Filmberichter der Waffen-SS im Einsatz

Kriegsberichter of the Leibstandarte SS

Leibstandarte SS troops after the battle

Photographing in the midst of battle

The Waffen-SS Kriegsberichters role was to; Report on the war through text, photographs, drawings, radio and films. They were soldiers first and war correspondents second and were never to far away from the combat zone during the war. They were expected to take part in assaults, offensive operations and fight next to their comrades as their positions were being overrun by the enemy rather than taking photographs. They gained respect very quickly as most Waffen-SS war correspondents demonstrated remarkable courage in the face of battle. The SS war reporters covered the actions of all the Waffen-SS formations in the field. They were able to operate independently of each other equipped with still and movie cameras to enable to visually document the actions of Waffen-SS men in combat. It is estimated that during the whole war the SS-Kriegsberichters produced over 80.000 written reports and more than a million photographs. Top image: according to some accounts, an SS-Kriegberichter of the Leibstandarte SS filming a swearing-in ceremony of new recruits to the division. However, other sources claims that the photo was taken during the Normandy invasion in France in 1944. The photographer has never been identified. Credit: Marwan Geitner. c. Bundesarchiv. Middle image: Leibstandarte SS troops in Ukraine in 1942. Photo by Paul Augustin who served as a SS-KB with the Leibstandarte SS from at least 1940 until March 1943. During that period, Augustin took many hundreds of photographs of his unit, and a collection of those photographs is maintained by U.S. National Archives. He was promoted to SS-Hauptscharführer on March 1 1943 and killed in action eight days later, on March 9 1943. Credit: Karl Mensburg. U.S. NARA. Bottom image: Soviet prisoners captured by men of the Waffen-SS being treated on the battlefield by an SS-Scharführer during the German Operation Zitadelle. Photo by the Totenkopf war correspondent SS-KB Hermann Grönert who served with the SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Das Reich at Kursk in July 1943. He held the Infantry Assault Badge and the Wound Badge in Silver and was awarded the Iron Cross First Class the following year, 1944. Credit: Bekors. U.S. NARA.