This exceptionally rare SS Soldbuch was opened in early 1944 to the then 17 year old Willi Plotzitzka from Augskallen Germany. He was directly sent to the Divisions-Begleit-Kompanie – 12.SS-Panzerdivision “Hitlerjugend” he was armed with a MP44. Panzer Grenadier Willi Plotzitzka was reported as killed in action in Bastogne, on the 8th of January 1945. He is buried in Andilly, France and has his own marked grave. He was only 17 years old. Unit History: The idea for the Waffen-SS division was first proposed by Artur Axmann, the leader of the Hitler Youth, to Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler in early 1943.The plan for a division made up of Hitler Youth members born in 1926 was passed on to Adolf Hitler for his approval. Hitler approved the plan in February and SS-Gruppenführer Gottlob Berger was ordered to recruit the personnel. SS-Oberführer Fritz Witt of 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH) was appointed the divisional commander. Personnel from the LSSAH provided the regimental, battalion and most of the company commanders for the division. About 2,000 personnel were transferred from the LSSAH and in September 1943, the division had over 16,000 recruits on its roster, undergoing training in Beverloo Camp in Leopoldsburg, Belgium.The indoctrination was often brutal; while in Allied captivity, an SS man from the division recalled: “In the Waffen-SS you couldn’t do anything if an Unterfuhrer hit you during the training. The purpose of the training is to make you just as they are; it’s pure sadism”. (The comments have also been taken from similar transcripts). In March 1944 the 12th SS was attached to the I SS Panzer Corps and transferred to Caen in Normandy. At the beginning of June, the division had over 150 tanks. Ascq massacre The division committed its first massacre while en route to Normandy. The division executed 86 French men on 1 April 1944 in Ascq, France, in a reprisal against the civilian population after the railway they were on was sabotaged. The commander of the convoy, SS-Obersturmführer Walter Hauck, ordered troops to search and arrest all male members of the houses on both sides of the track. Altogether, 70 men were shot beside the railway line and another 16 killed in the village. In 1949, Hauck was put on trial in Lille, France, and was sentenced to death. His sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment. He was freed in 1957 after a further sentence reduction. Normandy On 6 June 1944, the division, along with the 21st Panzer Division, were the closest Panzer divisions to the landing beaches but they were unable to move until ordered by the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW, armed forces high command). The division was ordered to the front at 14:30 hours on 6 June, over twelve hours after the first reports of the landings. Prior to this Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt had ordered over half of the division to deal with a parachute landing on the coast near Lisieux which was found to be dummies from Operation Titanic. The division’s advance to the areas near the British–Canadian landing beaches of Sword and Juno Beaches proceeded slowly due to Allied air attacks. The first units of the 12th SS finally reached their assembly area near Evrecy at 22:00 hours on 6 June but the Panther battalion ran out of fuel east of the Orne River. According to Marc Milner, “this was just the first example of sloppy staff work and command and control that characterized 12th SS Division’s experience in the beachhead battles”. At 10:00 hours on 7 June, the 25th SS Panzergrenadier Regiment, along with 50 Panzer IV tanks of the 12th SS Panzer Regiment, arrived and moved into position north-west of Caen.[10] Supported by a battalion of artillery (3rd Battalion, 12th SS Panzer Regiment), this battle group was ordered to stop the Canadian advance and drive through to the coast, a few kilometres away. They failed to break through the Canadians around Buron, a kilometre to the north. Meyer countermanded the divisional commander’s order on his own initiative, feeling that objective unrealistic and hoped merely to stop the flow of Canadian units inland until the situation could be stabilized. The attack by the division was supposed to have been supported by the 21st Panzer Division but they could not disengage from fighting the British 3rd Infantry Division and were still at Couvre. Casualties of the 25th SS Panzergrenadier Regiment amounted to about 300 men, while 15 tanks from the 12th SS Panzer Regiment were also destroyed.[14] Late on 7 June, the 26th SS Panzergrenadier Regiment under command of then SS-Obersturmbannfuhrer Wilhelm Mohnke arrived on the battlefield. Meyer had pushed back one part of the Canadian advance but to the west, the 7th Canadian Infantry Brigade had occupied a group of small villages three kilometres into the German line. The 26th Panzergrenadier Regiment crossed behind Meyer’s regiment and took post to the west. The 1st Battalion launched an attack towards Norrey-en-Bessin, defended by the Regina Rifles, 7th Canadian Infantry Brigade, 3rd Canadian Division. Their orders were to overrun the Canadians and force a deep wedge between them and the British to the west. No reconnaissance of the Canadian positions was done and the infantry met intense defensive fire from firmly established positions. The attack at 03:30 hours on 8 June had little initial success. The various companies in the attacking battalion failed to coordinate effectively and suffered many casualties. Facing Canadian artillery and the supporting heavy machine guns of the Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa, the 1st Battalion of the 12th SS was forced to fall back. Despite suffering losses themselves, the Regina Rifles stood their ground. The Hitlerjugend division was criticized for performing inadequately in the opening days of the Normandy campaign,[11] with Canadian Brigadier Harry Foster later noting that “no use was made of the fact that the Reginas’ flanks were exposed; instead, the enemy flung himself straight against the strongest points and utterly failed to exploit the undoubted weakness of his opponent’s position”….

