In the document above is written that : "SS-Grenadier Heinrich Wienker has to move to the local office to SS-Hauptsturmführer Dr. Bauch cause of a family welfare affair on the 16.11.1944" Maybe stupid question...the typewriters they used, did they have an extra SS type?
In the document above is written that : "SS-Grenadier Heinrich Wienker has to move to the local office to SS-Hauptsturmführer Dr. Bauch cause of a family welfare affair on the 16.11.1944" Maybe stupid question...the typewriters they used, did they have an extra SS type? Yes. Nazi Typewriter with SS Runes Key - Remington USA Curtisz Typewriters Interesting all this.
@Pollux: You will find military records of SS divisions in Freiburg, but SS personnel files are in Berlin-Lichterfelde. It might be difficult to find information on your grandfather if indeed his rank was that of enlisted man. At least the fact that a Scharführer delivered the message of him being MIA would suggest he wasn't even NCO. But then again, how did he manage to keep such a low rank when he joined so early? Himmler actually encouraged his SS soldiers to make babies, even illegitimate ones. Apparently those who failed to do so eventually had to explain why they were without children (at least the officers). As for typewriters: Some did have an SS key (now replaced by the Microsoft icon on PC) but you'll also find documents where the runes were filled in by hand. Good luck with your research. Please keep posting; I'll happily assist with other handwritten documents.
Looking on the Volksbund site (which I find terribly confusing, not speaking German), this would appear to be him: Heinrich Wienker Nach den uns vorliegenden Informationen ist Heinrich Wienker seit 01.01.1945 vermisst. In dem Gedenkbuch des Friedhofes Neumark / Stare Czarnowo haben wir den Namen und die persönlichen Daten des Obengenannten verzeichnet. Sie können gern einen Auszug bei uns bestellen. Bitte beachten Sie, dass auf einigen Friedhöfen nicht die aktuelle Version ausliegt, somit kann der Name Ihres Angehörigen darin evtl. noch nicht verzeichnet sein. Nachname: Wienker Vorname: Heinrich Geburtsdatum: 14.03.1913 Todes-/Vermisstendatum: 01.01.1945 Todes-/Vermisstenort: Küstrin / Reppen / West-Sternberg / Zorndorf If he was 10 Frundsberg, that date of death/missing apparently puts his unit not really on the 'Eastern Front', but having just fought in Holland, and now relocated to France: 10.SS-Panzer-Division "Frundsburg" Though that 01/01 date may perhaps be a generalisation for the year as a whole? Records from that time not being exactly abundant.
01.01. certainly looks like a generalised entry. I have a relative declared missing at Stalingrad; a researched family tree actually has no exact date, just the month of January, yet his Volksbund record also states 01.01. Agree, not surprising at all that these things weren't recorded/collated correctly.
Pollux serves up another fascinating thread! This could become the equivalent to the "secrets of grandad's trunk" over on the ww1 forum! One word of advice, Pollux, I would suggest putting an ID watermark or something on your images. You dont want someone to see all this and use it in whatever way. Just a thought. all the best
Very interesting about the letter before I read the translation I new there would be some mention of food.
Pollux, First of all well done on as Rich says, having the courage to post this up on the forum. Well done also to Kate and others for the background information on the documentation. As regards his letter well apart from the Dates recorded on the official file, it certainly seems consistent with Frundsberg's location in February 1945. And just reading about that he was involved in the failed counter- attack on Kustrin. Certainly this battle has been mentioned in both Ryan's "The Last Battle" and Guderian's "Panzer Leader". It was Heinrici's first task as Commander of Army Group Vistula, an attack he opposed. Guderian insisted it go ahead and he won the argument.
