS-VT. The Waffen-SS were created to act as elite formations for use at the decisive points of the front. This became true of the first six Waffen-SS divisions, as well as the later-formed SS-Panzer and Panzergrenadier divisions. The military advisor and former Generaloberst Heinz Wilhelm Guderian, founder of the German armoured forces and their chief in battle, at the same time Chief of staff of the German Army wrote in 1953 to disperse the clouds of lies and calumnies piled up around the multinational Waffen-SS: Our Honour is our Loyalty. This was the motto according to which the Waffen-SS was trained, and it was the motto according to which it fought. It was loyal to the oath and brave to self-sacrifice. Whoever saw them in battle is bound to confirm that. After the collapse this formation faced exceptionally heavy and unjust charges but they never forgot loyalty to themselves and to all those who performed their duty for Germany. Their exemplary conduct during hard post-war years in POW-camps and before Tribunals their unshaken attitude, comradeship and helpfulness prove it. Guderian was one of the few generals who had a consistent track record of opposing Hitler. Credit: Waffen-SS Encyclopedia. Top clip: soldiers of the Leibstandarte SS being relieved by their replacements during a guard mounting ceremony at the Reich Chancellery in 1939. Middle image: Waffen-SS officers playing out every imaginable tactical battle scenario. Most likely officers from the Leibstandarte SS. FU. Bottom image: Tiger tanks of the elite SS-Panzer-Regiment 2 Das Reich in the Belgorod Oblast during the Kursk offensive in July 1943. Photo likely by SS-Kriegsberichter Hermann Grönert or possible Fritzel Zschäckel. Commons: Bundesarchiv.

Misconceptions about the Waffen-SS

SS-Oberscharführer Heinrich Gottke

SS-Unterscharführer Alfred Schneidereit

             
There is a widespread assumption that the men of Waffen-SS were indoctrinated political soldiers of one sort or another, with the precise meaning of this term varying with the outlook of the user. This outlook, in turn, is assumed to account for the greater proportion of war crimes attributed to the Waffen-SS. Surviving records, however, support Waffen-SS veterans´ claims that political indoctrination was at most a minor part of their training. It is essential to realize that most cases of atrocities result from some previous atrocity committed in violation of laws and customs of war and were often of an exceptionally heinous nature. In other words, they were often a part of the pernicious cycle of cruelty that stem from other, similar acts. The results are often disturbing and sometimes inexcusable, but not unique to the Waffen-SS. Each case must be examined individually and closely before any opinion on the general nature of the Waffen-SS can be considered to be well informed. Credit: Marc Rikmenspoel, Waffen-SS Encyclopedia. Left image: a portrait of SS-Oberscharführer Heinrich Gottke who served in the SS-FlaK-Abteilungs of the SS-Division Leibstandarte SS, Totenkopf and 17.Panzer-Grenadier-Division Götz von Berlichingen. Gottke was awarded the Knight's Cross for his bravery in action on December 13-14 1944. After detecting Allied troops in battalion strength supported by light tanks, he directed fire down onto the advancing forces which forced the attack back. During a second attack he directed fire onto his own position. During a third attack, he was forced to move to his secondary location from which he managed to direct fire onto the attacking force, again stopping the attack. Gottke joined the German Bundeswehr in 1958 and from 1964 he was the Envoy of the Federal Ministry of Defense. He retired on September 30 1975 as a Hauptmann, after a combined military service of 21 years. Heinrich Gottke died aged 77 on August 12 1998 in Wolfsburg, Niedersachsen. Credit: Matthias Ruf. Private Collection. FU. Right image: a formal studio portrait of East Prussian SS-Untersturmführer Alfred Schneidereit made in connection with the award of the Knight's Cross on December 20 1943. Schneidereit served as an anti tank gunner with SS-Division Leibstandarte SS. He was awarded the Knight's Cross for his actions on the Eastern Front where he participated in the battles at Lutsk, Kherson, Taganrog, Rostov, Kharkov and Kursk. Schneidereit was also promoted for bravery in the face of the enemy, and posted to the SS officer training school at Bad Tölz, which he graduated from in October 1944. He surrendered to the Soviet Red Army on May 12 1945. Alfred Schneidereit died aged 79 on February 21 1999 in Nördlingen, Bayern. Commons: Bundesarchiv.

