The Story of My GreatGrandfather

After being touched by both Ami's and Fichten's Stories, plus forced by Fichten, the following is the story of my GreatGrandfather.

My GreatGrandfather came from a small village/town in western Germany. When war broke out he immediately signed up to see the "glory" of war. He was a stand out recruit. He fit right in and loved the army from the get go. During his training an officer with a dark uniform and the death head insignia showed up and asked for men with experience in skiing and mt. climbing. My greatgrandfather was one of about 13 that were adapt skiers having spent his school years with friends in the alps having fun. At the time my greatgrandfather was a naive 19 year old who had only heard faint stories of the SS and what they where. Upon the ending of training he was sent to another camp where he did more extensive training. He never could really remember anything from these months, nor did he remember much of his journey to join the 6th SS Mountain Division. At the time this division was used in the Finnish campaigns to hold off the soviets. He spent most of 1943 and 1944 in combat there. He was never able to tell me anything in relation to specifics for it brought back too much pain. He was assigned as a mortar man while all his friends spent their time in rifle companies. The survival rate of a man on the rifle line were very small. In any case during 1945; while battling the Americans he was taken prisoner with his mortar team when they ran out of ammo defending against an american counterattack.

In a POW camp my greatgrandfather heard that all the men whom had been in SS units were being shipped off to another location. My grandfather, by this time, had heard the stories of SS atrocities and the camps and knew that no matter what he would be prosecuted for nothing he played a hand in. Being as it may my grandfather found a young guard that helped him trade his uniform for a Wehrmacht uniform after my grandfather gave him "war souvenirs"; including his prized pipe as well as his silver wounded badge.

My GreatGrandfather passed away 3 years ago. The thing is he was not blood to me but rather related by marriage. His second wife was the mother of my grandpa. Yet, My GreatGrandfather never had any other blood family. Thus, he spent his later years trying to find the families and the friends he had during that time. Most of whom were killed when in the spring of 1945 the division was essentially wiped out fighting to the last man. While I would like to release his name and pictures I do have its not possible due to the fact that just being apart of an SS division still makes him a war criminal though he only ever fought in woods/swamps with no other humans other than his brothers and the Russians.

The fact that hits home the most to me is the fact that he served with Germany where as my blood GreatGrandfather served in the US Army and yet both were the greatest of friends when we all where together as one big family.

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NOTE: NO TOLERANCE OF HATE WILL BE TAKEN, READ THIS WITH THE MINDSET OF A HISTORIAN AND BE OBJECTIVE.

Great history and about the 6th division:


6th SS Mountain Division Nord

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6th_SS_Mountain_Division_Nord

Very impressive story! You grandfather was a brave and smart man

Thanks for that link nigo. I have done alot of research on the 6th since his passing and the part that gets me is that when the Finns Surrendered they turned their guns on the 6th instantly. That must have been terrible to have friends you served with for months/years just start trying to kill you.

No hate, but "During his training an officer with a dark uniform and the death head insignia showed up" means the guy was recruiting for the SS-Totenkopfverbände.

The recruits in SS-Totenkopfverbände were recruited from the prison guards of concentration and death camps. Just saying.

If he was technically recruited to be a part of the SS, then wouldnt he have had the SS tattoo applied to his skin? Thats harder to get rid of than a uniform...

Was wondering if his captors would see that in a thorough inspection... Not to doubt since he lived.

Thanks for that link nigo. I have done alot of research on the 6th since his passing and the part that gets me is that when the Finns Surrendered they turned their guns on the 6th instantly. That must have been terrible to have friends you served with for months/years just start trying to kill you.

The Lapland war:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapland_War

No hate, but "During his training an officer with a dark uniform and the death head insignia showed up" means the guy was recruiting for the SS-Totenkopfverbände.

The recruits in SS-Totenkopfverbände were recruited from the prison guards of concentration and death camps. Just saying.

The man could have been yes, but the formation of SS-Nord began as a several Toteknkopfverbande units together in Norway, thus the officers would still have had the unit designation.

If he was technically recruited to be a part of the SS, then wouldnt he have had the SS tattoo applied to his skin? Thats harder to get rid of than a uniform...

He received no tattoo. He was part of Mt. Infantry Regiment that served under a SS Banner. I have no direct answer to your question other than speculation as to him being in a Mt. Infantry Regiment rather a direct SS Recruit.

No hate, but "During his training an officer with a dark uniform and the death head insignia showed up" means the guy was recruiting for the SS-Totenkopfverbände.

The recruits in SS-Totenkopfverbände were recruited from the prison guards of concentration and death camps. Just saying.

The man could have been yes, but the formation of SS-Nord began as a several Toteknkopfverbande units together in Norway, thus the officers would still have had the unit designation.

