• WWII German Waffen SS Pocket Diary SS Soldatenfreund 1944 -SS Unterscharführer Spitzhüttl - SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 20 - 9th SS Panzer Division "Hohenstaufen" - (RESERVED)

    WWII German Waffen SS Pocket Diary SS Soldatenfreund 1944 -SS Unterscharführer Spitzhüttl – SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 20 – 9th SS Panzer Division “Hohenstaufen” – (RESERVED)

    SS Soldatenfreund 1944 Owned by SS Unterscharführer Spitzhüttl According to his address, he was living in Sudetenland (Czech Republic) and was of German decent. His Feldpost Number is: 25405 C Stab II u. 5.-8. Kompanie Panzergrenadier-Regiment 20 (9. SS-Division) In October 1943, the regiment was renamed SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 20. In April 1944, the first battle took place near Tarnopol. On July 23, SS Panzergrenadier Regiments 19 and 20 suffered heavy losses and merged to form SS Panzerergrenadier Regiment “H.” On September 27, 1944, the regiment, together with SS Panzerergrenadier Regiment 19, the only half-strength Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion 9, the Divisional Escort Company of the 9th SS Panzer Division, SS Flak Battalion 9, elements of SS Pioneer Battalion 9, and a motorized artillery platoon, formed Kampfgruppe “Harzer,” led by SS Obersturmbannführer Walther Harzer. The KG’s troop strength was approximately 3,500 men. In November, the regiment was replenished and prepared for the Battle of the Bulge. On May 1, 1945, the regiment surrendered to US troops near Steyr along with the remnants of the division. More information: After the encirclement of General Hans-Valentin Hube’s 1st Panzer Army in the Kamenets-Podolsky pocket in Ukraine, Field Marshal Erich von Manstein requested that the Hohenstaufen and Frundsberg divisions be sent to attempt to link up with the encircled force. Arriving in late March 1944, the divisions were formed into the II SS Panzer Corps and were sent into the attack near the town of Tarnopol. In three days of combat, the Hohenstaufen destroyed 74 Soviet tanks, 84 self propelled assault guns, 21 anti tank guns, and 12 mortars. After heavy fighting in the season of rasputitsa (“roadlessness”), the division effected a link-up with Hube’s forces near the town of Buchach. The division’s actions helped prevent the encirclement of the 1st Panzer Army.[9] During these battles, Hohenstaufen had suffered 1,011 casualties. The II SS Panzer Corps was to act as reserve for Army Group North Ukraine. After the Allied invasion of northern France on 6 June 1944, the II SS Panzer Corps, including Hohenstaufen, was sent west on 12 June, to defend Caen in Normandy.  Normandy Hohenstaufen suffered losses from Allied fighter bombers during its move to Normandy, delaying its arrival until 26 June 1944. Approximately 50% of the division’s tanks broke down during its movement to Normandy. The division’s armored forces would be reinforced by the newly attached 102nd SS Heavy Panzer Battalion. This would provide Hohenstaufen with 127 additional combat vehicles including 79 Panther tanks. The original plan for Hohenstaufen to attack towards the Allied beachhead was made impossible by a British offensive to take Caen. The II SS Panzer Corps was instead put into the line to support the weakened forces defending Caen, where Hohenstaufen suffered 1,891 casualties. On 10 July, the division was pulled back into reserve, to be replaced by the 277th Infantry Division. The division’s depleted Panzergrenadier regiments were eventually merged to form Panzergrenadier Regiment Hohenstaufen. The division saw much action defending against British armour during Operation Goodwood. During Operation Jupiter Hohenstaufen destroyed 58 British tanks with many of them being Churchill tanks. What we know from the entries, is that he was in Ukraine and in the battles, he earned a Panzer Badge in Bronze. It would also seem that he has made it out of there and by mid July is in France. Entries: there are scattered entries and notes taken the most interesting: Tactical Signs Journeys – naming every town/city and times he passed them. Award Entry – Panzerkampf Abzeichen – Panzer Badge in Bronze – 19.May.1944 Postal Record – Interestingly, he was recording when and from whom he was receiving post. With many entires in June 1944. Notes about places he was in 1943 till being sent to Lviv, Ukraine. Group Structure – Very detailed is the make up of the certain groups in the Company, this includes the names and dates. Basis for great research project. These entries shown in mid July 1944! Condition: Used, worn, and been there. It is in generally stable condition, with the map still inside, many have the maps missing. Final Comments: An interesting diary, with the potential for more research. Time could be invested into researching the individual soldiers. These are really rare with entries especially. It is unknown what happened to Spitzhüttl, it seems he is not on the VB Database as KIA and not on the Red Cross Missing Lists. He was most likely captured in France in the summer of 1944. Price includes World Wide Shipping!

