The Story of My GreatGrandfather

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?

I was going to say that; even in the link provided by Nigo does it say that in 1941/1942 the division was reinforced from the general pool recruits to the Waffen SS.

I am sorry to burst your bubble tatatala, but SS were NOT only recruited from concentrationcamps. How the heck would you then have filled all these einsatzgruppen, battlegroups and other positions with men.
SS were recruited mostly upon volunteering, since it was an honour to be SS during that time. To get into the SS you had to be a certain hight, have at least 100 years back no jews in your family and some other ridiculous stuff.
For example, Josef Mengele, the Butcher of Auschwitz, joined the SS, went through his training and then spent a year as a doctor in an SS regiment in the southern eastern front BEFORE he came to Auschwitz. Also what happened in concentration camps was very shush, thus only a minority group knew what happened inside, and even most of the SS werent allowed to get far into the camps.



Also, at some point i should look into my great grandfather. I am from a Noble Family, the von Winterfelds, which at that point for hundreds of years had been educated in militaryschools. My family just kind of keeps that quiet. I should start digging I knew he was something high in the hierarchy of the german naval units.

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?

Like I said "for all intents and purposes". It was not over officially, but it sure was lost.

Foreign SS divisions had different rules than the German ones for recruitment. Until 1943, all recruits into the SS were volunteers. Yup, your grandfather had to volunteer to be in the SS, given your time line. In 1943, conscription was allowed, but it only considered Herrenvolk to be conscripted.

The SS divisions that served in Norway were formed from SS-Totenkopfverbände. Of which the 6th were part. It was not a requirement to be from a death or concentration camp. It's just where the formations were recruited from. It's history, and in black and white for anybody to see (including you, if you so wish).

I am sorry to burst your bubble tatatala, but SS were NOT only recruited from concentrationcamps. How the heck would you then have filled all these einsatzgruppen, battlegroups and other positions with men.
SS were recruited mostly upon volunteering, since it was an honour to be SS during that time. To get into the SS you had to be a certain hight, have at least 100 years back no jews in your family and some other ridiculous stuff.
For example, Josef Mengele, the Butcher of Auschwitz, joined the SS, went through his training and then spent a year as a doctor in an SS regiment in the southern eastern front BEFORE he came to Auschwitz. Also what happened in concentration camps was very shush, thus only a minority group knew what happened inside, and even most of the SS werent allowed to get far into the camps.



Also, at some point i should look into my great grandfather. I am from a Noble Family, the von Winterfelds, which at that point for hundreds of years had been educated in militaryschools. My family just kind of keeps that quiet. I should start digging I knew he was something high in the hierarchy of the german naval units.

Do it Winterfeld. Id love to read the military history of your family line, it would be cool to see a possible connection to the Prussian Military days and maybe communication with Von Clausewitz

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.

My great uncle got a tattoo as well. He used to wear long sleeved shirts to cover the numbers. When I was a kid I used to sneak looks to see when they appeared when he extended his arm. I was really young but I think the last # was a 6.

Like I said "for all intents and purposes". It was not over officially, but it sure was lost.

Foreign SS divisions had different rules than the German ones for recruitment. Until 1943, all recruits into the SS were volunteers. Yup, your grandfather had to volunteer to be in the SS, given your time line. In 1943, conscription was allowed, but it only considered Herrenvolk to be conscripted.

The SS divisions that served in Norway were formed from SS-Totenkopfverbände. Of which the 6th were part. It was not a requirement to be from a death or concentration camp. It's just where the formations were recruited from. It's history, and in black and white for anybody to see (including you, if you so wish).

Please Read the History of The 6th. It had Waffen SS (Artillery, Anti-Tank, Mt. Infantry) added to it to form a DIVISION. Waffen SS Men were volunteers that had to meet requirements and came (usually) directly from the Heer pool of recruits. Waffen SS were a strictly military branch and most of the time did not have the same structure and leaders that SS units did.

I refuse to respond to any more of your post that lack specific historical references and quotes that back up your incoherent rants.

tatatala - invising your last post with the link which takes this thread off course. You have already made your point: there is nothing to stop you inserting the link in a previous post of yours.

Thanks

tatatala - invising your last post with the link which takes this thread off course. You have already made your point: there is nothing to stop you inserting the link in a previous post of yours.

Thanks

Fair enough MB, but I'm not sure it was invise worthy, but I bow to your discretion. I was simply pointing out that recruitment into the SS-Totenkopfverbände was different than recruitment into the SS in general. People were misunderstanding what I was saying, thinking I meant the SS in general.

What can I do? I was just trying to educate.

