ϟϟ-Standartenführer der Waffen-SS Peiper

Joachim Peiper as SS-Hauptsturmführer 1940

Joachim Peiper as SS-Obersturmbannführer 1945

Jochen Peiper was born in Berlin-Wilmersdorf on January 30 1915, son of an Army officer. His father, Captain Waldemar Peiper served with the small German detachment that took part in the guerrilla fighting against the British troops and native auxiliaries in German East Africa during World War I. Joachim Peiper decided to join the SS, with the intention of becoming an officer in the elite guard of the Nazi Reich. He first joined the SS-Reiterstandarte 7 of Berlin and was later accepted for duty with Sepp Dietrich's Leibstandarte SS. Peiper was a member of the first class of officer candidates to graduate from the SS Junkerschule at Braunschweig in 1935. He was one of Germany's most colorful military commanders of World War II with a reputation for conducting extremely daring operations. The name Peiper will always be linked to the Malmedy Massacre. The highly decorated East front veteran Peiper at the very young age of 29 had been chosen to lead the spearhead unit, SS-Kampfgruppe Peiper, during the German offensive through the Ardennes in December 1944. Peiper commanded a platoon up to a regiment within the Leibstandarte SS, one of the most elite divisions within the Waffen-SS. He was an exponent of the tough SS leadership. Peiper was charismatic and extreme loyal to his unit. He was also a smart independent thinker. His men trusted him as a leader, even under the most extreme conditions. It was a logical decision that Peiper became the commander of the spearhead unit, but there were factors other than leadership leading to this decision, such as tactical considerations and a “we-know-what to-expect”-principle. About the troops under his command in 1944, Peiper said: I recognize that after the battles of Normandy my unit was composed mainly of young, fanatical soldiers. A good deal of them had lost their parents, their sisters and brothers during the bombings of Germany. They had seen for themselves in Cologne, thousands of mangled corpses after a terror raid had passed. After the war, Peiper was prosecuted as a war criminal for the Malmedy incident, even though he most likely never gave any order to execute POWs and was several kilometers away when the incident occurred. He was convicted and originally sentenced to death by hanging, however on January 30 1951 this sentence was changed to life in prison because U.S. Senator Joseph R. McCarthy from Wisconsin proved the courts perfidy. During the Malmedy trial Peiper shared a cell in Dachau with tank commander SS-Untersturmführer Arndt Fischer. On November 17 1995 Fischer said: We didn't just talk about the daily progress of the trial. For example, he once told me that he had worked on the idea of a regimental march song. In this connection, I heard the following verses for the first time from his mouth: Einst reiten auf Flammen wir nach Walhall, man fragt nach der Einlasskarte, da rufen wir laut und mit lachendem Schall: Wir sind von der Leibstandarte; und einer spricht leis, der uns lange schon kennt: der sind vom 1. Panzerregiment. I remember the text so well because I printed it with the stub of a pencil on one of the boards of our bunks for subsequent generations. Peiper was paroled and released from Landsberg Prison in 1956. Twenty years later, in 1976, he was murdered in France. The French did not expend a great deal of energy searching for those responsible for the attack upon Peiper and no one has been charged with the crime to this day. In respect to this revered Waffen-SS commander, veterans refer to Peiper as Der Letzte Gefallen, the Last of the Fallen. He is quoted as saying: I was a National-Socialist and I remain one. The Germany of today is no longer a great nation, it has become a province of Europe and History is always written by the victors, and the histories of the losing parties belong to the shrinking circle of those who were there. Credit: Beginning of the end: Thesis by Major Han Bouwmeester, Royal Netherlands Army. Top image: the 25-year-old Peiper after the Western campaign in 1940, he was promoted SS-Hauptsturmführer on June 6 1940. Bottom image: the 30-year-old Peiper at the Austrian front in April 1945, he received the Swords to his Knight's Cross with Oakleaves on January 11 1945 as SS-Obersturmbannführer and commander of SS-Panzer-Regiment 1 Leibstandarte. Commons: Bundesarchiv.

