UBB.threads Forums General Interest Community Center Advise on meeting a Leibstandarte Waffen SS vetera

Good morning everyone

This coming Wednesday , 23rd April , I will be in Hamburg to do an interview with a Leibstandarte Veteran , Herr Kurt Schmidt. He is the grandfather of one of my best friend. He was a SS Sturmann in 1941 and rose up all the way to SS Oberscharführer in 1944 until he was captured by the Russians. His commander at that time was SS Brigadeführer Wilhelm Mohnke.

My previous meetings with veterans were members of the Kriegsmarine who were part of the Monsun Uboot gruppe , http://monsun-uboats.blogspot.sg


Usually, my interview are very informal and friendly , but since this is my first interview with a ex Waffen SS soldier. I would really appreciate any advise

I have prepared a set of questions for him that his granddaughter , will check for any translation mistakes and also I too take into consideration his age (He will be 95 years old this year) , so Im always patient and will let them tell their story first.

I have 2 questions to ask you guys though :-
1) Does anyone here have contact with the HIAG in Hamburg ?? He would really like to meet up with fellow veterans

2) I plan to do a walking tour with his granddaughter who is one of my best friends and a native of Hamburg on friday. And it would be great to bring her along some militaria shops or museums. Can you guys recommend some ?? I plan to bring her to Helmut Weitze Antiquitäten , The Internationales Maritimes Museum Hamburg .. any others ??

As a side note - How I met her granddaughter was very amusing !! Im of Indonesian heritage and live & work in Singapore. But I love going back home to Bali , to meet up with friends and family and do lots of surfing And while at a party in Singapore a good german friend of mine introduced me to another german woman who married an Indonesian and living in Bali. We met again for my birthday dinner at Canggu Beach and she found out about my interest in history. Later, a couple of weeks when she was back for a short holiday , she phoned me and told me that her Opa, grandfather was a soldier too , and was a member of the Leibstandarte. She didnt know what this means until I gave her a brief introduction and my interest. She was really surprised and very proud of her Opa .... By the way, even though hes turning 95, he is smart enough to use skype via the iphone 6+ to speak with his granddaughter !!


Yours,
Ibrahim.
Singapore.
---------------------------
Looking for all relevant info & items on WW2 German U-boats in Singapore and Asia for my research.
http://monsun-uboats.blogspot.com/

That's awesome Ibrahim. I'd just ask him to tell his story. Questions like "were you a nazi" are not appropriate but that's something you probably already know. You can ask him why he joined. For example, my grandfather joined because they needed food on the table. Another question you could ask him is why he chose the Waffen SS and not a Wehrmacht component.

Don't ask questions about ODESSA or Stille Hilfe! Don't ask qquestions about war crimes unless he starts talking about it. Ask him about his life after the war and his family.

Ask him about the times that he enjoyed being a soldier but also about the periods that were the most difficult for him.

The last thing you should do, when you conclude your interview, is to thank him for his service as a soldier. This has nothing to do with supporting the nazi regime or nazi ideologies, it's an acknowledgement for him that there's respect for the person he was back then and the person he is today.

All the best and tell him Canada says hi!

Cheers,

Gerry

My only interview with a former SS Veteran was with a member of the 7Th SS Div (Prinz Eugen). We mostly talked about equipment, uniforms and weapons of the era including dress swords. Everything went smooth.

Before this thread goes cold I would like to post this 1985 response letter from an LAH veteran to a UK collector's contact letter. This veteran's response is self explanatory and provides an object lesson in how not to approach "your" SS-Mann.

When my grandfather surrendered to the British one of the British soldiers wanted to take my grandfather's watch. My grandfather refused to give it and told him that if he wanted it he had to come and take it. The British soldier never got the watch...

How did the interview go?