Original Waffen SS Soldbuch – SS Schützen Heine – SS Polizei Grenadier Regiment 1 – Romanian Volksdeutsche – Riga 1944 – Rare!
Description
Here we have a very interesting SS Soldbuch to Karl Heine, born in 19.7.1925 in Grabatz, Banat Romania.
SS Soldbuch Issued with:
SS Rekruten Depot der Waffen SS Debicа
Below an interesting account from a young soldier in July 1943 in the same place mentioning the many Romanian Recruits.
His first frontline unit till late 1943 was:
SS Polizei Infanterie Regiment 2 – (Feldpost Number: 32194)
The unit was sent towards the Leningrad Front.
SS Polizei Grenadier Regiment 1
On January 29, 1943, the remnants of the regiment were withdrawn from the front and transferred to the LIV Army Corps. The division assembled in Sablino. Nominally, the regiment was renamed SS Police Grenadier Regiment 1 on February 1, 1943, but in practice the division’s three SS Police Grenadier regiments were formed into three weak battalions. The division received 1,200 replacements from home on February 9, 1943. At the end of February 1943, the fighting died down. On March 18, 1943, the Red Army launched another offensive, but called it off after two weeks. A comprehensive reorganization of the division and regiment began at the Heidelager training area, followed by its transformation into SS Police Panzergrenadier Regiment 1 on June 6, 1943. The III. Battalion of the SS Police Grenadier Regiment 3 was incorporated as the new III Battalion. On October 22, 1943, the regiment was finally renamed SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 7.
It seems that in early 1944, he was sick or wounded, arriving in Riga, Main Hospital Nr 1. (building still standing today!)
Interestingly, the unit was not filled out with the new designation although the entries in the Soldbuch go up to April 1944.
It seems that he was indeed active again in April of 1944, as he was given pay. Although the unit was involved in killing around 300 Partisans in Greece only a few months later.
Also he was issued a full winter compliment! An interesting entry into the equipment page not often seen.
Two Security Stamps with SS Officers Signatures worthy of further research.
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An Account from July 1943 from another Romanian Volksdeutsche at Debica:
In mid-July 1943, Friedrich Bolaritsch from Orschowa/Romanian Banat arrived with approximately 1,000 ethnic Germans after a one-day rail transport to Vienna, where a medical commission examined the volunteers. After two days, all were transferred to the Waffen SS and transported the very next day by rail for three days to Debica. Friedrich Bolaritsch:
“At dawn, we marched from Debica train station toward the Heidelager military training area.” We had already loaded our suitcases onto a truck. The paved road led through endless coniferous forest, and heavily armed guards could be seen almost every 500 meters.
After walking about three kilometers, we saw the first residential barracks and suddenly found ourselves in the middle of a barrack town. After another two kilometers, we finally reached our destination: a block of empty barracks. Each block, i.e., a certain number of barracks, had a kitchen with a dining room, a bathhouse, a barrack with an infirmary, a canteen, a barrack for cultural events, and a barrack where the brothel (!!!) was located!
Several Unterscharfuhrer (Second Sergeants) immediately appeared and greeted us with great cheers. We were assigned to the available quarters, so that every 10 men shared a room with five double beds. We immediately headed to the bathroom, and even before showering, we were carefully examined by some medics for lice or pubic lice; then our haircuts followed. By now it was already midday, and we were almost collapsing from hunger and exhaustion. Our first lunch here in the “Heidela-ger” consisted of meat goulash with boiled potatoes and pudding for dessert….
Immediately after the meal, we had to report to the clothing and equipment reception, which took place in a barracks designated for this purpose. Each of us received: a set A (cloth uniform), a drill suit, a coat, a pair of shoes, three pairs of socks, three pairs of foot wraps, two shirts, three undershirts, a cap/cap; a knapsack (backpack), a haversack, mess kit, eating utensils, a butter dish, a belt, a field flask, a blanket, bed linen, a toiletry bag, a clothes brush, a shoe brush, three handkerchiefs, two uniform collars, a sewing kit with thread, a Shoulder straps, a steel helmet, and a tarpaulin.
We carried our things to our barracks, where each was assigned a bed and a locker. Under instruction and constant reminders to hurry, we had to make our beds, organize the lockers, and get dressed. In an incredibly short time, everything was ready, and we suddenly found ourselves as soldiers. We had to pack our civilian clothes in suitcases and label them with our home addresses. They were picked up in the evening… Some tried to lock their lockers with various locks, but shortly afterwards, Uscha appeared, raging and screaming about it. So they were quickly removed!
Dawn fell… On that first evening, we were given potato salad with herring, bread, margarine, jam, and cigarettes… At 10 p.m., it was tattoo…
Our group consisted of 10 men, all ethnic Germans from Romania and the Batschka (Serbian Banat). Only one was Romanian, his last name was Petru, and he couldn’t speak a word. German…
Our day began at 5 a.m. with a wake-up call. The UvD arrived and noticed that our room wasn’t very tidy. We were immediately dragged out of bed and made to report for punishment drills. For the eight or nine days we spent in the “Heidelager,” we endured this every day, with one or two punishment drills per night! After the wake-up call, we had 15 minutes of morning exercise, washed, made the beds, fetched coffee, and cleaned the room.
A quarter to seven was “company assembly,” followed by five hours of duty. This consisted exclusively of “geography”…drilling until we dropped…. Every day, we ran about 15 kilometers, threw ourselves to the ground countless times at the command “Full cover,” and jumped at the command “Jump to march!” Jumped up again. Crawling was particularly difficult…. The ground here was sandy everywhere, barely covered in grass, and around us was a coniferous forest that seemed to have no end. Moving on this ground was particularly strenuous… The drill lasted until 12:00, interrupted by two cigarette breaks of 10 minutes each. From 12:00 to 2:00 p.m. we had lunch and a lunch break, and from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. we had theoretical instruction. We learned our duties as soldiers, the composition of the troops, ranks, and branches of service. We didn’t receive any weapons training in the “Heidelager.” This difficult time was still ahead of us.
Then we continued drilling until 6:00 p.m. In the evening we had to get our food. Our provisions were good and sufficient.
We received our first pay. That was 16 Reichsmarks for 15 days for me and everyone else. At the same time, we also received “sutler goods” such as cigarettes, tobacco, razor blades, toilet soap, stationery, and a bottle of Kornschnaps for each six men. That evening, the atmosphere in our living room was fantastic. One of our comrades even got a 7-liter can of beer, which was available for 4 Reichsmarks in the soldiers’ club. Shortly after midnight, there was a general alarm, and within five minutes we were all out of bed and dressed. This night drill lasted at least two hours, and afterward, we were all so tired…
On Sunday, we had the day off from 9:30 a.m., and everyone could do whatever they wanted. Some of us went to church, as there were several churches, both Catholic and Protestant; others wanted to visit the brothel.
I took a longer walk, but after an hour’s march, I was still in the middle of the barracks, because, as we heard, there were about 40,000 to 50,000 men stationed here!…
…We’d been here for a week now, and in this short time, we’d learned as much as we would in a month in peacetime. Every day, we practiced at least once in a very short time, preparing our marching packs—that is, packing all our clothes in our knapsacks…. One afternoon, the entire company of us had to line up on the large roll call square. The other companies joined us, so that in no time at all, the entire battalion was lined up. As is customary in the military, we were told in a few words that we would shortly be marching by rail to our field unit…!
Final Comments
Very interesting SS Soldbuch to a Volksdeutsche, they do not come up so often. There was never a photo entered into the Soldbuch. Worthy of deeper research. Rare item!