ϟϟ-Polizei-Division and Soviet Volkhov Front: Casualties and losses

SS-Oberscharführer Rudolf Seitz

Battle of the Volkhov or the Soviet Lyuban Offensive Operation

During the invasion of the Soviet Union, the Polizei-Division was initially part of the reserve with Army Group North. In August 1941, the division saw action near Luga in the Leningrad Oblast. During heavy fighting for the Luga bridgehead the division lost over 2,000 soldiers including the commander SS-Gruppenführer Artur Mülverstedt. After a series of failed attacks in swampy and wooded terrain, the division, along with army formations, fought its way into the northern part of Luga, encircling and destroying the Soviet defenders. In January 1942, the Polizei-Division was moved to the Volkhov Front - Novgorod Sector between Leningrad and Lake Ilmen. The Soviet Volkhov Front or the Lyuban Offensive Operation was formed as an expediency of an early attempt to halt the advance of Army Group North in its offensive thrust towards Leningrad. On February 24 1942 the Polizei was transferred to the Waffen-SS; its personnel changing their police insignia to that of the SS. The new Waffen-SS formation was involved in some heavy fighting during the Volkhov Battles between January and March 1942. Fierce fighting took place as the Soviets sought to expand their corridor into the pocket and the Germans attempted to close it. On May 22 1942 the Germans launched a two-pronged pincer attack which resulted in the destruction of the Soviet 2nd Shock Army. The remainder of the year was spent on the Leningrad front where the Polizei was involved in a number of Soviet offensives. According to American military historian David M. Glantz and Russian military historian Grigori F. Krivosheev more than 327,700 Soviet troopers went into action against the German 18.Armee, which boasted a strength of fewer than 200,000 men. The Soviet forces suffered heavy casualties in the Volkhov winter campaign: Out of 327,700 men deployed into battle from January 7 1942 - April 30 1942, the Soviet Volkhov Front lost 308,367, including 95,064 killed or missing and 213,303 wounded or sick. According to German statistics the Germans suffered 56,768 men overall casualties, including 12.899 killed or missing and 43,869 wounded or sick. Top image: a photo of Panzerjäger SS-Oberscharführer Rudolf Seitz of the SS-Polizei-Division, probably taken after the award of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross in October 1942. He ended the war as an officer and SS-Untersturmführer. Rudolf Seitz died aged 75 on November 14 1994 in Stadlern in Schwandorf. Commons: Bundesarchiv. Bottom image: a quite interesting picture taken by the war correspondent Feldwebel Georg Gundlach showing Wehrmacht troops of the 291.Infantry-Division, the Elch Division, and an SS-man of the Polizei wearing mosquito netting armed with a Schmeisser MP28 SMG with Soviet POWs inside the Volkhov sack, among the swamps and inhospitable forests in 1942. The photographer and author Georg Gundlach passed away in 2010. Fair use.

Under the St. Andrew's Cross: Russian Liberation Army ROA

Russkaya Osvoboditel'naya Armiya POA

Russian and Cossack volunteers in Wehrmacht

With the German counter-offensive in May 1942, the Soviet Lieutenant General Andrey Andreyevich Vlasov, commander of the 2nd Shock Army of the Volkhov Front, was taken prisoner by Wehrmacht troops. He claimed that during those days of battle he affirmed his anti-bolshevism and adopted a pro-Nazi German stance, believing Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin was the greatest enemy of the Russian people, and there is evidence that suggests Vlasov may have changed sides in a bid to give his countrymen a better life than the one they had under the communist rule of Stalin. Vlasov later founded the Russian Liberation Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia, in hopes of creating the Russian Liberation Army - known as ROA (Russkaya Osvoboditel'naya Armiya). On May 10 1945, Vlasov and his men reached western Allied forces and surrendered to them. However, Vlasov – along with many of his men and other collaborators – was forcibly repatriated to the Soviet Union by the Americans. Approximately 33,000 men were handed over between May and September 1945 to USSR forces. They were then executed or sent to the Gulag. Andrey Vlasov was hanged in Moscow on August 1 1946. Top image: Soviet Terek Cossacks of Kosaken-Regiment 6 under command of a Lieutenant Ponomarev as part of the ROA. Nazi Propaganda Kompanie photo. FU. Bottom image: Russian and Don Cossack turncoats enlisted into the Wehrmacht. Photo sometimes attributed to French photographer and collaborator André Zucca. Credit: Karl Mensburg. FU.

