Total casualties amongst the Waffen-SS will probably never be known, but according to a report from July 12 1972 approx. 950,000 men passed through its ranks up to the end of World War II, and 253,000 were listed as killed or missing in action or died in
POW camps. This equals just less than 27 percent. Other reports, however, indicates that the Waffen-SS suffered 314,000 killed and missing in action or died in POW camps. This equals just less than 35 percent. Wounded or captured volunteers were often executed when falling in Soviet hands once their interrogations were completed. The volunteers had no illusions about their fate if taken prisoner. The Soviet atrocities carried out against surrendered elite troops were well known among the Waffen-SS. On several well-documented occasions their fallen comrades had been found bestially mutilated and murdered. For the survivors, it was a small, but appreciated act of thanks when, in 1990´s, Finland and newly-independent Estonia issued memorial medals to foreigners who had fought against Communism in those two countries during World War II. The dead have also been honored in recent years through memorials placed in Canada, Estonia, Flanders, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Ukraine and elsewhere in Eastern Europe. Top screenshot: Danish Waffen-SS men during Memorial Day activities on June 2 1944. The Waffen-SS memorial service was held at Høveltegård near the town of Birkerød. Various high-ranking SS members attended the memorial service for Denmark's fallen volunteers. Present among others were SS-Obergruppenführer
Felix Steiner, SS-Gruppenführer Herbert Gille and SS-Obersturmbannführer
Fritz Klingenberg. After the war, the memorial was destroyed by the Danish resistance movement. Credit: Danish Defence. Middle image: a volunteer Waffen-SS soldier mourns by the fresh graves of his fallen comrades somewhere on the Eastern front. The left grave marker's name inscription is Karl Herbrechter, most likely from the LSSAH, an SS-Untersturmführer Karl Herbrechter born 1918, is known to have served in 14th Co. of 3rd Bn. of the Leibstandarte SS in 1941. c. Bundesarchiv. Bottom image: three battle-exhausted Waffen-SS volunteers in Ukraine in 1943. Photo by SS-Unterscharführer and Kriegsberichter Max Büschel. The talented war correspondent Büschel himself survived the war and managed to evade captivity when the 1.SS-Panzer-Division Leibstandarte SS surrendered to American forces in the area of Steyr in Austria in May 1945. He made his way back to his family in Berlin but was apparently shot to death when the Soviet occupational forces found out he was a former member of the elite Leibstandarte SS. U.S. NARA.
God bless these men who put up some of the most vigorous an hopeless sacrifices in order to help a better world.
ReplyDeleteThank you all for your sacrifices and that includes the families of all the veterans.
ReplyDeleteMoże i wiele lat już minęło, ale wszystkim, którzy przyłożyli rękę do zniszczenia związku radzieckiego: Dziękuje za próbę. Danke für den Versuch. Merci d'avoir essayé. Bedankt voor het proberen. Tak, fordi du prøvede. Takk for at du prøver. Tack för att du försökte. Gracias por intentarlo. Vă mulțumim că ați încercat. Tänan teid proovimise eest. Paldies, ka izmēģinājāt. Dėkojame, kad pabandėte. Благодарим ви, че опитахте. Köszönjük, hogy megpróbálta. Спасибо за попытку. Дякую, що спробували. Grazie per averci provato. Kiitos kokeilemisesta. Thank you for trying. Ďakujeme, že ste to skúsili. A to i tak tylko część języków.
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ReplyDeleteIf they knew what would become of the Europe they fought for, all would be spinning in their graves. At least ex Soviets remember what Stalin and the communist did in their terrible days. Dzala Ertobashia!
ReplyDeleteHonor them with pride.
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ReplyDelete1982 Athens GREECE EUROPE
they fought well
marxism lie
Fight against single-sided agitation. Give them justice! Arend
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