Death Card questions

[Appleknocker27]

Does anyone have information on how the casualty information flowed from the OKH/OKW reports to civilian/family notification? As I understand it, the death cards were locally produced and not an OKW product. Who provided the info for the death cards and were they ever produced for those listed as MIA?

[j keenan]

The family provided the death cards

[Appleknocker27]

Ok, thanks. Does anyone know how the family was notified of the circumstances?

[j keenan]

Letter from his Co or a telegram from the relevant department.

[hucks216]

If the original poster doesn't mind me expanding their original question, can anyone explain the chain of reporting for those killed/wounded please?
For example, if a soldier is killed does the man's Kp then report the details to Btl who pass it to Rgt/Divisional HQ? If so then who does the Division report it to and so on & so on until the man's fate is eventually recorded in his Wehrstammbuch back in Germany?

[Appleknocker27]

If the original poster doesn't mind me expanding their original question, can anyone explain the chain of reporting for those killed/wounded please?
For example, if a soldier is killed does the man's Kp then report the details to Btl who pass it to Rgt/Divisional HQ? If so then who does the Division report it to and so on & so on until the man's fate is eventually recorded in his Wehrstammbuch back in Germany?

Great question, I believe those details are captured at the Company level, sent to BN, RGT, BDE, DIV, etc. in a matter of days as part of the daily strength reports that are rolled up at OKH and OKW (Eastern Front). I've seen the Company level reports show men that were WIA/KIA/MIA by name, where that personal info goes after BN I'm not sure, but I believe the BN sends raw numbers up by category without the personal info after that (not positive). I'm trying to connect how first notification of death or MIA is delivered to next of kin and by what Wehrmacht/Government organ as well as the timeline in a reliable source. As mentioned above it appears to have been done by letter or telegram? Ultimately the personal info is delivered to the WASt through Wehrmacht personnel channels.

[history1]

The letters were written by the company commander or his deputy in case the commander was also KIA in the same battle/fight. But they were sent to the village mayor as highest police authority with the request to hand them over to the family. Then this man ordered someone from the municipal office to go to the family and hand the letter over to them.
That´s how the family of my grandmother was informed about the death of her brother on the Eastern Front.
For MIA there were no death cards printed, at least not in my family. Everyone did hope that my great- grandfather does return. It was only in the late 60ies when they did realise that this would not happen and they asked the court to declare his death.

[hucks216]

The letters were written by the company commander or his deputy in case the commander was also KIA in the same battle/fight. But they were sent to the village mayor as highest police authority with the request to hand them over to the family. Then this man ordered someone from the municipal office to go to the family and hand the letter over to them.
...

That is interesting. I have a number of such letters from different units and had always assumed that they were written some time after the man died as a sort of condolence letter to the family after they had already received the bad news from official channels rather than as the actual notification of death. You learn something new every day.

[Appleknocker27]

The letters were written by the company commander or his deputy in case the commander was also KIA in the same battle/fight. But they were sent to the village mayor as highest police authority with the request to hand them over to the family. Then this man ordered someone from the municipal office to go to the family and hand the letter over to them.
That´s how the family of my grandmother was informed about the death of her brother on the Eastern Front.
For MIA there were no death cards printed, at least not in my family. Everyone did hope that my great- grandfather does return. It was only in the late 60ies when they did realise that this would not happen and they asked the court to declare his death.

Thank you for your answer. I assume a letter like that has the Feldpost mark on it which would capture the date/area of the Soldier's unit location. I'm trying to understand the Wehrmacht personnel strength reporting and casualty reporting in full. I have seen Death Cards for POWs that have dates in the post war period of November 1945, 1946 and later. Was the Red Cross allowed access to Soviet camps? Or perhaps other returning prisoners brought home news of their comrades?

[hucks216]

In the files I have, I have found numerous examples of these (these particular ones relating to 707.Infanterie-Division). Who would these be sent on to, OKH or maybe the home Wehrkreis?

[hucks216]

Additional data about one of the names on the above list:

[hucks216]

So with regards to what has been mentioned above by the two other contributors about the family being notified here is a sequence of paperwork that might help.
The soldier in question served in an artillery unit and was killed on 30th August 1944. The letter from the Batterie-Chef is dated just a few days later so would be the first notice that the family would receive about his fate:

This was then followed 5 months later by the sending via the local Wehrmeldeamt of the man's Wehrpass to his family:

[hucks216]

This was followed by his Death Certificate and related paperwork 6 months after his death:

[hucks216]

And if possible the unit would send a photo of his field grave:

[history1]

Wow, that´s a very well documented case, hucks!
I wonder that they did need 6 month to record this case in the local death book as the registrar states in the last writing writing to the father about the entry they did the same day.
A death certificate can be issued any time, so nothing wrong with 6 month after the death of this soldier.
Ref. the last NARA file it mentions that the soldier has been brought to a military hospital. So "Verlust = loss" doesn´t mean automatically KIA. Good to know.
In my case the letter was written three days later.
An interesting point is also that the comp. commander writes that he got KIA during an attack, while in reality there was only defense and retreat of the unit the last weeks before and weeks later.