  • WWII German Army Soldbuch - Feldwebel Hösch - Gebirgs-Jäger-Regiment 99 -

    WWII German Army Soldbuch – Feldwebel Hösch – Gebirgs-Jäger-Regiment 99 –

    Soldbuch belonging to Feldwebel, (First Sergeant), Georg Hösch, born on February 6, 1920 in the small German town of Weinstadt. Soldbuch discharged on January 31, 1944, but it’s a duplicate, “Zweitschrift”, because on page 9, on vaccines, and on page 19, there’re records from 1941/42. Unfortunately, it’s unknown in what units he served during that time, if he was injured or suffered any illness. On January 31, 1944 he was assigned to Gebirgs-Jäger-Regiment 99, mountain hunter regiment, attached to the 1 Gebirgs-Division, which at that time, was in Bosnia and Croatia, fighting against partisan troops of the Marshal Tito. During these fighting, the 1- Gerbirgs Division was accused of war crimes, of burning several villages, and killing civilians. In March 1944, the regiment was sent to Hungary as reinforcement to the German troops that were there, to prevent the Hungarian government from capitulating or negotiating peace with the Soviets. When Hungary fell to Russian troops, the GJR-99 was sent to Greece as an anti- partisan force. In July of that year, again, these soldiers committed the same excesses they had committed in Bosnia, burning villages, killing civilians and stealing cattle, in the policy of “burned land”. After the fall of Greece, the regiment was sent to Montenegro, to face again the forces of Tito. On September 13, 1944, this Feldwebel was assigned to Grenadier Regiment 893, attached to the 264 Inf Div, which at that time was fighting in Belgrade and northern Serbia, next to the 118 Jäger Division, fighting, first against the Yugoslav partisans and then against the Soviet troops. In October the 2 divisions defended the Zara – Benkovac – Biograd line, but little by little they retreated through Drnis, Knin, Biha and Agram, suffering terrible casualties due to heavy artillery and Soviet bombers. On November 15, the 264-ID, together with the 373 Infanterie Division, (Croatian), fought in the defense of the Podkonje-Ocestovo line. But the Croatian division gradually decomposed, between casualties and desertions, exposing the right flank of the 264-ID. Finally, the German division, to avoid being surrounded, had to retreat north from Belgrade. In December 1944, the division suffered significant casualties, including the destruction of IBataillon / Grenadier Regiment 893, after having been surrounded near the town of Ruma. In the middle of the month, part of the division, which included units of the 891 and 892 regiments, almost the entire artillery regiment, communications, intendancy and supplies units, and the remains of the 373 Croatian division, were surrounded on the eastern shore of the Danube river, where they were destroyed by soviet heavy artillery and tanks. Both divisions suffered 4800 casualties, among dead, wounded, missing and captured; only about 500 soldiers managed to cross the river and contact the rest of the division. In early January 1945, the remains of the 264-ID forming a kampfgruppe, established a weak defensive position on the Bihac-Medak line, where they were supported by the also decimated 392 Infanterie Division, (Croatian). At the end of January, the division was removed from the front to be reorganized, and to receive replacements of just 17 years, without combative capacity. In March 1945, (in the soldbuch the exact date is not specified), this sergeant was assigned to the Jäger Regiment 21 der Luftwaffe, attached to the 11. Feld-Division (L), field division of the Luftwaffe, which by that then fought in Croatia and Serbia, along with some units of the Ustacha, the Croatian fascist militia. At the end of the month, the Luftwaffe division, attached to the LXXXXI Armeekorps, was very decimated, without receiving replacements, and with a few pieces of artillery, defended a broad front of almost 75 km. Between the Cepin-Bizovac- Valpovo-Marijanci line. In early April, a combined attack by Tito partisans and Soviet troops, supported by heavy artillery and tanks T-34 and KV-Il, broke the entire front. The sector of the 11. Feld-Division (L), at first remained calm, but the disarray of the 5th Croatian Division, exposed the right flank of the division, and initiated the withdrawal towards Nasice, Bukovica and Cancinci. In May, finally, the division surrendered to the Soviet troops, refusing to surrender to the partisan troops of Tito. Soldbuch with numerous records: material delivery, (among them, an MP40 automatic submachine gun and a Walther P38 pistol, vaccines, etc. Pages 21/24 are missing, for which the number of awards and / or permits it’s unknown. In the photograph of the cover, in the left pocket of the jacket, there is a pin of three medals, which seem to correspond to: 1) Iron Cross 2nd class, “Eiserne Kreuz 2 Klasse  2) Russian Campaing Medal 1941/42 , “Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42, Ostmedaille” 3) Wehrmacht Long Service Medal 4th Class , “Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung , 4 “  

