Wenn alle Brüder schweigen

Discussion in 'The Third Reich' started by JDKR, Jan 17, 2022.

  1. JDKR

    JDKR Member

    There is a thread on our esteemed site enquiring how many British WW2 veterans are still alive and I wondered if there is similar knowledge of axis soldiers. The title of the thread translates as 'When all our brothers are silent' and is the title of a book of photographs published in Germany in the 1970s as a record (and apologia) of the Waffen-SS. Despite that, it is a title not without a measure of universally applicable sentiment. So, what of the last of the Alte Kameraden?
     
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  2. ltdan

    ltdan Nietenzähler

    Difficult topic in Germany because Wehrmacht, Nazis and Holocaust are inextricably intertwined
    Until the 1970s, there were still relatively many veteran meetings and commemorative events : Unfortunately, the leading participants were all too often those who had learned nothing. That eventually killed the public image, and in the last 20 years, the memory of the Wehrmacht has been pretty consistently eradicated from the public sphere.
    The only people who still want to have something to do with Wehrmacht traditions are the usual suspects.
    In this respect, it is quite difficult to find "old comrades" who you would like to remember - or who dare to go public, because as a former Landser you are not particularly highly regarded.....
     
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  3. JDKR

    JDKR Member

    Many thanks Olli and I reckoned that would be the answer. I met with some of the Alte Kameraden of 2. Marine-Infanterie-Division back in 1995 on the 50th anniversary of the battles on the Aller but suspect that most if not all are now no more. As members of the Kriegsmarine, I wonder if the high levels of camaraderie they displayed in April 1945 was the key to them keeping their association going long after the war. Best wishes for 2022. John
     

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