Sturmbannführer with EL beaten to death by British soldiers?

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grassi
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Sturmbannführer with EL beaten to death by British soldiers?

#1

Post by grassi » 06 Jun 2006, 23:25

Hi

I am looking for the name of a SS-Sturmbannführer with Eichenlaub who was killed by British soldiers after capitulation.
This incident must have taken place roughly on May 15th (?) 1945 (or between May 12th 1945 and July 6th 1945) in the harbour of Heiligenhafen near Kiel.

The whole situation is covered in detail by Sepp Prentl in his autobiography (Prentl, Sepp, Flak-Kampfgruppe Prentl. Ein Erlebnisbericht, (München) 1978, p. 212-213.):

This SS-Sturmbannführer feared execution or something like that by the British. He was on board of a ferry on the Kieler Förde. This ferry was entering the harbour of Heiligenhafen and two British soldiers boarded the ship. A whole company of British soldiers waited at the shore (ca. 50m away from the ferry).
The SS-Sturmbannführer suddenly killed those two soldiers. After that he disembarked the ferry and was subsequently beaten to death by the waiting British soldiers who were eyewittnesses of the incident.

I did an internet search but was not able to find enough information to identify the SS-Sturmbannführer. This incident maybe classified as "suicide" or something like that. Or is Prentl simply wrong?

Any help appreciated.

Grassi

Peter
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#2

Post by Peter » 07 Jun 2006, 19:32

My memory may be failing me badly but I have never heard of this incident before.


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Jeremy Dixon
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#3

Post by Jeremy Dixon » 08 Jun 2006, 20:42

Sounds like a work of fiction to me!

I have just looked through my list of SS Oakleaves winners and only one was killed in May 1945 and that was SS-Brigadefuhrer Joachim Ziegler and that was in Berlin.

I wonder why the author doesn't know the officers name which makes me think it has been made up.

Never heard of this story either.
Or is Prentl simply wrong?
YES

grassi
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trbooks

#4

Post by grassi » 08 Jun 2006, 21:20

Hello trbooks

Thank you very much for checking your files. Just one question: Does your source also contain soldiers/el-träger mia etc.?

I'll post Prentl's description so everybody.

grassi

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Jeremy Dixon
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#5

Post by Jeremy Dixon » 08 Jun 2006, 21:21

Yes contains all solders who were awarded the Oakleaves

grassi
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#6

Post by grassi » 08 Jun 2006, 21:33

Attached please find the some copies concerning this storry.
Source:
Prentl, Sepp, Flak-Kampfgruppe Prentl. Ein Erlebnisbericht, (München) 1978, p. 212-213.
Grassi
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Prentl 1e.jpg
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grassi
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#7

Post by grassi » 08 Jun 2006, 21:37

p. 213
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Prentl 2 e.jpg
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grassi
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#8

Post by grassi » 08 Jun 2006, 21:45

trbooks,

thanks for your quick answer. are there many mia ss-sturmbannführer with el after ca. late april 1945? kiel and heiligenhafen were ports for evacuated troops from east prussia etc.

something which makes the "fiction" answer likely is the fact that Prentl must have been in a somewhat bad condition at that time:
he had weeks of fighting in east prussia, had to be evacuated by ship, the ship was bombed and sunk - and he now was without food for ca. 3 days.

grassi

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Jeremy Dixon
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#9

Post by Jeremy Dixon » 08 Jun 2006, 22:14

No MIA either I checked that at the same time. Its either complete fiction or hes mistaken it maybe a Major in the army but I have never heard of a German officer being beaten up by the British under these circumstances and killed. The only German officer I know of who was beaten by the British was Rudolf Hoes the commandant of Auschwitz Concentration Camp but that was 1946.

Max Williams
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#10

Post by Max Williams » 08 Jun 2006, 22:26

trbooks wrote:No MIA either I checked that at the same time. Its either complete fiction or hes mistaken it maybe a Major in the army but I have never heard of a German officer being beaten up by the British under these circumstances and killed. The only German officer I know of who was beaten by the British was Rudolf Hoes the commandant of Auschwitz Concentration Camp but that was 1946.
There were many. The most famous was Erhard Milch.
Max.

grassi
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#11

Post by grassi » 08 Jun 2006, 22:30

trbooks,

thanks for this quick clarification. it does not seem to be very likely that major prentl does not know the difference between a ss-sturmbannführer and a major, doesn't it?

i realy wonder what prentl saw. he even had an eyewittness with him: oberfeldwebel (?) karl müller, his "adjudant". müller survived the war and worked together with prentl sometime.

grassi

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Jeremy Dixon
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#12

Post by Jeremy Dixon » 09 Jun 2006, 19:14

There were many. The most famous was Erhard Milch.
Not under these circumstances is what I meant. Milch wasn't killed. But he was treated badly by the British as was von Rundtstedt and some other generals.

I take your point there were many but not SS Majors who had been awarded the Oakleaves

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#13

Post by Desdichado » 11 Jun 2006, 05:40

There were many. The most famous was Erhard Milch....

Not under these circumstances is what I meant. Milch wasn't killed. But he was treated badly by the British as was von Rundtstedt and some other generals.
Being British myself, I have heard tales from old timers about the way in which German prisoners were treated by our soldiers. Generally, I believe that the British servicemen in the field treated the captured German soldiers with respect. Having stated that, there were those who hated the SS and in many actions against them, no quarter was asked or given. I believe that the Canadians were hated for their brutality and there has been some suggestion that in Normandy, some German units were reluctant to take Canadian prisoners. I don't know if this has any basis in fact but I recall reading something about this many years ago.

I wasn't aware of the ill treatment of von Rundstedt - God knows, he got enough of that from Hitler - or Milch so perhaps you would be kind enough to furnish me with details. Given that he was allegedly an active member of the Schwarze Kapelle - unconfirmed I believe - you would think the old boy would have been treated well. Had Hitler allowed him to fight the invading allieds in Normandy unfettered, he and Rommel would have probably thrown the Americans and British/Commonwealth force back into the sea. He has been called the "Last of the German Knights." Such an honourable man and outstanding soldier should have been treated with nothing less than the greatest respect.

I once read a book entitled Devil's Guard which purported to be a true account of former SS men who served in Indochina with the French Foreign Legion after 1945. Most were ex-SS but there were a few men who had served with the Afrika Korps and other elite units. Early on in the book, the soldiers were discussing how they came to be captured at the end of the war. All were taken by either the Free French, the British or the Americans. Those captured by the British said that they suffered no more than a kick up the arse but the ones taken by the Americans, especially SS men, received rough treatment. The French were more pragmatic and recruited them to fight the Viet Minh, which they did with some alacrity.

The manner in which vanquished enemy prisoners were treated after 1945 was, by and large, no different to the way prisoners had been treated since the days of Bonaparte. The one striking difference was, of course the Nuremberg trials after which high ranking officers of the German General Staff were hanged.

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