This is a reminiscence about a poster's Greatgrandfather

I am reasonably certain that many who post on here have a very good idea about certain subjects but I do not want this thread about a personal reminiscence of one family member, to broaden out beyond that.

Thanks

This post inspired me to do more research. I have ordered a copy of my great uncles testimony to the Shoah society. I have also found documents online about his history (a lot about Resistance members and holocaust survivors is now documented) even though when I was a kid he did not speak much about it. Many survivors opened up later because, though painful to recount/relive, they feared the stories being lost and the history being erased.

Upon capture he spent several weeks in the Gestpo HQ in Lyons where he was tortured before being deported to Auchwitz from Drancy. He was recued by Americans in Gusen, Austria at the end of the war.

Gusen (Guzen) had many brewery caves that were converted to production facilities and forced labor was used there. Conditions apparently were pretty appalling.

“As a resident of many camps, I can say that Guzen was the worst. This is not to say that the conditions at the other camps were not dreadful. compared to Guzen, however, one might almost say that those camps were paradises. The proof of this might be that Guzen was one of the least known camps. This was not because it was smaller than the others – it might even have been the largest. It was unknown simply because very few of the tens of thousand of prisoners sent there remained alive to tell the story of its horrors.”

(Rabbi RAV YECHEZKEL HARFENES (when back to Auschwitz) in ” BeKaf HaKela” (Slingshot of Hell),
Targum Press, Southfield Michigan, 1988

This is a reminiscence about a poster's Greatgrandfather

I am reasonably certain that many who post on here have a very good idea about certain subjects but I do not want this thread about a personal reminiscence of one family member, to broaden out beyond that.

Thanks

Got it

There are several 'offshoots' now which could be developed in new threads. But this is about the OP's GreatGrandfather. Please let us to stick to that?

We have have been asked to moderate this sub-forum strictly, since there are some posters who may choose to use it as a political platform, rather than discuss issues of an historical nature. Nor do I want posters who post personal reminiscences, to have their threads spread out beyond that.

For that reason, I am have excised some posts which may be valid in this forum, but not in this thread. I have allowed in some stuff, without which this thread will shrink right down, but kindly try to exercise a self-discipline in this sub-section of the Forum.

@OP : this is your thread - if you want other posts invised, which you think I have missed, please report them.

There are several 'offshoots' now which could be developed in new threads. But this is about the OP's GreatGrandfather. Please let us to stick to that?

We have have been asked to moderate this sub-forum strictly, since there are some posters who may choose to use it as a political platform, rather than discuss issues of an historical nature. Nor do I want posters who post personal reminiscences, to have their threads spread out beyond that.

For that reason, I am have excised some posts which may be valid in this forum, but not in this thread. I have allowed in some stuff, without which this thread will shrink right down, but kindly to try to exercise a self-discipline in this sub-section of the Forum.

@OP : this is your thread - if you want other posts invised, which you think I have missed, please report them.

In fairness to the concept of historical discussion - The more strictly a thread sticks to its origins the less likely it is that discussions stemming from the post can propagate. This also increases the likelihood of any given post languishing in the dustbin after a bit of time has passed and it gets buried under a page or two of newer and unrelated posts.

There are several 'offshoots' now which could be developed in new threads. But this is about the OP's GreatGrandfather. Please let us to stick to that?

We have have been asked to moderate this sub-forum strictly, since there are some posters who may choose to use it as a political platform, rather than discuss issues of an historical nature. Nor do I want posters who post personal reminiscences, to have their threads spread out beyond that.

For that reason, I am have excised some posts which may be valid in this forum, but not in this thread. I have allowed in some stuff, without which this thread will shrink right down, but kindly to try to exercise a self-discipline in this sub-section of the Forum.

@OP : this is your thread - if you want other posts invised, which you think I have missed, please report them.

Thank you MB. I wish not to have a debate on this forum on "GOOD VS. EVIL" nor politics. I like to hear stories about the past and wish this thread to spread a love for learning about each others stories for the greatest-generation is dieing out and its up to us to continue on the stories so as to not have them lost in time.

In fairness to the concept of historical discussion - The more strictly a thread sticks to its origins the less likely it is that discussions stemming from the post can propagate. This also increases the likelihood of any given post languishing in the dustbin after a bit of time has passed and it gets buried under a page or two of newer and unrelated posts.

And if everybody posted to your own high standard, AvNY, you and I would not even have this conversation.

I am prepared to let a thread 'wander', but not on a personal reminiscence.

I have no objection to others starting reasonable threads, but in this instance, honestly, if strictly moderated, I would not anticipate the thread should run beyond 2 pages, maybe 3.