Soviet Demyansk Offensive Operation January 1942

Famous and feared German 8.8 cm FlaK

Waiting for the next Soviet onslaught in Staraya Russa 1942

16.Armee in the Demyansk Pocket 1942

The Red Army, although driven back to the very gates of Moscow itself, had established a reserve to the east of the Soviet capital. Its winter offensive 1942 with up to 400,000 troops in the area of Staraya Russa and Demyansk smashed into the German lines, tearing huge gaps in the front. In the north six German divisions, including the SS-Division Totenkopf, were cut off in the Demyansk Pocket. To the north, Soviet 11th and 34th Soviet Armies, and the 1st Shock Army forming one attack incent to advance along the southern shore of Lake Ilmen. The 16th Shock Army also advanced along to sweep around the lower edge of Lake Seliger to join the other thrust, encircle and annihilate the German 16.Armee, and thus create a vast gap between German Heeresgruppe Nord and Heeresgruppe Mitte. During the night of January 8 1942, under cover of a fierce blizzard, the Red Army launched its attack along the whole of Heeresgruppe Nord's southern flank. Josef Stalin hoped that the German armies could be encircled and destroyed by lightning thrusts and rapid maneuvers. A combination of rigidity in command and lack of coordination of the Russian forces, coupled with Adolf Hitler's stand-fast order and stubborn German resistance, foiled the Soviet dictator's grandiose plan. Soviet commanders threw wave after wave of troops against the German defenders. The Demyansk salient proved a horrific Eastern Front battleground, due in part to the meddling of two dictators. Top clip: the legendary 8.8 cm FlaK was used in two main roles: as a mobile heavy anti-aircraft and as an anti-tank gun. The Allies and the Soviets had nothing as good, despite one of them designating itself the world's greatest industrial power. Footage from Die Deutsche Wochenschau. Fair use. Middle image: a German in a trench in Staraya Russa in January 1942. Photo by Kriegsberichter Richard Muck. Credit: Cassowary. Commons: Bundesarchiv. Bottom image: German troops in the Demyansk cauldron on March 21 1942. Credit: Royston Leonard. Commons: Bundesarchiv.

The frozen fortress Demyansk February – May 1942

Demyansk Pocket

Demyansk Pocket

On February 8 1942, at the significant cost of losses the Soviet ring finally closed around the already depleted SS-Division Totenkopf and the German II and X Corps, trapping 12, 30, 32, 123 and 290.Infantry Divisions. The German command repeatedly requested permission to retreat, but Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler did not give it. The Germans managed to organize an excellent defense of the outer front of the pocket, and inside it they built a system of alternative fortifications and secured settlements and roads. The surrounded parts of Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS successfully defended themselves, being surrounded for two months. When contested villages changed the occupants they usually turned into flames. The Totenkopf Division was split up, on orders of 16.Armee, with sub-units being despatched to various crises points. Its units fighting in snow well over one metre deep and in temperatures of minus 30 degrees °C, came under extreme pressure as they tried to hold the line of scattered villages. The desperate resistance by these isolated strongpoints helped to stabilize the front. The German defensive battles were fought with sufficient skill, tenacity, and resourcefulness to merit close scrutiny. Images: photos of a German and a presumably Latvian volunteer Jäger on the north-eastern front, both with determined expressions into the wide vista. The Jägers were usually crack shots used for ambushes and patrols. Commons: Bundesarchiv.

ϟϟ-Division „Totenkopf“ and the Demyansk Pocket: Casualties and losses

SS-Division Totenkopf

Kessel von Demjansk

                                                                                                                                   
By late February 1942, the SS-Division Totenkopf's sector had been so widely infiltrated by Soviet troops that all contact with nighbouring German units had been lost. The Totenkopf's positions were often penetrated and the Soviets driven out only after fierce fighting. The SS troops were cold, exhausted, lice-ridden and suffering from frostbite, but had driven off Soviet units greatly superior in numbers. By the time the Soviet attacks began to tail off in mid-March 1942, as the spring thaws set in, they had lost tens of thousands troops in their attempt to crush the Demyansk Pocket. The Totenkopf, in the same period, had lost around 7,000 men. According to Russian sources Soviet casualties around Demyansk during the period between February and May 1942 were 245,500 including 88,908 killed and missing. According to official German statistics and documents, Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS units suffered 55,000 casualties, including 14,516 killed and missing. Credit: Wikipedia i.a. Left image: according to various scholars, a soldier of the Totenkopf during a break from the fierce battles. Neither heroes nor brave fighters step from the ranks of men made lonely by a hunger in their hearts for news from home. Credit: Toussaint Bonavita. Right image: German soldiers exhausted and worn out with fatigue. Commons: Bundesarchiv.