Also, many people don't realise that people were conscripted into the SS and as a result wore the badges and uniforms that came with it. Also, when the Totenkopfverbände was created it was created from members of the Concentration Camp service and support units transferred from the army.

In fact, DasDoomTurtles Great-Grandfathers regiment was reinforced by conscripts.

DasDoomTurtles story raises a valid point; not everyone in the SS was a war criminal. Some were, and SS units committed some of the worst acts during a bloody period of time, but many were just normal people who were caught up by the lifestyle, politics and propaganda surrounding the SS. Some of those people did terrible, terrible things but crucially others did not.

Your alpine connection reminds me of the story of my great-uncle, in a sort-of way (since my uncle was a Russian Jew who grew up in France).

The Russian side of my family had settled in France after WWI. There were 10 children, my grandfather wasn't even the oldest but he was 16 years older than my great uncle. They all knew how to ski and sometimes vacationed in the French alps. The family survived the war by hiding "out in the open". They all had blue or grey eyes, a Russianish/Ukrainianish surname, and though their names in the family were Jewish names their official names were Russian.

My Great uncle, being in his 20's and unmarried, joined the Resistance. He used his knowledge of the Alps to smuggle Jewish children into Switzerland. When winter would come they had to switch their operations to the south and smuggle them into Spain. There he fell in love with (and later married) a Basque woman he worked with.

He was caught by the Germans and sent to Auschwitz where he was assigned to forced labor. He escaped twice. He was caught both times and sent back to forced labor. Finally he was freed by the Russians and returned to his family in Paris.

The only member of this family to escape France was my Grandfather. My grandmother's brother in the US was able to prove that he could "sponsor" his relatives here (you could not come in unless you had a sponsor who could take care of you) by buying a whole building in the Bronx. My father, then 4, his sister, 9, and the family walked from Paris to Marseille and managed to get on the last boat out of Vichy France for New York. My grandfather tried for years to get visas for his family to follow him and in '43 finally succeeded, and then learned from US personnel in Spain that his family had disappeared and no one knew of their location. Stories and reports of atrocities were already known and my grandfather assumed his whole family was wiped out. He did not find out any survived until August '45. My father's family was a very very lucky one. Both sides survived nearly unharmed.

Gebirgsjäger Regiment just means he was part of the light infantry mountaineer troops. He was still SS, and recruited from a concentration/death camp. This is undeniable.

The Wehrmacht of course served in Finland, but once the Finnish war was over for all intents and purposes, Hitler removed the Wehrmact and sent the SS to guard the new border with the Soviets.

Not all SS were recruited from death camps. That logic is flawed. Secondly your second part of the quote illustrates your lack of knowledge for the Finnish War did not end officially until 1947. If your referencing the Norwegian campaign please explain how Norwegian Ski Troops served in SS division yet never served in death camps?

Your alpine connection reminds me of the story of my great-uncle, in a sort-of way (since my uncle was a Russian Jew who grew up in France).

The Russian side of my family had settled in France after WWI. There were 10 children, my grandfather wasn't even the oldest but he was 16 years older than my great uncle. They all knew how to ski and sometimes vacationed in the French alps. The family survived the war by hiding "out in the open". They all had blue or grey eyes, a Russianish/Ukrainianish surname, and though their names in the family were Jewish names their official names were Russian.

My Great uncle, being in his 20's and unmarried, joined the Resistance. He used his knowledge of the Alps to smuggle Jewish children into Switzerland. When winter would come they had to switch their operations to the south and smuggle them into Spain. There he fell in love with (and later married) a Basque woman he worked with.

He was caught by the Germans and sent to Auschwitz where he was assigned to forced labor. He escaped twice. He was caught both times and sent back to forced labor. Finally he was freed by the Russians and returned to his family in Paris.

The only member of this family to escape France was my Grandfather. My grandmother's brother in the US was able to prove that he could "sponsor" his relatives here (you could not come in unless you had a sponsor who could take care of you) by buying a whole building in the Bronx. My father, then 4, his sister, 9, and the family walked from Paris to Marseille and managed to get on the last boat out of Vichy France for New York. My grandfather tried for years to get visas for his family to follow him and in '43 finally succeeded, and then learned from US personnel in Spain that his family had disappeared and no one knew of their location. Stories and reports of atrocities were already known and my grandfather assumed his whole family was wiped out. He did not find out any survived until August '45. My father's family was a very very lucky one. Both sides survived nearly unharmed.

I must say that story is incredible and I am glad your family survived the way they did. Its crazy how much the Alpine connection brings polar opposite experiences together with a common connection. Thank you for your story.