I saw today that actor Hardy Krüger has died, aged 93. I'm sure most people are aware his films included "A Bridge Too Far" and "The One That Got Away". On his Wiki page it states: "In March 1945, Krüger was assigned to the 38th SS Division Nibelungen and was drawn into heavy combat. The 16-year-old Krüger was ordered to shoot at an American squad. When he refused, he was sentenced to death for cowardice, but another SS officer countermanded the order." The source of this information is an article entitled "Hardy Kruger: The Hollywood Hunk With A Nazi Past". I was wondering if anyone might have more information about his war service?
There is not much to report about this "Division": It was one of those notorious last-hour hodge podge of odds and ends, solely made up mostly of ordinary riflemen with some Panzerfausts as "heavy weapons". Officially it was only listed as a brigade in the books. But anyone who knows something about the conditions at the time will find Kruger's story quite plausible.
Here's an extract from Krüger's obituary in The Times, which is perhaps a more reliable source. But note the comment about his accounts being "a little muddy": "Enrolled at the elite Adolf Hitler School at the Ordensburg Sonthofen, Krüger was unquestioningly indoctrinated into the cause of National Socialism until the age of 15. Then came a film role in Young Eagles (1944). It was a twofold awakening, not only encouraging the young Hardy to take his first steps on what would become his career path but also, more importantly, introducing him to the eminent actor Hans Söhnker, who would become a friend for life. Söhnker, a covert anti-Nazi who gave shelter to those fleeing the regime, took it upon himself to educate his young co-star. Newly politicised, Krüger become his go-between, taking messages to a woman with a rowing boat at Lake Constance, the crossing point for fugitives to Switzerland. At the end of the film shoot, however, Krüger was forced to return to a school which he viewed with new eyes. In 1945 he was conscripted to join the SS Division Nibelungen, Hitler’s last resort in the fight against the allies. As an impressionable 16-year-old, billeted in a hotel, he was smitten by a beautiful girl in the lobby. Renate Densow, an actress, was celebrating a stage success. Krüger plucked up his courage and introduced himself; she was sufficiently impressed to spend the night with him. They parted with promises of marriage, but then the war wrenched them apart, as wars are wont to do. Shortly afterwards Krüger found himself on the front line, where he was unable to carry out the command to shoot dead a band of American soldiers. He was sentenced to death until a high-ranking SS officer stepped in on his behalf, offering him a new post as a messenger on the front line and an opportunity to die with dignity. It is at this point that Krüger’s accounts of his war exploits got a little muddy. Some anecdotes have him captured by Americans, finally escaping after three attempts. Others have him walking away from the battlefront and into the Tyrolean mountains, where he waited out the final weeks of the war before travelling by foot through the ruined, wretched countryside back home. What is certain is that his experiences left him as a lifelong opponent of far-right politics."
