Rare footage of SS-Stubaf. Richard Kaaserer in "action"

[Ivan Ž.]

A very short one unfortunately, but still, better than nothing.

The footage was filmed by SS war correspondent Schifko in Serbia, November 1942, during a patrol & propaganda photo shoot in the mountains. At the time, Kaaserer was commander of the I/2, SS Division "Prinz Eugen". I've put quotation marks around the word "action" since he was most likely firing his MP for propaganda purposes only (not fighting an enemy). The clip (three clips actually) was cut out of a report entitled "Bandenbekämpfung in Montenegro", Die Deutsche Wochenschau, 30.06.1943, Nr. 669.


Source: USHMM, 2563 / Bundesarchiv, K 20349

His face isn't visible in the clip but can be seen in propaganda photos taken on the same occasion by SS war correspondent Homann.

Source: National Archives, 242-JRP-34 (films 28, 30 and 31)

Cheers,
Ivan

[Georges JEROME]

Thanks for sharing

[J. Duncan]

These are interesting clips Ivan.
Von dem Bach, Phleps, and now the elusive
Kaaserer. You first introduced me to this man
on the quiz, whom I was totally unfamiliar.
His nickname should have been “King Cobra”.
For a quick recap of his SS career, I refer to one of the Forum’s entries :
viewtopic.php?t=52568

[J. Duncan]

A blow-up from the series above

[Ivan Ž.]

Cheers, Georges and J.

Yes, the guy was a serious psycho. Responsible for the first war crime of his division (PE), starting its ill-reputation of being a war criminal unit.

For those who missed it, here's what he did to his own men: viewtopic.php?f=38&t=98132 (scroll down for page 1)

Ivan

[FransN]

Zdravo Ivane,

Thanks for sharing the clip and photos with us: Great!

Frans

[Ivan Ž.]

Cheers, Frans! (Working on those documents you asked about by the way.)

Ivan

[Michal78]

His portrait.
Michal

[J. Duncan]

Best quality I’ve seen of this particular photo.
Georg S has it on his great website but not like
this.

[Ivan Ž.]

(Cheers, Michal.)

...and his portrait at the end of the war. He ended the war as SSPF Mitte-Norwegen, with the rank of SS-Oberführer, and was captured by the British disguised as a Heer NCO, with false papers under the name of Feldwebel Rudolf Kurth (notice that he kept his initials).

RK2.jpg (152.11 KiB) Viewed 1757 times

Sources: Đorđe N. Lopičić, Nemački ratni zločini 1941–1945 – Presude jugoslovenskih vojnih sudova, Muzej žrtava genocida, Beograd, 2009, p. 513; Saopštenje o zločinima Austrije i Austrijanaca protiv Jugoslavije i njenih naroda, Državna komisija za utvrđivanje zločina okupatora i njihovih pomagača, Beograd, 1947, p. 102

Ivan

[Orpoman]

Hello

A chance find from a photo album.

During a funeral ceremony in Oslo in 1944/45.

regards
Daniel

[Ivan Ž.]

Hello, Daniel, and thanks very much for posting.

But are you sure it's them? It's hard to tell due to the (poor-ish) photo quality. Maybe it's just the angle, but the SS-Stubaf. looks younger than Qvist to me, and he also wears a Sigrunen collar patch. Did Qvist wear one? I've only seen photos of him wearing a Norwegian lion collar patch.

Note: if that's indeed Kaaserer, then it's also a rare photo of him in a police uniform (notice the light-coloured collar patches).

Cheers,
Ivan

[Orpoman]

Hello Ivan

I cannot give any guarantee because the photo album is unlabeled. There are a total of 16 photos of the funeral ceremony. However, these are later photos from the cemetery in Oslo / Ekeberg. Now the question must be asked, which SS-Oberführer and SS-Sturmbannführer could have participated in an SS and police burial ceremony in Oslo. Many men are out of the question. I'm actually pretty sure that Kaaserer and Qvist can be seen.

regards
Daniel

[steve248]

A copy of the false Soldbuch given to Kaaserer in Norway (now at UK National Archives):

IMG_0281.JPG (93.77 KiB) Viewed 963 times

[Ivan Ž.]

Excellent, Steve!

Cheers,
Ivan

PS
Dear Daniel, is there another image from that photo lot that shows the SS-Oberführer? I got your logic (and agree with it), I'd only like to make sure it's definitely him, since images of Kaaserer are still quite rare, especially those from his service in Norway / late WWII.