UBB.threads Forums Uniform & Accessories Helmet Forum Amazing.....

I was at my son's graduation from Elementary School today and found myself sitting next to an elderly gentleman with a distinct German accent. Turned out that he was an Ober.Lt. in Liebstandarte A.H.!!! He told me has was in RAD until Nov 1939 when he joined the Waffen SS. He was first in Das Reich and then in LAH and spent the last days in the war in Berlin. And.....HE IS THE HOLDER OF A RITTERKREUTZ!!!!!

And to top it off....he lives 150 meters from my house!!!

I am going over to visit him tomorrow.

To be continued......

Erik

Erik, never hurts to be nice to old folks.

Robert

That is indeed amazing Erik! Is it possible to hear what the name of this man is, either on this forum or by e-mail? Would love to hear more about it!

Cees

Holy Crap !!!!

Some Norwegians have all the luck....

Good luck Erik.

Cool!

If my data is right (and assuming he won his RK with LSSAH) this could only be 1 man !

If won with Das Reich then again, if my data is correct, only 1 name appears (as still living).

Good luck with the meeting!
Rich

Patiently waiting.......

Regards from Norwegen

I would be very interested in hearing suggestions from you for who this neighbor is....

I will of course NOT reveal his name in a public forum like this.

What I can tell, is the he told me it was awarded in the last weeks of the war and that he no longer has the medal. I don't think he ever got an award document with it.

Erik

Well...here are some of the facts.....after several beers with this guy:

Rank: Obersturmbannfuhrer H.E.
Liebstandarte Adolf Hitler
Joined the SS as a Pioneer after serving 6 months in RAD and 2 months basis training
Graduated from Junkerschule Braunschweig 1942
Was awarded:
-Knights Cross APril 1945 for singlehandedly taking out 3 Russian tanks within minutes of each other.
-German Cross
-EK I and EKII
-Close Combat Clasp in Gold and Silver
-Infantery Assault Badge (3 times)
-Wounded Badge in Black (4 times)
-Wintersclagt im Osten
-Krim Shield
plus several others

He doesn't believe that the Knights Cross was ever recorded anywhere as this was in the last weeks of the war. It was awarded to him by one of his officers.

Participated in Poland 1939, France 1940, Greece and then Russia. Was issued khaki summer uniform iwhile in Russia in 1942 being told they were going to be shipped to Africa to help out Rommel. Never went. Was wounded in 1943 and sent on vacation. Spent the last months of the war in Berlin. Was taken prisoner by the Americans who took everything from him. Moved to Argentina after the war and immigrated to USA in 1962 as his father was born in the USA (Pittsburg). Now lives within 150 meters from my house.....

How cool is THAT?????

I will post 2 pictures of him in uniform later. One is his wedding picture clearly showing his ermelband.

Erik

I should add that on the two photos he gave me taken at his wedding, he is clearly wearing a SS NCO peaked cap with no chinstrap and a Heer Eagle!!!! I will have these photos copied and posted here later.

Erik

What a rush! How cool was that encounter? I bet you were drinking it in! Can't wait to see the pix.

Robert

The world is certainly a small place!

Very lucky guy to have fell into the hands of the Americans.

Look forward to seeing the snaps.


Billy

William, that is what he said too. He said that if the Russians would have caught him he would have been dead. One of you guys probably have his minty Knighs Cross as it was taken by an American and is most likely in a collection here in the US right now.

And on the lighter side...when we started drinking beer, I brought in my CD with German WWII music for him. When Marlene Dietrich started singing Lily Marlene he told me that he got laid to that song ......

WONDERBAR!!!!

Erik

Also, on the helmet side. He said he was never issued a SS camo cover, but was issued a plain Feldgray cover that was tied on. It was in much thinner material than the zeltbahn material.

Erik

Hello Erik,

Very cool!

Jim

Well, this old soldier who is the son of another old soldier who fought him is happy to send a salute and my best wishes. His generation is passing rapidly and I can only hope that he is at peace.

Amazing, Erik! A great "find." Interesting. Will appreciate his "war stories" when you get the chance.

Shu

Erik

As you know his name, you can check for yourself if he is listed as an RKT:

http://www.das-ritterkreuz.de/

Rich

Absolutely interesting Erik! Thank you for the additional information. One thing I want to make clear, and I do not want to be a nit-picker, but it is Leibstandarte, not Liebstandarte. Liebstandarte means something like 'love regiment' and it was certainly not that!

