Hello does anyone have pictures of albanians in ss prinz eugen(14th regiment) or in the 5th ss mountain division

[Ivan Ž.]

Dear George, I think Tradicionalist confused microfilm with film (footage).

Ah george do you got any link on where I can watch the nara microfilm?

if you ever find any footage of ss skanderbeg I would appreciate it if you replied under here

Dear Tradicionalist, the archival signatures ("numbers") of the US and German national/federal archives that George was explaining to you lead only to text documents (military orders and so on), no footage.

There is no known footage of the "Skanderbeg" Division. There are some photographs (not too many though), located mainly at the NARA (US archives) and ECPAD (French archives). Additional individual images can be found in other archives containing press photos or in private hands. There are also several images in books by Michaelis and Kumm.

Cheers,
Ivan

[Tradicionalist]

Hey ivan I just realised that also I also learned that the germans never took any footage of ss skanderbeg rather the albanians did aqshf has around 2 videos of ss skanderbeg and one of them is a video of them marching.They havent transfered the videos to the new website yet so I suppose I wilm just have to wait
Cheers tradicionalist

[Ivan Ž.]

Hello, Tradicionalist

If some footage of the division does exist, it was almost certainly filmed by the Germans. They most likely did film it (a German cameraman is seen in one of the photos), it's just that no footage surfaced yet, as far as I know. In any case, I advise you to always be skeptical about archival descriptions, for they are full of errors, both accidental and deliberate. Your description reminded me of a recently-surfaced photo of marching soldiers from an Albanian source, claimed to be the "Skanderbeg" Division; it shows men in greatcoats and high boots, while the "Skanderbeg" was a spring/summer unit equipped with mountain/low boots and light/camo uniforms. So, what you read in a description isn't necessarily what the file actually shows.

Cheers,
Ivan

[Tradicionalist]

Hello ivan
i havent seen the video personally it was told to me by a friend apparently its a video that describes the state of ss skanderbeg in late 44(the second video) while the first video is dated may 44 and you can clearly see that it is ss skanderbeg

[Ivan Ž.]

Hello, Tradicionalist

If such footage exists, it would be an excellent addition to history and hopefully it'll be published. But remember that there was no "Skanderbeg" Division in late 1944, just the German regimental group. Thanks for mentioning the possibility of such footage existing, I sure hope it does.

Cheers,
Ivan

[Tradicionalist]

Hello Ivan
By late 44 I mean september october tho in the following months most likely ss skanderbeg footage will be imported to the aqshf website and Ill be more then happy to share it here so Ill let you know

[Tradicionalist]

Hello Ivan
i have good and bad news.Good news the footage does exist and its 2 clips of it.Bad news the website was deleted and apparently it wont be made back.The old aqshf website had the clips which where from die deutche wochenchau(sorry if I missspell)I will try asking my friend if he could remember the number of the newsreel.
Cheers tradicionalist

[Ivan Ž.]

Hello, Tradicionalist

Thanks for the reply. No such footage appears in Die Deutsche Wochenschau (newsreels in German / for the Germans) as far as I checked, but maybe in some of the newsreels made for the occupied countries (for example, the UFA-Auslands-Tonwoche).

Cheers,
Ivan

[George Lepre]

Hi all -

Ivan - your knowledge is formidable.

Tradicionalist - I thought of two other possibilities to obtain new Skanderbeg-related material:

1.) During the Skanderbeg recruiting effort, the Germans approached leading Albanians to assist them in finding volunteers. Did the post-war Hoxha government investigate and/or prosecute any Albanian notabilities for assisting in the division's formation?

2.) Is there a military archive that maintains the surviving files generated by the Albanian partisan movement? If so, these documents might describe engagements with the Skanderbeg division and include prisoner interrogations, intelligence assessments of the division, deserter statements, etc.

Did you visit the Sigurimi archive? This might be the best place to find new Skanderbeg documents.

Best regards,

George

[Tradicionalist]

Hello george
Thanky for the help.As far as I know no ss trials where held by the communist albanian goverment.Since most ss skanderbeg members that did desert joined the partisan forces(as far as I know) The few remaining ones where left in kosovo land which enver hoxha did not controll.Tho I havent stopped looking for the newsreels and I have hope to find the clips.Tho if I do happen to stumbble open them I will most definetely be more then happy to share it here
Best regards,
Tradicionalist