  • WWII German Hitler Youth - Hitlerjugend Führerausweis 1936- Leaders Identity Papers - Jungzugführer Hans Joachim Hennig - Gebiet 18/Franken Fürth-

    WWII German Hitler Youth – Hitlerjugend Führerausweis 1936- Leaders Identity Papers – Jungzugführer Hans Joachim Hennig – Gebiet 18/Franken Fürth-

    $245.00

    Original Large Version of the Hitler Youth ID Papers. This Version is for Leaders in the HJ. Original Photo in HJ Overcoat and cross strap. Issued to Jungzugführer Hans Joachim Hennig, from Fürth in Bayern, Germany HJ Area 18 – ( Franken ) in 1936.

  • WWII German Soldbuch Obergefreiter Josef Niewiera - Stalag IIID Berlin - Festungs Grenadier Regiment 863 - 348 ID (Normandy)

    WWII German Soldbuch Obergefreiter Josef Niewiera – Stalag IIID Berlin – Festungs Grenadier Regiment 863 – 348 ID (Normandy)

    $385.00

    Wehrmacht Soldbuch  Issued June 1940, to Josef Niewiera. Frontline Units Stalag IIID Berlin – (1940 – 1942) The camp was established on 14 August 1940 on the corner of Landweg and Osdorfer Straße in Berlin-Lichterfelde. The commandant and camp administration offices (Kommandantur) were later located at Belle-Alliance-Straße 106-107, in Kreuzberg. With prisoners from Belgium, United Kingdom, France, Yugoslavia, Soviet Union, Poland, United States, Italy and Czechoslovakia, the camp’s maximum capacity was 58,000 men. Prisoners were mostly allocated to sub-camps (Zweiglager) and work details (Arbeitskommando) in and around the city. Grenadier (Festungs) Regiment 863 (1943 – 1944/45) The 348th Infantry Division was created on 14 September 1942 for the OB West during World War II. The unit was formed as a ground-based division. The officer corps and the majority of the non-commissioned officers had combat experience from other theaters of war and were transferred to the division either after recovering or from a deployment at home. The troops were mostly made up of older, poorly trained soldiers. The reinforcements and supply troops were only poorly trained and reliant on fixed installations. After its formation, the division was deployed from November 1942 onwards to protect the coast in the Dieppe area and to the northeast. At the time of the Allied landings at Dieppe in August 1942, the division was still training in the hinterland and did not directly intervene in the fighting on the beachhead. After the Allied landings in Normandy on 6 June 1944, the division remained in the Dieppe area and was not transferred to Normandy until mid-August 1944. During the fighting there, the division was wiped out within a very short time and officially disbanded on September 29, 1944.   Equipment / Medals Personal D.W Pistol , War Merit Cross with Swords – 20.4.1943 It seems he was either captured or there are no records on him or his fate.