Controversies about the Waffen-SS

SS-Oberscharführer Kurt Sametreiter

SS-Oberscharführer Friedrich Henke

           
The term Waffen-SS have been used interchangeably, and the actual history is often confused. Contrary to SS-Brigadeführer Paul Hausser's and SS-Standartenführer Felix Steiner's original conception, Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler assigned numerous units to the Waffen-SS that had purposes other than combat. These included Einsatzgruppen murder squads and wartime concentration camp guards. These men carried Waffen-SS paybooks but had more in common with the political Allgemeine-SS than with members of combat units of the Waffen-SS. These executioners and guards were not expected to serve in a military role, and did not do so. To add to the confusion, Allgemeine-SS wore uniforms nearly identical to the Waffen-SS. This doomed the classic Waffen-SS – along with hundreds of thousands of volunteers and highly-motivated foreigners – to condemnation that extends until our days. In the minds of the Waffen-SS veterans, they and their European comrades were the Waffen-SS, the others being elements forced upon them. They saw themselves as an elite; they had fought well in many battles and had usually served honorably as soldiers. Credit: Marc Rikmenspoel, Waffen-SS Encyclopedia. Left image: the Austrian volunteer SS-Obersturmführer Kurt Sametreiter served as an Panzerjäger with SS-Division Totenkopf, Leibstandarte SS and 23.SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division Nederland. Sametreiter was awarded the Knight's Cross during the Battle of Kursk in the tank Battle of Prokhorovka on July 1943. He was responsible for destroying 24 Soviet tanks in one action. Kurt Sametreiter died aged 95 on January 28 2017 in Bad Gastein, Austria. Photo: a formal studio portrait of Sametreiter by SS-Kriegsberichter Max Büschel, probably made in connection with the award of the Knight's Cross, on July 31 1943. Credit: Wehrmacht39. Commons: Bundesarchiv. Right image: SS-Oberscharführer Friedrich Fritz Henke served as a Zugführer in SS-Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 1 of the SS-Panzer-Division Leibstandarte SS in 1943. On December 29 1943, he broke up a Soviet tank assault during the Soviet Zhitomir–Berdichev Offensive. Fritz Henke knocked out the command tank from which the enemy commander escaped, only to be hit by a pistol shot by Henke. By the end of the day he had destroyed a total of 21 Soviet tanks and 11 AT guns. Henke was presented with the Knight's Cross on January 12 1944. By this time he had destroyed 38 tanks in total. SS-Untersturmführer Fritz Henke died aged 78 on November 15 1999 in Moisburg, Niedersachsen. The photo shows Henke as SS-Oscharf. in 1944. Commons: Bundesarchiv.

Forgotten Sinking of Refugee Ship MV Wilhelm Gustloff

Hospital Ship MV Wilhelm Gustloff

The sinking of Germanys huge luxury passenger liner, the Hospital Ship MV Wilhelm Gustloff, remains the worse ever maritime disaster. It occurred in the final stages of World War II on January 30 1945. Wilhelm Gustloff′s final voyage was during Operation Hannibal while participating in the evacuation of civilian refugees. The Red Army had stormed into East Prussia and German Pomerania. Urged on by Joseph Stalin the Red Army would embark on an orgy of rape and destruction. Hannibal was a Kriegsmarine operation involving the evacuation by sea of civilian refugees who were surrounded by the Red Army in Courland, East Prussia and the Polish Corridor from January 23 - May 8 1945. This is not to forget the depleted Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS trying to hold the Soviets back while civilians evacuated. The refugee ship Wilhelm Gustloff repainted from the hospital ship colors of white with a green stripe to standard naval grey was sighted by the Soviet submarine S-13, under the command of Captain Alexander Marinesko. Captain Marinesko launched three torpedoes at the Wilhelm Gustloff. Soon after that, Marinesko fired at torpedo boat Löwe that had come to the aid of the liner. Despite Löwe being overloaded with 564 survivors. For weeks after January 30 1945, frozen bodies washed up on the Baltic coasts. Before sinking Wilhelm Gustloff, Marinesko was facing a court martial due to his alcohol problems and for being caught in a brothel while he and his crew were off duty. Marinesko was posthumously named a Hero of the Soviet Union by Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev in 1990. German archivist Heinz Schön, who carried out extensive research into the sinking during the 1990s, concluded that the refugee ship Wilhelm Gustloff was carrying some wounded soldiers, military personnel, mainly Navy personnel, technicians and 8,956 civilian refugees, among them an estimated 4,000 children, for a total of 10,582 passengers and crew. The figures from the research of Schön make the total lost in the sinking to be about 9,343 men, women, and children. This would make it the largest loss of life in a single sinking in maritime history. Besides ethnic Germans, the passengers onboard Wilhelm Gustloff included Croatians, Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians and Poles. Image: German liner Wilhelm Gustloff is shown in the harbor at Hamburg in Germany in 1938. FU.

