I'm new here so if I'm posting this at the wrong place I'm sorry.
I've got a picture that I was looking for few years now, my grandfather is on the top, first from the left.
What I can see from this picture (i'm not very experienced) it seems to be Luftwaffe (judging from the shape of the eagle on uniforms).
Probably Croatian Legion under Wehrmacht? If so, does that mean that this picture is taken on Eastern front?
I want to know everything that you guys can tell me from this picture, and I was wondering is there any official register that I can contact to get informations about him?
And if you can recomend any books and websites where i can learn more about this.
Thank you!
Help regarding photo
Help regarding photo
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Re: Help regarding photo
Kroatien -
Definitely Luftwaffe uniforms. But they look awfully young, perhaps 16 to 18, and that makes me think that they may have been high school boys recruited or conscripted into the kroatischen Flak-Legion ((Legija Hrvatska protuzrakoplovna) toward the end of the war. They seem to be too young to have served as mechanics and other technical personnel that were sent to Germany and then to Russia with the Croatian Legion fighter and bomber units in 1941 to early 1944. Since you know what their faces look like, test this out and see what you think. Do you have any other information about these 4 or about your grandfather's service specifically? Have you been to Arhiv Hrvatska on the Sava Cesta in Zagreb? Have you tried any Croatian language websites? Have you tried a search on this website? The great majority of threads and posts here on the subject of Croatia in WWII are on the sub-forum Minor Axis Nations, which you can find 7 or 8 sub-forums below this one in the menu.
L.
Definitely Luftwaffe uniforms. But they look awfully young, perhaps 16 to 18, and that makes me think that they may have been high school boys recruited or conscripted into the kroatischen Flak-Legion ((Legija Hrvatska protuzrakoplovna) toward the end of the war. They seem to be too young to have served as mechanics and other technical personnel that were sent to Germany and then to Russia with the Croatian Legion fighter and bomber units in 1941 to early 1944. Since you know what their faces look like, test this out and see what you think. Do you have any other information about these 4 or about your grandfather's service specifically? Have you been to Arhiv Hrvatska on the Sava Cesta in Zagreb? Have you tried any Croatian language websites? Have you tried a search on this website? The great majority of threads and posts here on the subject of Croatia in WWII are on the sub-forum Minor Axis Nations, which you can find 7 or 8 sub-forums below this one in the menu.
L.
Re: Help regarding photo
I don't know much about his service, nobody does (some of my familly members told me he was in SS Prinz Eugen, some of them told me he was in Gestapo, and so on)...Larry D. wrote:Kroatien -
Do you have any other information about these 4 or about your grandfather's service specifically?
L.
All I know that he went to the war in 1941 when he was 18 and got back home years later and was captured (not sure during the war or after, and don't know who captured him),
All my mother could tell me that he had a piece of wood carved with date, year and "Marseille".
She also told me that he never spoke about war except that "he have seen a lot of things at that camp".
First i tought that he may have been a guard in some of german camps then I found this on the forum:
"I have been speaking with a person who was interned at Camp 404, near Marseilles during 1945. The Camp had a small American Admin section, however, the guards were Yugoslavian. My friend tells me of mass starvation and shootings of German POW's. It would appear that systematic neglect ('turn a blind eye' and 'payback') caused the deaths of tens of thousands of German POW's, was an unofficial policy, however an effective one. " - could that be it?
This is a big mistery to me, but its part of my familly history and I'm determined to find out everything I can about it. And I will keep you informed about everything I found out along the way.
Thank you for helping me.
Re: Help regarding photo
The systematic neglect of German POWs [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Other_Losses ] is a very controversial subject and there has been a huge amount written about it. There are several large threads on this website on it and you can probably find them using the search term "James Bacque". As for Camp 404 specifically, I don't know anything about it.Kroatien wrote:Larry D. wrote:Kroatien -
Do you have any other information about these 4 or about your grandfather's service specifically?
L."I have been speaking with a person who was interned at Camp 404, near Marseilles during 1945. The Camp had a small American Admin section, however, the guards were Yugoslavian. My friend tells me of mass starvation and shootings of German POW's. It would appear that systematic neglect ('turn a blind eye' and 'payback') caused the deaths of tens of thousands of German POW's, was an unofficial policy, however an effective one. " - could that be it?
This is a big mistery to me, but its part of my familly history and I'm determined to find out everything I can about it. And I will keep you informed about everything I found out along the way.
Thank you for helping me.
If your grandfather was already 18 in 1941 and in German Luftwaffe uniform with what appears to be the red and white Hrvatska Grb on the sleeve of his jacket, then that strongly suggests he was with the Croatian Legion and probably served in Russia. Here is an address you can go to, fill out an online request, and they will be able to tell you what German units he served in:
https://www.dd-wast.de/en/home.html
Warning: WASt can take as long as 3 months to reply to a tracing request.
Keep us posted and let me know if I can be of any further help.
L.