Diarys (tagesbücher) etc etc.

[Mirko Bayerl]

Hi
During the years i have been working on the Battles in Hungary 1945...i have had the chance to talk with many members both from W-SS and WH that fought there in Dec 44 - March 45.

I made some interviews with them concerning the battles. Many of them told me they lost their notes,Diarys,private photos and other stuff when they captured to the US forces in Austria May 45.
They told me the US forces took off them all that sort off stuff, so my question is:
What happend to all diarys,private photos and private notes from the war ?
I do understand that US soldiers took awards,Iron cross,decorations of all kinds as "suvenirs" and was sold of later for collectors etc etc...But what happend to all other stuff, diarys etc etc... ?? Still in US or was it burned as "crap"

I know of some "Wiking" officers that made carefully private notes about the war...but it was took away from them in Austria.


Second question :

As we know many Marine Marsch battalionen and other Marines was attached to Waffen-SS units in 44-45 - but what about the "rest" of the U-Boat crew....could a U-Boat Officer be transferred to a Waffen-SS unit with his dienstgrad still in use ??
And the crew in general...they must be rated as having "experience"....

Kind regards
Mirko

[Galicia]

And the crew in general...they must be rated as having "experience"....

If you're asking if they had to have experience to join the Unterseebootwaffe, no, they didn't. Most recruits were 16 or 17 and just joined up and most were, subsequently killed unfortunatly. The U-boatwaffe has the highest percentage of kills in the Kriegsmarine.

Now, to your first question, what happened to the other items, well, that was up to the discretion of the owner. The US Government didn't have the right to control other people's things. If you are talking about the paltry amount of items the US Government siezed officially, it's probably in the Library of Congress. Call them up, they have loads of stuff, or can at least point you in the right direction.

[Christian Ankerstjerne]

As for privately owned items, those that have not been thrown out (*sigh*) can stil lbe found at various veterans homes and collections.

Christian

[vonKarl]

Es ist nur bekannt das Kriegstagebuch des Bataillons auf Befehl zerstört wurde. Nur einen von Division II./Btl.Rgt.26 12.SS-Pz.Div. H.J. SS-Hauptsturmführer Lübbe noch während der Gefangenschaft rekonstruierte würde mit Hilfe von Kameraden für den Zeitraum vom 3. September 1944 bis 8. Mai 1945. Angeblich, Dokumentationssammler Hubert Meyer hat die Divisionsgeschichte geschrieben in Zusammenhang mit diese Kriegstagesbuch, ob das mit dieser Rekonstruktion von SS-Hauptsturmführer Lübbe übereinstimmt ist unbekannt.