Chaps over on WW2F unearthed this article relating to Festung Kustrin: Küstrins Untergang im Jahre 1945
I thought I might have a wider look at the unit itself. 10th SS Pz. 'Frundsberg'. Naturally, I searched for war crime & atrocity (as one would), but have to say they appear to have been a relatively 'clean' unit in the field (in as far as something later declared part of a Criminal Organisation as a whole can be). Their longest serving Commander, and the man on the ground for their post-Normandy operations, Heinz Harmel, was held in the UK postwar, but eventually released with no War Crime trial against him, despite being one of the most decorated SS Officers of the war. Though it has to be noted that his predecessor, von Truenfeld, appears to have commanded the men who went after Heydrich's assassins (a different unit to the 10th SS, before he became their divisional commander) - he commited suicide just after the war. I can find no war crime trial reference to Debes, but their first commander, Lippert, was the man who shot Ernst Rohm & a leading camp commandant (he only commanded the 10th for a month at their first formation, before going onto the murdering which obviously interested him more). It's often quite easy to find a list of atrocity associated with an SS unit, but in the 10th's case this doesn't immediately appear to be so. Maybe there will be more to be found (they were, after all, in the East for a while, and so many associations within that organisation are distasteful anyway) but on the face of it, and considering we all know what the SS as a whole represented, the Division he died with seems to have been very much one of the 'fighting' units. (Doubtless Kate or someone would know more on this than I though.) Seen a few references on-line to Cornelius Ryan in 'A Bridge Too Far' referring to them as 'above reproach' regarding misbehaviour, but as I now (typically) can't find my copy, can anyone else find the specific quote?
01.01. certainly looks like a generalised entry. I have a relative declared missing at Stalingrad; a researched family tree actually has no exact date, just the month of January, yet his Volksbund record also states 01.01. Agree, not surprising at all that these things weren't recorded/collated correctly. I believe 01/01 was/is quite commonly used, even today in the UK by the government. Asylum seekers with no known date of birth are given 01/01 then the year is an age is known on their ID cards.
Wonderful contribution to this site. Thanks to all who have offered and provided assistance. Thanks a lot for the nice comments in this thread. And thanks to you Kate that you helped me with the letter and the translation into english language. You are appreciated very much. If you like I can post more letters, I have a few. I think maybe the letters of the war maybe of interrest for this board. Well yes, but I can probably speak for many in that we would be honored for you to share his life story here. Where he grew-up, where he went to school, family background, it would be like living history. I didn't think I would be gushing like this so I so have to add my concern about excessive enthusiasm for a Nazi Party member and a Waffen-SS soldier. Without forgetting the victims we should be able to learn about the participants of the world's worst crime. Since this forum is subject to WWW searches we, as a forum, should all be looking to protect the privacy of our members. If anyone sees or suspects a need to move some information to a private section please contact a moderator. I imagine there may also be family matters to deal with before all is researched and disclosed. I feel confident that members of this forum will be understanding and supportive.
Hello Pollux5 I am an Englishman who was born 3 years after the last war ended. All my family who were alive during that time hated the Germans. I have no personal reason for hatred of people whose families fought mine during the two wars and I hope you will understand that this is not any kind of hate mail. I have to say that I am grateful that you have been willing to share this information and that must have taken a great deal of courage. I am sorry that I have just seen it for the first time and that you may never see this message. I am glad that I did not see it during my father’s lifetime because he lost so much and he would not have understood my attitude. I can never praise the actions of the SS, nor can I forgive the hurt they brought to my family. But I am intelligent enough to realise that this was no fault of yours. Most of the older men, the women and the children of my family were sent to Biberach internment camp; they were not Jewish, and were not subjected to that kind of brutality, but they were British born citizens from Guernsey and suffered tremendous hardships there – as did the German guards – and almost all came back with physical or psychological illnesses. My father ended his war as a Military Policeman in Germany and one of his brothers received serious gunshot wounds and his life was saved by a Wermacht doctor in a POW Camp. Both hated the Germans, but both admired them, as soldiers, and said they would rather fight with them than against them, in different circumstances. I really don’t know what I am trying to say, other than to offer my respect, and my thanks, for having the courage to post these items. True history is made up of unbiased reports from both sides. Unfortunately, we see too little of “the other side” to get a totally impartial and accurate picture.