Encircled units supplied by German Luftwaffe and Frikorps Danmark

Hitler with officers of the SS Escort Command of the Führer at the Wolfsschanze

Junkers Ju 52 in the Demyansk Pocket

Festung Demjansk or Kessel von Demjansk

The German defense was throttled by Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler's standing orders against tactical retreat, leaving the forward divisions little choice but to hold on to their initial positions even when penetrated or overrun. The deft counterattacks by the Waffen-SS repeatedly exploited speed, surprise, and shock action to destroy or scatter numerically superior Soviet forces. The task of providing the surrounded soldiers at Demyansk and Kholm with everything necessary fell on the wings of Luftwaffe. Without the airport, on which, on the average 400,000 kg of supply were landed daily, the defenders of the cauldron could have hardly held on. The men of the Danish Volunteer-Corps Frikorps Danmark and the German Luftwaffe came into the cauldron, the wounded went out. The supplies were delivered through over 100 flights of Junkers Ju 52 transport aircraft per day. Everything went in by air: Swedish tent quarters made of pressed millboards, ammunition, food, petrol, mail and recruits. The success of the Luftwaffe convinced both Reichsmarsall Hermann Göring and Adolf Hitler that they could conduct effective airlift operations on the Eastern Front. However, the cost was significant. The Luftwaffe lost 265 aircraft, including 106 Junkers Ju 52, 17 Heinkel He 111 and two Junkers Ju 86 aircraft. After the siege was broken, the brutal and violent commander of the SS-Division Totenkopf Theodor Eicke secured a private audience with Hitler at the Wolfsschanze east of the Ostpreußen town of Rastenburg, in present-day Poland. Eicke bluntly described the situation to him. The Führer promised Eicke that he would withdraw the division in August if the situation south of Lake Ilmen remained stable. When he finally brought the remnants out of the salient in October, it had repulsed several more major Soviet attacks. By then the Totenkopf had been bled white holding Demyansk. Credit: the author Patrick W. McTaggart. Top image: the Führer with members of his personal bodyguard unit, the Führerbegleitkommando, at the Wolfsschanze or the Wolf’s Lair: August Körber, Adolf Dirr, Erich Kempka, Adolf Hitler, Bruno Gesche and Franz Schädle. Credit: Marina Amaral. Fair use. Middle image: a Junkers transport aircraft bringing supplies to the German 16.Armee in Demyansk 1942. Bottom image: a German soldier tries to stay warm in the shelter of a demolished building somewhere in Demyansk in 1942 while keeping a eye out for Soviet attacks. Commons: Bundesarchiv.

ϟϟ-Division „Totenkopf“ – Wie ein Fels im Meer

Non-commissioned officer of the Totenkopf

Non-commissioned officer of the Totenkopf

By May 1942, the Red Army had once again gone over to the offensive and had begun attacking. The frequency of Soviet attacks gave the exhausted SS-Division Totenkopf no chance for any sort of rest, and constant attrition through these defensive actions weakened the division. On July 1942, massive Soviets assaults smashed into the Totenkopf units and were only held back by the fanatical determination of the exhausted SS-troops, and with considerable losses. By August 1942 all the Totenkopf non-combatant personnel – cooks, clerks, medics and military police – had taken their places in the trenches with their comrades. There were now no reserves left whatsoever. A total of around 96,000 German soldiers had been cut off in the Demyansk Pocket, and the fact that the pocket held and the survivors were eventually relieved was due in no small measure to the tenacity of the men of the Totenkopf Division. The Totenkopf was a mainstay in its defence between February and October 1942. Left image: fine study of a Totenkopf NCO in Demyansk, wearing appropriately coloured camouflage smock and helmet cover, standard 8 X 50 binoculars, leather map case and Luger P/08 holster. An MP 28/II submachine-gun is slung across his back. Commons: Bundesarchiv. Right image: an SS-Sturmmann posing for the war correspondent Ernst Baumann when giving humanitarian aid to people affected by the battles on the north-eastern front. U.S. NARA. Fair use.

Volunteers in Demyansk: ϟϟ-Sturmbannführer der Waffen-SS von Schalburg

SS-Sturmbannführer C.F. von Schalburg

SS-Freiwilligen-Verband Dänemark

Danish Christian Frederik von Schalburg was born in Zmeinogorsk, Tomskaja Gubernija in the Russian Empire on April 15 1906. Still a boy C.F. von Schalburg received a military education in the Tsar's cadet corps and lived in Russia until the October Revolution of 1917 when he fled with his family to Denmark. These dramatic events caused him to feel a burning hate of communists. In September 1940 with the consent of the Royal Danish Life Guards and the king, C.F. von Schalburg joined the Waffen-SS and served with SS-Division Wiking as a SS-Hauptsturmführer. He was awarded both classes of the Iron Cross while serving with the Wiking in Ukraine. On March 1 1942, now ranked SS-Sturmbannführer, he was given command of the Danish Volunteer Corps Frikorps Danmark and was soon flown by Junkers Ju 52 with parts of the corps into the Demyansk Pocket. On June 2 1942, C.F. von Schalburg initiated the first offensive operation of the Danish SS Corps. In an attempt to monitor the progress of the battle, he advanced towards the front line, but stepped on a mine and was moments later killed by shrapnel from a Soviet artillery shell. The subsequent rescue of his corpse where he fell at the age of 36 revealed extensive injuries including a leg torn off at the hip and a missing foot. Credit: The Unknown Eastern Front. Left image: SS-Sturmbannführer Christian Frederik von Schalburg with his son Aleksander. The photo was taken a few months before he fell near Demyansk. It was taken by the then SS-Unterscharführer Søren Kam, later recipient of the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross. C.F. von Schalburg was posthumously promoted to SS-Obersturmbannführer. Right image: Danish Free Corps making an oath at the Waffen-SS barracks at Langenhorn in Hamburg in 1941. Photo by SS-Kriegsberichter Weill. Credit: Jaris Almazani. Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe (NAC), Warszawa, Poland. Both photos in the Public domain.

