WWII German Army Soldbuch Leutnant Laube – Berlin 1945 – Iron Cross First Class
$375.00
Description
A very interesting Berliner Soldbuch, to Otto Laube born in 1909 in Berlin. He worked as an Architect and Lived with his wife Gertrud in Berlin, Wicherstrasse 4.
This is his second edition Soldbuch, issued on the 27th of January 1945 in Berlin Spandau, with Grenadier Ersatz und Ausbildungs Btl 203.
Interestingly, he had prior service, and was promoted to Lieutenant on June of 1943.
He was awarded the following awards with the following units:
War Merit Cross with Swords – 30.1.1943 – Res Grenadier Btl 457
Iron Cross Second Class – 7.3.1943 – Feldpost Nr 33711
Iron Cross First Class – 28.3.1944 – Feld Ausb Rgt 716 – Ukraine
Wounds Badge Black – 1.5.1944 – “” – Romania
He was on his enlistment given a holiday of more than two weeks, although for some reason this was not granted! He was deployed in January instead
Research shows that the Grenadier Ersatz und Ausbildungs Btl 203 was attached to the Division Nr 463, then Division Raegener, on the Oder Front. One entry shows he was able to purchase a Sauer Pistol in the 7,65 Caliber. This was acquired from the Wach Regiment Grossdeutschland in Berlin Rathenow!
Interestingly, there is an entry on page 8, that states he was issued some items in Berlin Spandau with his unit on the 20th of March 1945.
https://www.balsi.de/Weltkrieg/Einheiten/Heer/Divisionen/Divisionen-Nr/463-Div-Startseite.htm
Three days later the last order for the mobilization of the reserve units was called, the Leuthen Ostgoten Bewegung. His unit was deployed south of Berlin in Beeskow.
It is unknown what happened to Otto Laube, there is no record of him on the missing lists or on the German war dead lists. Many pages from this unit fell/went missing in the Berlin area in April 1945.
It seems that some of the men of this unit made it to the Elbe (Lenzen) to surrender to the US Army ( 84th Division) and they were well recorded.
Kriegsende im Wendland: Brückenkopf Lenzen. Karl-Heinz Schwerdtfeger · 2010
“The daily report of the 84th US Infantry Division dated April 24, 1945 states:
The main burden of this counter-attack was borne by a hastily formed Kampfgruppe Boris (Briest). This motley crew of cripples, old men, recent inductees, mentally deficients and morons was formed in Perleberg around the remaining remnants of the Grenadier Replacement and Training Battalion 203 from Berlin-Spandau. … The chaos ended when both companies attempted to surrender, as their losses were very high.
Note: The Lieutenant Colonel from the staff of the 84th US Infantry Division who wrote these lines has probably never experienced a ‘fire time on target’ (armed personnel carrier barrage) when he describes wounded prisoners as cripples. When he describes the prisoners who escaped the armed personnel carrier and mortar fire, who were deafened by the explosions, who came towards the Americans with stony faces as idiots. It takes a great deal of arrogance to write something like that!
Was Laube one of these men that made it to the US lines? We will never know…