  • WWII German Kriegsmarine Soldbuch - Ob.Masch Höfeld - Destroyer Z30 - Battle of the Barents Sea 1942 - Sunk Submarine!

    WWII German Kriegsmarine Soldbuch – Ob.Masch Höfeld – Destroyer Z30 – Battle of the Barents Sea 1942 – Sunk Submarine!

    $565.00

    Soldbuch issued in 1941 to Höfeld He would serve on Destroyer Z30  Ships History: Z30 was one of fifteen Type 1936A destroyers built for the Kriegsmarine (German Navy) during World War II. Completed in 1941, the ship was transferred to Norwegian waters in early 1942 where she remained for most of the rest of her career, escorting convoys and laying minefields. She played a minor role in the indecisive Battle of the Barents Sea at the end of the year and was damaged during the raid on the island of Spitsbergen in September 1943. Z30 was crippled when she struck a mine in late 1944 and spent the rest of the war under repair. The ship was allocated to Great Britain after the war who used her to test the effects of underwater explosions. Upon their completion in 1948, Z30 was broken up for scrap. Decorated with the Destroyer Badge and EK2 for service on Z30. “On 5–8 September Z30, her sister Z29, and the destroyer Z4 Richard Beitzen laid a minefield in the Kara Strait between the island of Novaya Zemlya and Vaygach Island. Later that month, she participated in Operation Zarin, a minelaying mission off the coast of Novaya Zemlya from 24 to 28 September, together with Admiral Hipper, and her sisters Z23, Z28, and Z29. On 13–15 October, Z30, her sister Z27, Z4 Richard Beitzen and the destroyer Z16 Friedrich Eckoldt laid a minefield off the Kanin Peninsula at the mouth of the White Sea that sank the Soviet icebreaker Mikoyan. Three weeks later, the same four destroyers escorted Admiral Hipper as she attempted to intercept Allied merchant ships proceeding independently to Soviet ports in early November. They intercepted and sank the westbound Soviet oil tanker Donbass and the submarine chaser BO-78 on the 7th” Awards 3.11.1942 – Iron Cross Second Class 20.11.1942 – Destroyer Badge Seems he ended the war in a POW camp in Norway, Kaland. Then in France at Camp de Stetten June 1946. Rare to find a nice KM book like this with such a unique story. Hs Brother Kurts Death Notice was in the back of his Soldbuch. As well as his POW release papers and ticket home. Worthy of deeper research. 

  • WWII Wehrmacht Soldbuch - Oberschirrmeister Krzisinski - KIA Rhine Crossing March 1945 - US 45th “Thunderbird” Infantry Division - Gernsheim, Germany - Rare

    WWII Wehrmacht Soldbuch – Oberschirrmeister Krzisinski – KIA Rhine Crossing March 1945 – US 45th “Thunderbird” Infantry Division – Gernsheim, Germany – Rare