ϟϟ-Hauptsturmführer und Generalstabsoffizier der Waffen-SS Pehrsson

SS-Hauptsturmführer Hans-Gösta Pehrsson

Danish SS volunteers of Freikorps Danmark south of Demyansk

Hans-Gösta Pehrsson was born on October 10 1910 in Karlskrona in Sweden. He was a member of the Swedish Nazi party Nationalsocialistiska arbetarepartiet before moving to Denmark in 1934. Pehrsson volunteered for the Waffen-SS on July 21 1941. Following his military training at the SS-Unterführerschule in Posen-Treskau in annexed Poland, he was assigned to the Danish Volunteer Corps Frikorps Danmark. After heavy fighting at the Leningrad front and by Lake Ilmen, south of Novgorod in 1941-1942, he became a commander of a machine-gun section. In May 1942, Pehrsson and SS-Sturmbannführer C.F. von Schalburg's 2nd company of Frikorps Danmark was transported by air to the beleaguered SS-Division Totenkopf in the Demyansk Pocket. He distinguished himself in the harsh fightings in Demyansk and was promoted to SS-Oberscharführer on June 2 1942, and became a heavy weapons platoon commander. On September 10 1942 the whole Frikorps Danmark received the NSDAP Honor Cross for Combatants. Pehrsson was selected for officer training as a result of his performance and personality and attended SS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz in December 1942. After graduating in October 1943, he was posted to the then newly created 11.SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division Nordland's armored Reconnaissance Battalion. SS-Untersturmführer Pehrsson and his platoon proved themselves in the difficult and bloody fighting on the Narva Front and in the famous defensive action at the Battle of Tannenberg Line in Estonia between February and August 1944. On April 19 1944, Pehrsson was given command of the 3rd company of Nordland's SS-Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 11. Shortly afterwards he was promoted to SS-Obersturmführer. Other Swedish Waffen-SS officers, such as SS-Untersturmführer Heino Meyer, Rune Ahlgren and Gunnar Eklöf, were also members of this unit. On April 15 1945, Company Commander Pehrsson was promoted through the ranks to SS-Hauptsturmführer and served as general staff officer at the Nordland headquarters intelligence section. He ended the war by leading the remnants of his company in fierce house-to-house fighting in the Battle of Berlin. Pehrsson was captured by the Soviets in early May 1945 but managed to escape and returned back to Sweden in the summer that same year. The Waffen-SS commander Pehrsson, was a well-known and popular leader among the Scandinavian SS volunteers. SS-Obersturmführer Josef Sepp Schirmer, from Nordland's SS Reconnaissance Battalion, remembered the Swede: Gösta Pehrsson was a good comrade. He was brave, caring, friendly and warm-hearted with great military knowledge and skills. He helped everyone out of trouble, even if he had to risk his life to do it. Every comrade's life was more valuable to him than his own life. He took care of his men and company. For repeated demonstrations of bravery at the head of his men and for his leadership during the battles in the Baltics, Pehrsson was awarded, among others, the Iron Cross First Class, Close Combat Clasp in Silver, Wound Badge in Silver, Panzer Assault Badge in Silver, Infantry Assault Badge and the rare Honour Roll Clasp of the Army. Only 4.556 Ehrenblatt des Heeres were awarded during the war. Its bestowing was at the discretion of the German High Command. It was awarded sparingly to retain a high level of prestige and honour. Credit: The SS-Pz.Aufkl.Abt.11 Nordland. Top image: Swedish SS-Hauptsturmführer Hans-Gösta Pehrsson. Pehrsson died aged 63 on March 16 1974 in Stockholm. PD. Bottom image: Danish Waffen-SS volunteers of the Frikorps Danmark pose for a group photograph during the intense fighting at the Battle of Velikiye Luki in November 1942, also known as "The Little Stalingrad of the North". Lars Larsen Archives. Fair use.

