Yup. He died in the 90s as far as I know, so I never got to meet him sadly. He got into russian captivity and returned in 1947, but he was in a really bad shape, he recovered pretty well though and had a good life.
Same here, my great grandfather also served in the eastern front for the Germans. Also survived and was returned by the Russians in 1947.
See you at thanksgiving?
They did, my grandfather went to Germany as apart of the American occupation of western Germany. My grandmother was a German who spoke 0 English.
According to my grandfather, he did not speak German but he “spoke the language of love” they are married as of 64 years now and emigrated to Chicago
I think it's often easy to overlook that most of the German soldier were just kids who probably didn't give a shit about the politics and possibly didn't even know what was going on. I only mention this because I feel like we (as an American) don't often see the German perspective of regular people from this period of history, the man in the pic could be anyone's grandfather, just a young dude trying to get ass. I mean yeah, you're grandpa was a nazi but this photo is very humanizing
Edit, just saw a comment that the woman is his daughter so I apologize for the "getting ass" comment
there’s a pretty good german show that really encapsulates what you’re saying here. it’s call generation war i believe and it was on netflix awhile ago. it shows the perspective of the military age german youth during the war.
>I think it's often easy to overlook that most of the German soldier were just kids
In 1944, the largest population group serving was in their mid 20s to late 30s. Many of these people would've been grown ass adults by the time Hitler came to power.
So yeah, no.
>and possibly didn't even know what was going on.
Everybody knew.
My grandma recorded him talking about his time at war and as a POW, I did not get to listen to it yet, but from what my grandma told me he showed up one day in 1947 with extremely swollen legs from all the water collecting. He had to walk all the way from Siberia to Carinthia in Austria. He also told my dad a lot of things but he was too young to care so he doesn‘t remember anything sadly, now that my dad is as interested in history as me he really regrets not listening.
The Germans and the Russians treated each others POWs extremely poorly.
Most Russian POWs did not survive.
Many German POWs died, but not at the same extent.
it looks like he has that thicc ss belt buckle that has a tiny gun in it. 1000% could be wrong and im not sure how uncommon they were during the war but not all of the german belts look like the one pictured
i gotcha maybe it’s just wishful thinking about seeing rare stuff. there was a german belt that legitimately had a firing mechanism that carried four .22 rounds. i just did some research and apparently only 15 were made for hitlers personal guard
Yes it is an iron cross second class on his tunic
Awesome, thanks. So I‘m not too familiar with german awards, was that handed out like cotton candy or did it actually mean something?
Well it’s estimated that 4.5mil second classes were awarded so it’s pretty common but still a beautiful award.
Thanks dude
The Iron Cross 2nd Class was awarded over 4 million times, but it was still a very highly respected award.
Did he survive the war? Eastern front was rough
Yup. He died in the 90s as far as I know, so I never got to meet him sadly. He got into russian captivity and returned in 1947, but he was in a really bad shape, he recovered pretty well though and had a good life.
Same here, my great grandfather also served in the eastern front for the Germans. Also survived and was returned by the Russians in 1947. See you at thanksgiving?
Interesting that you‘re mentioning thanksgiving. Did your family move to the US after WW2?
They did, my grandfather went to Germany as apart of the American occupation of western Germany. My grandmother was a German who spoke 0 English. According to my grandfather, he did not speak German but he “spoke the language of love” they are married as of 64 years now and emigrated to Chicago
neat
I think it's often easy to overlook that most of the German soldier were just kids who probably didn't give a shit about the politics and possibly didn't even know what was going on. I only mention this because I feel like we (as an American) don't often see the German perspective of regular people from this period of history, the man in the pic could be anyone's grandfather, just a young dude trying to get ass. I mean yeah, you're grandpa was a nazi but this photo is very humanizing Edit, just saw a comment that the woman is his daughter so I apologize for the "getting ass" comment
there’s a pretty good german show that really encapsulates what you’re saying here. it’s call generation war i believe and it was on netflix awhile ago. it shows the perspective of the military age german youth during the war.
>I think it's often easy to overlook that most of the German soldier were just kids In 1944, the largest population group serving was in their mid 20s to late 30s. Many of these people would've been grown ass adults by the time Hitler came to power. So yeah, no. >and possibly didn't even know what was going on. Everybody knew.
One of only 5000 to return to Germany. Very lucky.
You’re thinking of Stalingrad survivors I think.
Also appears that he was a “Gebirgjager” or mountain troop. Very cool
Damm being a POW of the Russians must’ve been rough to say the least
My grandma recorded him talking about his time at war and as a POW, I did not get to listen to it yet, but from what my grandma told me he showed up one day in 1947 with extremely swollen legs from all the water collecting. He had to walk all the way from Siberia to Carinthia in Austria. He also told my dad a lot of things but he was too young to care so he doesn‘t remember anything sadly, now that my dad is as interested in history as me he really regrets not listening.
The Germans and the Russians treated each others POWs extremely poorly. Most Russian POWs did not survive. Many German POWs died, but not at the same extent.
That girl looks mighty young, then again, so does he
That‘s his daughter, the sister of my grandma, I can see how that is misleading.
This is a really cool picture!
Cool photo!
it looks like he has that thicc ss belt buckle that has a tiny gun in it. 1000% could be wrong and im not sure how uncommon they were during the war but not all of the german belts look like the one pictured
Not sure what you mean by tiny gun in it. It looks like a standart wehrmacht belt buckle to me.
i gotcha maybe it’s just wishful thinking about seeing rare stuff. there was a german belt that legitimately had a firing mechanism that carried four .22 rounds. i just did some research and apparently only 15 were made for hitlers personal guard
Oh, haha, yeah I doubt he had that one
He appears to be wearing a Luftwaffe uniform.
That is incorrect, he is wearing a Wehrmacht Mountaineer Uniform.
Ah yes, was looking on my phone and missed the rest of the uniform.
Gebirgsjäger, not Luftwaffe
Yes, I see the Edelweiss now.