Forgotten Sinking of Refugee Ships MV Goya and MV Steuben

Hospital Ship MV Wilhelm Gustloff

Refugee Ship MV Goya

Refugee Ship MV Steuben

The worlds second worst maritime tragedy was the Soviet sinking of the German transport ship MV Goya. The sinking of this vessel shares many similarities with the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff and Steuben. The German Kriegsmarine scraped up whatever ships they could and sought to evacuate civilians and wounded soldiers. MV Goya was one such refugee ship. On April 16 1945 she was part of a convoy sailing away from the Hel Peninsula and crossing the Baltic Sea on the way to Germany. Goya was overloaded with civilian refugees and wounded soldiers. Records show there were 6,100 passengers listed, but it is thought many more hundreds of people were crammed aboard, using every space available. As the convoy was moving out of Danziger Bay, they were tracked by a Soviet L-3 submarine. The captain, Konovalov, gave the order to fire on the Goya at 11:52 PM. As the ship sunk in the frigid waters, between 6,000-7,000 refugees drowned or died of hypothermia in the icy waters of the Baltic Sea. Over the next few weeks, thousands of bodies washed up on nearby shores. The sinking of the refugee ship MV Goya was one of the worst ship disasters of all time. With a death toll near 7,000, it is the second deadliest disaster in recorded maritime history. She now rests not far from the wreck of the refugee ship MV Wilhelm Gustloff. The captain of the submarine who triggered one of the greatest maritime disasters - Captain Vladimir Konstantinovich Konovalov was rewarded with the highest Soviet military decoration available. He was given the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. 158 other merchant vessels were lost during the 15-week course of Operation Hannibal. Incidents like this are still relatively unknown to the world. On February 9 1945, the German luxury passenger liner MV Steuben sailed from Pillau in the bay of Danzig for Swinemünde. East Prussian refugees headed west, away from the city of Königsberg and ahead of the Soviet Red Army's advance into the Baltic states and East Prussia. The Steuben was in the fleet of ships sent for the purpose. On board were 2,800 wounded soldiers, 800 civilian refugees and 270 navy medical personnel. Just after midnight, Captain Alexander Marinesko launched two torpedoes towards the ship from his Soviet submarine S-13. Between three and four thousand people died in the sinking. About 300 survivors were saved by torpedo boat T-196 and brought to Kolberg. Soviet Captain Alexander Marinesko was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously, in May 1990. Credit: Scherl/Süddeutsche Zeitung. All photos: Fair use.