Issued on August 1933 to Heinz Hohn. Hohn was born in 1920, and was 13 years old. The membership in the DJ was from 10 till 13 years old. An insert to the ID can be found, which I have not seen on many of these. stating his new membership inside to the Hitler Youth, the stamps correspond that he served then in the HJ till 1938. It seems he served in the 240 Bahn It seems according to research that he was killed in action, in Orel Russia, a grenade fragment to the head. The record card copy is part of the sale. It seemed he served with Aufk Abt 26 (Recon Unit) – they served under the 26 ID in Russia. Final Comments A nice not so often seen ID to a DJ in the HJ. Interesting he was not issued another ID in the HJ, but this one was furthered with the adding of 2 extra sides to cover his HJ membership. A great photo in this one, I guess one of the staples fell off at one stage but its still matching and perfect.        

An interesting small grouping to the Sniper Alfred Weis, born in 1927, he was enlisted into the German Army in February of 1945. He served with : Festungs Pak Kp 2/XXXX (Festungs-Pak-Verband XXXX) – Oberrhein Front On December 16, 1944, the Germans attacked in the Ardennes. What became known as the “Battle of the Bulge” forced the movement of large numbers of U.S. troops north out of Alsace and Lorraine to counter the German attack. In January, additional U.S. troops were moved north in response to the German counter-offensive into northern Alsace, Operation North Wind (Unternehmen Nordwind). Taking advantage of the stretched Allied lines, Himmler ordered the recapture of Strasbourg. German troops assaulted across the Rhine near Gambsheim on January 5, 1945[4] and soon occupied a bridgehead including the towns of Herrlisheim, Drusenheim, and Offendorf north of Strasbourg. South of Strasbourg, German troops in the Colmar Pocket attacked north toward Strasbourg on January 7, inflicting painful losses on the French II Corps, but were ultimately unable to break the French defense. Reinforced by elements of the 10th SS Panzer Division, the German troops in the Gambsheim Bridgehead held their own against U.S. and French counterattacks during January 1945, manhandling the U.S. 12th Armored Division at Herrlisheim. The German successes of January, however, marked the high point for the Upper Rhine High Command. The Gambsheim Bridgehead, and further to the south, the Colmar Pocket, would not be reduced by Allied forces until well into February 1945, but the operations of the Upper Rhine High Command after mid-January were defensive in nature. Equipment: G43 with DOW Scope on the 5.4.1945 along with a pistol and cleaning kit for the Sniper Rifle, as well as a set of 6×30 BLC Binoculars . (PLEASE NOTE: These are very late entries, and we do not really think the Rifle entries are provable 100%). Swiss Issued IDs Interesting, and what seems to be incredibly rare is the Swiss ID attached. He is pictured in a Panzer Wrap, without Eagle issued in December of 1945. So he made it over the border to Switzerland to surrender on the 27th of April 1945. The photo was taken by Photo Brandt in Arosa, and the Swiss Countryside can be seen in the background. It seems he was then interned in a Camp in Chur, under the Military Internment Graubunden Chur. Another ID, was issued for when he was in Arosa Switzerland , and had to be presented when he visited any local businesses. Extra A nice uniform photo  in RAD Uniform. Another document states that he was handed over in December to the French Army in Tuttlingen, interestingly it states he is a POW and a Deminer, so he was likely active in post war mine clearance. Also a 1947 issued Sport ID was in the grouping. Final   What an incredible bit of history with the Swiss link, he was active with arms for about two weeks and made it to Switzerland.