All the best,

Cees

Richard...no he is not in the database you provided. I would believe that there were quite a few Knight Crosses awarded in the last few weeks of the war that never was recorded. I guess we have no other evidence than the man's own vivid explanation backed up by his credibility. Personally that is good enough for me.

Cees...thanks for the correction to my typing.

Erik

Quite some people received their awards without any documents during the last days of the war, some even when the war was already ended. I know, for example, a Dutch Ostuf. who received the German cross in gold from Wagner, but never received any document. Some people doubt his story, but I don't. He told me that they wrote it in his Soldbuch, as is most probably the case with the man you have talked to. It is possible that his Soldbuch is still somewhere in the archives and that it will be discovered in the future.

Did you ask him why he moved to Argentina after the war?

Cees

I think the Peron government provided a safe haven for SS men in the post war years...many fled there, changed their names and attempted to assume normal lives after the nightmare of WWII. The prevailing climate and attitude toward these fellows in Europe in the post war years was not accomodating.

Robert

His son threw away his Soldbuch some years ago... (makes me cry).

He was also a personal friend of Sturmbannfuhrer and Knight Cross holder Heinz Macher (SSPzGren "Deutschland"). He showed me his photo which was personally signed after after the war for my friend. Macher gave my neighbor his "Deutschland" cufftitle (he must have had several) which was unused. He still had this cufftitle and gave me this yesterday for my collection. I offered to pay him a huge sum of money for it, but his response was that he is old and has all the money he needs. He would rather see that I would take care of this cufftitle. WOW what a gentleman and a GREAT NEIGHBOR!!!!

Now, how do I go about documenting this cufftitle?

Erik

Now, that is what you call a great gift! Most veterans I know, who still have some belongings after the war - in Holland quite unique, though - do not really care about the monetary value, but rather see it to be preserved in good hands. What do you mean with documenting the cufftitle?

It is just an idea, but you might buy some good books dealing with the history of "Das Reich" and the LSSAH, so that you can talk about certain events more in depth. Perhaps, in the end, it might lead to writing down his biography. I think that a lot of people will be interested in reading more about the things he witnessed.

Was he awarded the Ritterkreuz by Wilhelm Mohnke personally?

Cees

Hi Erik, Attach a paper-tag to a string and tie the string to the end of the cufftitle. Then, visit him again and have him sign his name with date on the paper-tag. Then, have somebody take a photo of you and the vet holding the title ... with a smile. My suggestion.

Shu

My wrong choice of words. A string is too thick for it. I mean, a thin thread that would penetrate through the tight weave of a cufftitle with a needle. That wouldn't do any harm to the title even if you attach a papar tag to it.

Shu

And so for some pictures. Notice the eagle in his cap. He first gave me this picture, but since his ermelband was not visible he also insisted on me getting his wedding photo taken the same day where this is visible.

Erik

What a rush.....

Hopefully you share some pictures with us from the cufftitle too.

I will take some photos off the cufftitle also and post them. I am somewhat in a bind of time here as I am leaving for Shanghai tomorrow and then to Norway at the end of teh week. I will do my best.

Erik

Great stuff Erik..Thanks for sharing.


Glenn

Here is a close up of the cufftitle. The clarity of the original photos are phenomenal.

Erik

Here follows close ups of his medal bars.

Erik

and one more

This fellow was an Austrian by the looks of his tunic tailoring and some of his decorations...? What a fantastic expose'.

Robert

No he is from Eastern Germany, of what is today Poland.

Erik

This will probably be one of if not the most exciting thing to happen since you started collecting. The story, and the photos are wonderful.

Tim....I was thinking about that in the car today. I don't think the real magnitude of what I have discovered has really sunk in yet.

I spent 2 hours with him yesterday and feel I have just uncovered the tip of the iceberg. What he has experienced in the period 1939-1945 as well as the years afterwords should really be put in a book. But something like that would have to be done professionally and systematically. And I don't know if this gentleman is quite ready for that.

He said I was the first one he has talked to about this ever. What a privilege!!!!

Erik

Erik..fantastic and amazing find and story..maybe he will over the course of time chronicle for you as much of his war experiences as possible..would be fascinating...may I suggest if he is totally comfortable with it to taperecord with his permsission his accounts...I've heard stories for hours on end.unfortunatley..its nearly impossible to remember them all..and this living history will not be with us forever.

I agree with Scott....I'm thinking that he may be willing to tape record his story, after he gets to know you a little better. Wonderful story, and thanks for sharing this with all of us. About 10 years, ago I had the privelege of interviewing a 103-year-old German veteran of the First World War, he has since passed on but I still have the tape recording. Imagine the stories he could (and probably will) tell you!