Destruction of Axis forces in and around Stalingrad

Supreme commander of Armeeoberkommando 6 surrendering to the Red Army Jan. 1943

Soviet soldiers in the devastated city of Stalingrad February 1943

Down-trodden captured German POW in Stalingrad February 1943

Dead Italian soldier on the outskirts of Stalingrad February 1943

The encircled German 6.Armee were not only starving, but running out of ammunition. Nevertheless, they continued to resist stubbornly, in particular, the so-called HiWis, Soviet citizens fighting in the Wehrmacht, had no illusions about their fate if captured. Of the around 90,000 who surrendered in Stalingrad, only about 5,500 ever returned to Europe. Already weakened by disease, starvation and lack of medical care during the encirclement, they were sent to labour camps all over the Soviet Union, where most of them died of mistreatment and malnutrition. 27,000 German POWs died within weeks. It was not until 1955 that the last of the handful of survivors were repatriated after a plea to the Politburo by Chancellor of West Germany Konrad Adenauer. Over 11,000 German soldiers refused to lay down their arms at the official surrender on February 2 1943, presumably believing that fighting to the death was better than a slow end in Soviet camps. Since the beginning of the Italian campaign in Soviet, about 30,000 Italians had been killed and another 54,000 died in Soviet captivity according to Italian Ministry of Defence. After the Italian Eighth Army's near destruction during the Battle of Stalingrad, Benito Mussolini disbanded what was left of the Eighth Army and the surviving Italian troops of which 34,000 were wounded and frostbitten were unceremoniously brought home to Italy. Only minor Italian units participated on the Eastern Front past that point. The Romanian Army lost about 159,000 men killed and missing and wounded between November 1942 and January 1943. This represented 16 of the 18 divisions engaged at Stalingrad. The Romanian armed forces were not capable of recovering after such catastrophic losses, and from this point onward, they would only fight desperate defensive battles on their way back to Romania. The Hungarian Second Army was virtually eliminated as an effective fighting unit by overwhelming Soviet force during the Battle of Stalingrad. Of an initial force of about 200,000 Hungarian soldiers and 50,000 Jewish forced laborers, about 100,000 were killed and 35,000 wounded and 60,000 taken prisoners. Only about 40,000 returned to Hungary after the defeat at Stalingrad. Credit: Wikipedia i.a. Top image: the newly appointed Generalfeldmarschall Friedrich Paulus surrenders to Soviet 38th Motorized Rifle Brigade on January 31 1943. Partly seen behind Paulus is Chief-of Staff Generalleutnant Arthur Schmidt along with Adjutant Oberst Wilhelm Adam. The talented Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein had told Paulus that the relief would need assistance from the 6.Armee, but the order to initiate the breakout never came. Paulus who was a poor choice to lead the German 6th Army remained absolutely firm in obeying the orders he had been given. Photo by Soviet war correspondent Georgy Lipskerov. Credit: Facundo Filipe. Second image: Soviets in a moment of calm in Stalingrad. The second soldier from the left is carrying a German MP 40 submachine gun. Photo by Soviet war correspondent Georgi Zelma. Third image: Soviet soldier armed with a Russian PPSh-41 submachine gun marches a German POW into captivity and most certain death in the camps. The picture is thought to have been taken in the final days of the Stalingrad onslaught. Credit: Jaris Almazani. Bottom image: Italian driver of a FIAT truck lies dead on the outskirts of Stalingrad. Credit: Olga Shirnina. Photos in the PD.

Battle of Stalingrad: Casualties and losses

Kompanieführer Oberleutnant Friedrich Winkler

Unidentified soldier of the 6.Armee

According to archival figures, the Soviet Red Army suffered a total of 1,129,619 total casualties; 478,741 men killed or missing and 650,878 wounded. These numbers are for the whole Stalingrad area; in the city itself 750,000 were killed, captured, or wounded. The Soviet authorities executed approximately 13,500 Soviet soldiers during the battle, equivalent to almost two rifle divisions. The total number of civilians killed in Stalingrad and the regions outside the city is unknown. The German 6.Armee suffered 282,606 total casualties from August 21 1942 to the end of the battle, including around 90,000 taken prisoner and herded into Joseph Stalin's Gulags in February 1943. Fewer than 5,500 survived Soviet captivity. The 4.Panzerarmee which guarded the outside perimeter of Stalingrad suffered 17,293 total casualties. According to historian Karl-Heinz Frieser Axis troops from Hungary, Italy and Romania who helped protect the northern and southern flanks of the 6.Armee suffered 328,000 total casualties and the losses among Soviet turncoats Hiwis range between 19,300 and 52,000. Left image: Oberleutnant Friedrich Konrad Winkler somewhere in the northern sector of Stalingrad in October 1942. He took command of 6.Kompanie of Grenadier-Regiment 577 of the 305.Infanterie-Division during the ferocious battles for the Barrikady Gun Factory in the northern industrial district of Stalingrad. The regiment was destroyed in January 1943. Winkler wears standard 6x30 binoculars with a leather eyepiece protective cover fitted and the Iron Cross First Class, the Wound Badge with much of the black paint worn off and the Infantry Assault Badge in Silver with part of the wreath broken off. Friedrich Winkler was promoted Hauptmann on December 1 1942. He was born on August 22 1909 in Worms (one of the oldest cities in Germany situated on the Rhine river) and captured in Stalingrad after the 6th Army had capitulated on February 2 1943. He died soon after, at the age of 34, between February 8 and 10 1943 at POW Camp Beketowka. Photo by KB Kurt Heine. Credit: Facundo Filipe. The right photo is said to have been taken during the siege of Stalingrad. This German soldier trapped in the Stalingrad pocket has never been identified. Credit: Jaris Almazani. Commons: Bundesarchiv.

