Anyone still alive?

[Lukens]

I am probably late to the party on this , as always. One thing i have noticed is finding German veterans, even 10 years ago was far and few between - i dont know whether its simply the life expectancy is lower , or perhaps understandably they are and remain low key. Out of 18m wehrmacht, 14m survived the war, does anyone know how many are still alive today? In terms of life expectancy, and maybe someone else might of noticed this - i note that a lot of German veterans who survived (especially well known ones who would of been of fighting age such as Hartmann, Hans-Ulrich Rudel, Albrecht Brandi etc) seem to die a lot younger (under 70) than many of their contemporaries in other nations and a part of me wonders if there is any truth to this? I think i may sometime write an actual topic for this very point.

I digress, and this is probably very unlikely, but does anyone here know anyone who served - or simply any Germans alive today who may have memories of that time? One of my goals is to contact or even befriend someone from that period. I have been successful in my own country and also i have been in contact with many US and even a French veteran but so far German's are much harder to locate and i do speak some of the language. I have written a letter to Hugo Broch who is reportedly still alive but i havent heard from him.

If anyone knows any i would like to write them a letter - Hope this post is allowed.

[Br. James]

Hi, and welcome among us! I'm sorry to say that I cannot provide you with any information on living German WWII vets for you to correspond with, though I would imagine that some of our colleagues here can help you. I would just comment that I have also noticed the sharply declining number of vets among US service personnel who participated in WWII that have died at what would be considered an early age for people nowadays, and one of the greatest reasons for this -- in my untrained medical opinion -- must be that The Greatest Generation was also the generation that had the highest incidence of smoking among all ranks. And this would certainly include all of the Allied Forces as well as the Axis Forces. I have no ax to grind and I belong to the earliest line of Baby Boomers -- born nine months after VJ Day -- and have witnessed both the prevalence of smoking first-hand (including myself for several decades) and the apparently early rate of health damage suffered by acquaintances who served in WWII.

Again, welcome among us; it's good to have you here. And I hope you obtain the contacts that you seek.

Br. James

[Andy H]

Hi

This Forum like many others used to have ex Wehrmacht amongst its ranks, but sadly they've all passed AFAIK.
Even the youngest are going to be in there mid 90's and like the poster before has mentioned, their youth and immediate post-war experiences are hardly conducive to living a long life.
The one thing I would say is that using the tag Axisbriton won't imbue you to an introduction, given the potential RW connotations, that they'd rightly steer clear off.

Regards

Andy H

[Lukens]

Thank you both for the warm welcome , to be honest I have browsed this forum for many years but I never made an account on here - I suppose with all the lockdowns etc I’ve had a lot more time to contemplate to myself.

@James you raise a good point about smoking , I actually hadn’t actively considered that - I do wonder how much trauma would impact on life expectancy but I imagine that’s really a debate for another topic

@Andy that’s incredible really , but I can see that this site has been going since 1999 so I can definitely imagine that - I expect they we’re last seen quite a while back? Do you have any links to their profiles?

Ah I see.... I actually didn’t think of that either really! I’m not very good at picking usernames. Sorry about that if I’m honest I rarely use forums or social media so I don’t have reason for user names - not a right wing bone in my body I’m a lefty here. Probably a bit too late to change it now though?!

[Andy H]

Hi

HaEn is the one ex German serviceman who stands out and there used to be a chap on here from the GD Division.
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=207752&hilit=Haen

Regards

Andy H

[Annelie]

Hugo, HaEn passed away some years ago.
You will find his mention on the thread of those passed.

[Lukens]

Thanks guys I will have a look , while it is inevitable of course and I’ve known people who’ve died at various ages young and old - I just find it especially sad when these people pass. I remember 10 years ago I used to interview / spend time with a number of veterans , never filmed them though - in hindsight I wish I would of done that for posterity but not everyone likes a camera right in their face.

[headwest]

has this forum by chance indexed or pinned any of the posts by the german veterans? that would be fascinating reading and its really hard to knwo who they were or where the had posts

thanks

[Kreuz]

I am still alive

[Untersberg]

SS Untersturmfuhrer Herbert Von Mildenberg is very active and enjoys contact. He was with the SS Division Nord.

[FreemanOrrin1942]

I know a couple of German veterans who love corresponding and I will give you the addresses if you PM me. One is a Wehrmacht Veteran who was a Guard at the Wolf's Lair and was present at Operation Valkyrie. The other is a Luftwaffe veteran who was a flight instructor and flew ME 262s. I have heard from both of these men in the last three months. I would be interested in exchanging addresses of other German Vets, these men are so cool.

Calloway

[dog83cats]

I have been trying to find a way to contact Hugo Broch, i would like him to sign an aircraft model....can anyone please help me!!!!

[dog83cats]

Can anyone help me with translating this letter for Hugo Broch?

[Belle H]

I know a couple of German veterans who love corresponding and I will give you the addresses if you PM me. One is a Wehrmacht Veteran who was a Guard at the Wolf's Lair and was present at Operation Valkyrie. The other is a Luftwaffe veteran who was a flight instructor and flew ME 262s. I have heard from both of these men in the last three months. I would be interested in exchanging addresses of other German Vets, these men are so cool.

Calloway

Are any of them still alive? If so, please pm me their contact information. Thank you!

[gebhk]

James you raise a good point about smoking , I actually hadn’t actively considered that - I do wonder how much trauma would impact on life expectancy but I imagine that’s really a debate for another topic

There is no doubt that (due to the military dreaming up that cigarettes were 'good for morale'), WW2 put deaths from lung cancer on a rocket-like trajectory after the war which only peaked in the 70-80s or even later depending on country. However, I don't think this would explain why Germans of that generation would be dying younger than others - the phenomenon was fairly widespread. Can't remember the exact stats but in 1948 something like 41% of women and 82% of men in the UK were hopelessly hooked on the pernicious weed. Of course lung cancer is not the only smoking-related killer disease so the impact of this habit on longevity must have been quite significant.