Knights at Demyansk: ϟϟ-Obersturmbannführer der Waffen-SS Richter

Waffen-SS Commander Wilfried Richter

Holding the Red Tide at Demyansk and Cholm

It is also worth noting that several Totenkopf soldiers were decorated with the coveted Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for gallantry during the battles at Demyansk. Study of some of the actions for which these decorations were awarded illustrates just how ferocious the fighting during these months could be. During the Demyansk battles, the then SS-Obersturmführer Wilfried Richter commanded a small combat group located at Kalitkino on the banks of the Robja river. The Waffen-SS occupants were all but exhausted by their defence of the area against attacks by fresh Soviet assault troops. Remarkably, in the view of the condition of his men and the overwhelming Soviet superiority in numbers, Richter's battle group repulsed attack after attack. On April 5 1942, a particularly powerful Soviet attack hit Kalitkino, threatening to overrun it. The Soviets, supported by around 16 T-43 tanks, struck without warning. They established a toehold, but only after losing six of their tanks. Then the Totenkopf troops immediately counterattacked, using Teller mines against the Soviet tanks and destroyed five more in this fashion. The Soviet infantry force was still substantial and the situation looked bad for the greatly-outnumbered Waffen-SS troops. Richter decided to call down German artillery fire on his own position. The enemy were caught in the open, suffering horrendous losses. As soon the barrage was over, Richter and his men engaged the Soviets in ferocious hand-to-hand combat. The battle raged until all the Soviet troops had been killed or had fled. Richter's dogged determination proved to be an example again and again to his weak group of men that were cut-off in this area. Richter was decorated with the Knight's Cross on April 21 1942. He ended his career as an SS-Obersturmbannführer and battalion commander in the 38.SS-Division Nibelungen. Wilfried Richter was born in Pforzheim on May 9 1916 and joined the SS-Verfügungstruppe in 1937. He died aged 64 on April 18 1981 in Engehausen, Hannover. Credit: Gordon Williamson, SS - The Blood-Soaked Soil. Left image: Knight's Cross Holder Wilfried Richter. Fair use. Right image: German machine gunner and dead Russian soldier at Cholm/Demyansk in 1942. Photo by Kriegsberichter Richard Muck. Commons: Bundesarchiv.

Waffen-SS Kriegsberichter – War photographers and photojournalists

Gunter d'Alquen as SS-Hauptsturmführer d. R. of SS-Kriegsberichter-Kompanie

Gunter d'Alquen as SS-Standartenführer of SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers

Carl Svensson as SS-Untersturmführer of SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers

The SS-Kriegsberichters or SS War Correspondents who covered the war in the 1940´s were masters of their art. The images are like snapshots taken as the drama unfolds before their - and our - eyes. Historians owe them a deep dept of gratitude for having faithfully documented this historic struggle under enemy fire and in the most appalling conditions. In 1945, several months before the end of the war, an order issued by the RSHA, or Reichssicherheitshauptamt required that all photographic material of the Waffen-SS was to be destroyed. This order was quickly carried out and all the film negatives were burned. Oddly enough, many archival albums which contained the contact strips managed to somehow survive. Today all the surviving SS War Correspondent albums are safely stored in the German Federal Archives. Top image: the then SS-Hauptsturmführer d. R. der Waffen-SS and combat war correspondent Gunter d'Alquen eating with his driver during the opening days of the invasion of the Soviet Union, codenamed Operation Barbarossa. He was chief editor of the SS weekly Das Schwarze Korps, the official newspaper of the Schutzstaffel. Photo by SS-Kriegsberichter Ernst Baumann. U.S. NARA. Middle image: rising through the ranks Gunter d'Alquen became SS-Standartenführer of the famed unit SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers in 1943. Gunter d'Alquen died on May 15 1998 aged 88. Fair use. Bottom image: Swedish SS-Kriegsberichter Carl Stodenberg Svensson was posted to the Leningrad front after graduation at SS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz. There he received his promotion to SS-Untersturmführer in March 1943 and assumed command of a propaganda company composed of radio reporters, cameramen and journalists. Svensson, having previously specialized in radio propaganda, shadowed a Tiger tank crew for several days, something which he considered to have been his best reportage. He was promoted to SS-Obersturmführer on Nov. 3 1944. After having been released from his contract by Gunter d'Alquen during the last weeks of the war, Svensson travelled to København in Denmark where he destroyed his identity papers and pistol before boarding a flight to Malmö in Sweden on May 5 1945. Carl Svensson died on Jan. 17 1999 aged 83. Credit: Lars Larsson. Photo: Lars Larsson Archives. Fair use.

ϟϟ-Division „Wiking“ in the Checheno-Ingush ASSR (Нохч-ГІалгІайн ACCP)

Adolf Hitler - determined to command personally

Postkarte Unsere Waffen-SS: MG-Schützen

German intelligence estimated that about 70 percent of Soviet oil production was centred in the Caucasus region. If the German Reich could seize the Caucasus oilfields, the Wehrmacht would no longer be constrained to fight a pauper's war with inadequate fuel reserves. Furthermore, the Red Army would also suffer from the loss of the Caucasian oilfields and Adolf Hitler hoped that fuel shortages would constrain Soviet offensive capabilities. He maintained a profound distrust of his senior command, despite the unflagging loyalty that most of them displayed right to the end. Hitler wanted to be the Feldherr, the generalissimo, exercising direct control of the armies himself. His commanders tried, both directly and indirectly, to persuade him to adopt a more realistic plan, without success. This was the major breakdown in personal relations between Hitler and his High Command. Teletype message to the SS-Division Wiking on September 28 1942:

SS-Division Wiking's march route 1941-1945

TO: Commander, SS-Division Wiking. The entire field army is looking to your division. You have the task of paving the way for the field army toward Grozny. /signed/ Generaloberst Ewald von Kleist. It was intended for the division to eject the enemy ensconced at Malgobek, which was on the demarcation line between Europe and Asia. Blocking any German advance to Grozny was the Malgobek ridge. SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Waffen-SS Felix Steiner was ordered to launch a flanking maneuver along the valley of the River Kurp that ran behind the ridge. Wiking's first objective was the fortified town of Sagopshin or Ssagopschin, several kilometers farther up the valley, which was crisscrossed with steep-sided gorges and antitank ditches. Credit: Military historians Adrian Gilbert and Robert Forczyk. Top image: photo taken by Hitler's personal photographer Hugo Jäger, specialised in colour photography. LIFE photo archive. FU. Middle image: an original Nazi era propaganda postcard showing the backbone of the Waffen-SS infantry - the versatile Maschinengewehr 34. It was arguably the most advanced machine gun in the world at the time of its deployment. It was used as the primary infantry machine gun during the 1930s until 1942, when it was supplanted by the next generation MG42. Both remained in service and production until the end of the war. Photo by SS-Kriegsberichter Franz Roth. Credit: Oleg Zalishyk. c. Bundesarchiv. Bottom image: Wiking's march route through East Europe and Soviet Union 1941-1945. FU.

ϟϟ-Division „Wiking“ Advance to Spearhead the Attack on Grozny

SS-Panzer-Abteilung 5 Wiking

Volunteers of the SS-Division Wiking

The Commander of the 1.Panzer-Armee Generaloberst Ewald von Kleist ordered the SS-Division Wiking to spearhead the attack on Grozny. Working in cooperation with General der Panzertruppen Traugott Herr's 13.Panzer-Division, a plan was arranged to capture the vital Chechen city. By late September 1942, Wiking was in a position to launch its attack southward. As they reached the Terek River, the Soviet defences solidified. They had to break through several obstacle belts, constructed by the Soviets south of Mozdok, and through Malgobek and Sagopshin to reach the Georgian Road, over which the Soviets were receiving American war materials from Iran. Malgobek was the key to an assault on Grozny. Realizing the difficult situation, SS-Gruppenführer Felix Steiner divided Wiking into four columns, each with separate objectives, but all aimed at breaching the Soviet defences and opening a road to the Caspian Sea. Top image: SS-Panzer-Abteilung 5 Wiking in the Caucasus. Bottom image: Austrians, Danes, Dutch, Flemings, Finns, Germans, Norwegians and Swedes in the multinational Wiking Division in Caucasous in 1942. Both photos by Waffen-SS war correspondent SS-Kriegsberichter Willi Altstadt. U.S. National Archives Records Administration. Fair use. 

ϟϟ-Division „Wiking“ Assault Planned Against Sagopshin and Malgobek

Waffen-SS volunteer with K98 Mauser

SS-Panzer-Abteilung 5 Wiking

Several days before the planned assault on Sagopshin and Malgobek the Wiking conducted final attack preparations and rehearsals. The SS-Infanterie-Regiment Nordland was to attack along the Kurp River to Malgobek. The SS-Panzer Battalion Wiking, with elements of the Germania, was to breach the main line of defence and establish a bridgehead. The Westland was to capture the town of Sagopshin, and the division's engineer component, along with the rest of the Germania was to advance along the Kurp River. In the evening of Sept. 25 1942 all units were in their designated areas for their final preparations for the upcoming attack. Left image: SS volunteer cleaning a K98 Mauser while awaiting new orders. Date and location unclear. Photo by SS-KB Weill. c. Bundesarchiv. Right image: tankers of SS-Panzer-Abteilung 5 Wiking watching the Luftwaffe bringing in supplies and equipment during Operation Edelweiß. Photo by SS-KB Willi Altstadt. U.S. NARA.