ϟϟ-Panzergrenadier-Division „Wiking“ pulled back from Caucasus

Combat fatigue Waffen-SS Volunteer

SS Grenadiers in foxholes as the mercury plunged to -30C

The encirclement of the 6.Armee at Stalingrad meant that the Caucasus was relegated to a secondary theatre, and when the attempt to relieve Stalingrad failed in the face of further Soviet advances, the entire Caucasian position itself began to come under threat. It was not possible to rule out a second, even greater catastrophe after the loss of the 6.Armee at Stalingrad. SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Wiking was ordered to fall back to bolster the retreating 4.Panzer-Armee. On December 30 1942 part of Wiking's SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment Westland was brought to Zimovniki area by train in order to organize a defensive line. The SS-Panzergrenadiers caused the Soviet mass attacks, which took place two to three times daily, to collapse directly in front of the main battle line. The thermometer showed minus 30 °C on New Year's Eve 1943. The Westland held Zimovniki for seven days, fully aware that surrender to the Soviet Red Army meant summary execution at best and brutal interrogation and torture to death at worst. In a series of strongpoints the Wiking battlegroups operated near the far southern flank of 4.Panzer-Armee. Top clip: Die Deutsche Wochenschau. Fair use. Bottom image: Waffen-SS Grenadiers waiting in their foxholes for the onslaught. The photo was taken on January 16 1943 during the Soviet winter counter-offensive. Credit: Julius Jääskeläinen. Commons: Bundesarchiv.

ϟϟ-Panzergrenadier-Division „Wiking“ and Rostov-on-Don Bridgehead

SS-Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 5 Wiking

Hell on the Eastern Front

SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Wiking fell back through Zimovniki and Proletarskaya. On January 16 1943, the German Bridgehead on the East bank of Manych was only held by the division. During those days in the middle of January 1943, a race against time started. A period began that saw a steady withdrawal from sector to sector, from Zelina and Yegorlykskaya towards Bataisk. Who would reach the bridges over the Don at Rostow first? Would it be the German forces in the Caucasus flowing back in an orderly fashion to the North and Northwest or would it be the Soviets who were constantly being reinforced. The casualties continued: companies shrank to platoons, platoons to sections. The value of those days cannot be measured highly enough in the race against time for holding open the area from Bataisk to Rostow for the withdrawal of the German formations across the Don. At 15:30 hours February 4 1943, orders arrived for the withdrawal to Rostow. The bridgehead over Don at Rostow was held open until the beginning of February 1943. Thanks to outstanding performance of the Wiking, the Soviets did not achieve their objectives – breakthrough and encirclement. Credit: former SS-Sturmbannführer Ewald Klapdor: Viking Panzers. Top image: two early production Sturmgeschütz IIIs secure a road in frozen wastelands of Ukraine. The assault guns are believed to belong to Wiking's SS-Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 5. The photo was taken by ophthalmologist and medical administrator Paul Anton Cibis on a later occasion. Credit: Richard James Molloy. c. Bundesarchiv. Bottom image: German soldiers in a trench line. Still from Die Deutsche Wochenschau.

ϟϟ-Panzergrenadier-Division „Wiking“ and Soviet Mobile Group Popov

Light and medium Panzers of the Wiking Division

SS-Obersturmführer d. R. Hans Flügel of SS-Panzer-Abteilung 5

On February 8 1943, the SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Wiking passed through Amvrosievka on its march toward Stalino, now Donetsk, taking a well-earned rest there. SS-Gruppenführer Felix Steiner flew ahead of the division on February 10 1943 and found an urgent radio message for his division at the headquarters of the 1.Panzer-Armee: TO: SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Wiking. Urgent! Powerful enemy forces, Armoured Group Popov, across the Donetz near Isjum advancing southward toward Krasno-Armaiskoje. SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Wiking to immediately pivot west. Attack in the direction of Krasno-Armaiskoje. Mission: Contain Armored Group Popov. /signed/ von Mackensen. A new advance guard was formed. It was led by the commander of SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment Nordland. The artillery was regrouped. The Germania, wich had been at the front, had to turn around. The Wiking rolled in the direction of Krasno-Armaiskoje. In the morning of February 11 1943, the Westland was turned sharply to the north with orders to block the road to Krasno-Armaiskoje. Credit: Peter Straßner: European Volunteers. Images: SS-Obersturmführer d. R. Hans Flügel, Commander of Wiking's II.Kompanie. Flügel eventually rise to SS-Hauptsturmführer d. R., and in this rank he was awarded the Knight's Cross on Oct. 16 1944 while in command of Wiking's II.Battalion. He ended the war with the rank of SS-Sturmbannführer d. R. and died aged 70 on March 1 1989 in Naila in Bayern. c. Bundesarchiv.