    $575.00

    This is a rather interesting Soldbuch, issued to Krzisinski in 1943, when serving with the Pioneer Batl 134. The unit served under the 134 Infanterie Division From June 1941, the 134th Infantry Division took part in the invasion of the Soviet Union as part of the Army Group Center. In December 1941, the division was involved in the Battle of Moscow. Together with the 45th Infantry Division, she was temporarily surrounded as part of the 2nd Army at Livny and lost a large part of her artillery. The division was destroyed in the Soviet Bobruysk Offensive, part of Operation Bagration in the summer of 1944. Krzisinski arrived at the Hospital in August of 1944, with a wound code 34, meaning an accident. He was awarded the Eastern Front Medal and the War Merit Cross with Swords. March 1945  The very nice late war ID permit for the area he was allowed to travel in was key in understanding where he was in the last days. With the Pioneer Ausbildungs Batl 837 in Gernsheim on the Rhine River. He is mentioned on a Memorial next to the graveyard, where he is buried beside. His brother was KIA, What happened on the 26th of March 1945 in Gernsheim?  On the 26th of arch 1945, the 179th Infantry Regiment “Tomahawks” of the 45th “Thunderbird” Infantry Division crossing of the Rhine River on March 26, 1945 as part of the US 7th Army attack to breech the river. The Germans fell back destroying the bridge, which till today was never repaired and is left as a memorial to the horrors of war. A memorial to the US Soldiers can be found next to it and they have a breif synopsis of the the attack across the Rhine. https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/monument_details.php?SiteID=2207&MemID=2908 When studying the KIA lists for the Town in March of 1945, it is clear that the only German Soldiers killed defending the town were all Pionner/Sappers. A handful of Germans were killed there, including a list of Civilians caught in the Artillery strikes in Gernsheim. List can be found here: http://www.denkmalprojekt.org/dkm_deutschland/gernsheim_wk1u2_hess.htm Here is the combat diary of the 179th Inf Regiment Us Army, they mention in depth the attack on Gernsheim.  https://worldwartwoveterans.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/The-story-of-a-regiment-a-history-of-the-179th-Regimental-Combat.pdf US Hero at Gernsheim on the Attack !  http://veterantributes.org/TributeDetail.php?recordID=1571  

  • WWII German Wehrmacht Wehrpass- Gefreiter Füchtenkort - 3,7 PaK Gunner - GD Volunteer - Died on Flight back to Germany Wounded! !

    WWII German Wehrmacht Wehrpass- Gefreiter Füchtenkort – 3,7 PaK Gunner – GD Volunteer – Died on Flight back to Germany Wounded! !

    $155.00

    Interesting KIA Wehrpass to Heinz Füchtenkort. He initially volunteered for service with the Infanterie Regiment Grossdeutschland GD Although he served on the front in a Anti-Tank Company with Grenadier Regiment 110. Trained on the PaK 3,7 as the gunner. He was killed due to a grenade splinter in his left side of his back, according to his record card in the German Archive he died on board the plane to a Hospital.

  • Wehrpass

    WWII German Army Wehrmacht Soldbuch / Wehrpass – Obgef Rullkötter – Twin Brother KIA – Infanterie Regiment 412 – Wounded near Leningrad – Schneeraum 225

    $275.00

    Soldbuch & Wehrpass for Friederich Rullkötter, born in 1908 in the area of Minden. He served with: Infanterie Regiment 412 (277 Inf Division) Landesschützen-Bataillon 490 Schneeräum Kompanie 225 Wounded with the Infanterie Regiment 412 near Leningrad in April 1942. According to his Wehrpass (Page 32) He served on the French Channel Coast and the Atlantic Coast. For three months he was in Belgium as the Occupying Force. Arriving on the Russian front in October of 1941. After his wounding he was on the German Holland Border from August 1942 till June 1943. Then back to the Eastern front to the Kuban Bridgehead, and defensive battles in Ukraine. Awarded the Wounds Badge in Black, Eastern Front Medal, War Merit Cross Second Class (Feb 1945) Under General Wöhler. He made it to the end of the war and was released from service on the 8th of May 1945. Interestingly, he was a twin; his brother Wilhelm was killed on the Eastern Front in April 1942, a few weeks after Frederich was wounded in the same area!

  • WWII German D.A.F Workers ID Book

    WWII German D.A.F Workers ID Book

    $45.00