ϟϟ-Division „Wiking“ Fighting for Sagopshin and Malgobek

SS Panzer Commander Johannes Mühlenkamp

Volunteers of the SS-Division Wiking

The attack got underway on the night of September 25-26 1942. SS-Infanterie-Regiment Nordland's assault soon bogged down, as they realized that not only were they outnumbered by the Soviet Red Army, but the latter were also well entrenched in prepared positions. Within thirty minutes, almost half of the men of the regiment had fallen. Despite this, they still captured the hill, and its commander SS-Oberführer Fritz von Scholz was awarded the Knight's Cross for his actions during the battle. On September 28 1942, Wiking reached the outskirts of Sagopshin and a fierce tank battle ensued. SS-Sturmbannführer and commander of the SS-Panzer-Abteilung 5 Wiking Johannes Mühlenkamp rode in three different tanks that day and was shot three times. New attack plans were made and Westland made a frontal attack on Sagopshin. The Soviet strongholds were defeated after heavy and fierce resistance the following day. On September 29 1942, the aerial reconnaissance in the west and southwest of Malgobek identified 50 Soviet T-34's and Mark IIIs. During the afternoon, it was further reported that additional troop elements and 400-500 motorized vehicles and approximately 25 tanks were observed in the area. Nevertheless, the Wiking continued its attack towards Malgobek for another week. On October 5 1942, SS-Untersturmführer d. R. Karl Nicolussi-Leck destroyed three enemy tanks which approached the advancing men of the Germania from the open flank. Three more were knocked out by SS-Obersturmführer d. R. Hans Flügel and his tank commanders. It was later discovered that they were all British-built Mark IIIs and Valentines. In preparation for the final assault, a large-scale Stuka attack was laid on against Malgobek. SS-Infanterie-Regiment Germania took the town of Malgobek and its surrounding hills on Oct. 6 1942. Left image: SS-Stubaf. Johannes Mühlenkamp scanning the Caucasian horizon with his binoculars. Photo: SS-KB Willi Altstadt. U.S. NARA. Right image: Wiking volunteers. c. Bundesarchiv.

ϟϟ-Division Wiking: The Capture of Malgobek – Reference point 701

Finnisches Freiwilligen-Bataillon der Waffen-SS

SS-Unterscharführer Markus Ledin

The Soviets were continuously being reinforced. An enemy column consisting of approximately 1,000 men and numerous motorized vehicles was identified five kilometres east of the forward lines around noon on October 6 1942. The SS-Division Wiking finally captured Malgobek the very same day, however the objective of seizing the capital and opening a road to the Caspian Sea was not achieved. The closest point to Grozny, Reference Point 701, was captured at 1730 hours by the Finnish volunteers Battalion (Finnisches Freiwilligen-Bataillon der Waffen-SS) of SS-Infanterie-Regiment Nordland after two hours of hard fighting. In vain, the Soviets ran up against the newly won positions of the third battalion of Nordland for three days without breaking into the main line of resistance. All attacks were turned back by the tanks of the SS-Panzer-Abteilung 5 Wiking. On October 12 1942, 18 Soviet bombers, escorted by fighters, conducted four bombing runs on the positions on high ground. According to various sources the SS-Division Wiking lost over 1,500 men during the fighting for Sagopshin and Malgobek. Several combat units were reduced to only dozens of men, and as a Waffen-SS veteran later wrote: Casualties weren't counted any more, just men left alive. Note: It should be pointed out that Reference Point 701 was not Hill 701, which is indicated in some writings. It was a target reference point for artillery purposes. There was no high ground of 701 meters between Malgobek and Wosnessenskaja. Credit: Viking Panzers. Top image: SS volunteers of the Finnisches Freiwilligen-Bataillon der Waffen-SS. Public domain. Bottom image: Swedish SS-Unterscharführer Markus Ledin from Stockholm volunteered for the Waffen-SS in January 1942 and served with the Wiking until he got wounded during the fierce fighting in Sagopshin. After recovering, he was transferred to the then newly created 11.SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division Nordland. Courtesy of Wittenborn.

ϟϟ-Division „Wiking“ Leaves the Sagopshin and Malgobek area

SS-Panzer-Abteilung 5 Wiking in the North Caucasus

SS-Division Wiking in defensive positions in North Caucasus

After the capture of Malgobek, the SS-Division Wiking were drawn into severe defensive battles. For four consecutive days Soviet forces tried to recapture Reference point 701 without results. Sagopshin or Ssagopschin and Malgobek were turning points in the events of the southernmost front of the German armed forces. With the fighting on October 17 1942, the Wiking's offensive efforts in the Sagopshin-Malgobek came to an end. There were enormous logistical difficulties – the Wiking and the Wehrmacht was at the very end of a supply chain already stretched to breaking point. It was no longer possible to force the Soviets over the mountain chain and into the sea. After the Soviet breakthroughs in the region around Stalingrad, the German forces in the Caucasus were put on the defensive. The Wiking Division transitioned to the defense in the positions it had won. Positions they had paid a high price for. Many Wikinger had spilled their blood for Malgobek. On October 21 1942 the SS-Divison Wiking leaves the Sagopshin-Malgobek area and takes positions around the Werch-Kurp area. Top image: tankers of SS-Panzer-Abteilung 5 Wiking in Caucasous. Bottom image: Wiking Grenadiers in forward defensive positions in Northeastern Caucasus in 1942. The dug-in forces complemented in-depth defence features, such as minefields, and other trench and bunker warfare. Both photos taken by Waffen-SS Kriegsberichter Willi Altstadt. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. Fair use.