Offizierskarteien from NARA T-78

Discussions on the personalities of the Wehrmacht and of the organizations not covered in the other sections. Hosted by askropp and Frech.
Post Reply
User avatar
askropp
Forum Staff
Posts: 7482
Joined: 08 May 2008, 00:42

Offizierskarteien from NARA T-78

#1

Post by askropp » 19 May 2019, 23:35

The elements and origins of the Generalskartei have been known for a long time, but there seems to be little info about the other Karteien from T-78. There are Karteien for nearly every branch (the only one missing seems to be the Artillerie), but they are very different, especially in the case of the Infanterie. Outer appearance, content and time covered vary often.

For example, rolls 906-908 were considered to belong together, constituting "a card file for infantry commanders, arranged by rank and thereunder alphabetically". But the first batch, alleged to contain Hauptleute (Abel through Zorn), has nothing to do with the other ones. This is already apparent from the outer appearance of the cards, the first batch being typewritten and the others handwritten. In fact, we find not only Hauptleute in the first batch, but also Majore, Oberstleutnante and even a few Oberleutnante. What they have in common is the fact that they were considered fit to act as Bataillonsführer. This batch is obviously related to the file in rolls 917-919, one of three "alphabetically arranged card files for infantry officers" through the rank of Oberst (according to NARA, the "second"). Many officers contained in this file were considered to be suitable as Regimentsführer. Also, while rolls 906-908 usually list only the official assignments and the "mit Wirkung" dates, rolls 917-919 (like the first batch from 906) contain many cancelled or planned assignments as well as notes about the backstage interaction between the various HPA Abteilungen. The very big file (according to NARA the "first") on rolls 909-916 apparently contains Reserveoffiziere of all ranks (naturally most of them subalterns). Which officers can be found in rolls 920-925 (the "third alphabet"), I don't know because I don't have any.

Does anyone have more info about this topic?
There are times in history when staying neutral means taking sides.

Post Reply

Return to “The Dieter Zinke Axis Biographical Research Section”