Carl Benno Ditges and Karl Söchting

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George_W
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Re: Carl Benno Ditges and Karl Söchting

#16

Post by George_W » 22 Nov 2017, 18:47

Thanks for the correction.

George

steve248
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Re: Carl Benno Ditges and Karl Söchting

#17

Post by steve248 » 23 Nov 2017, 18:01

The name on the detention record is Paul BALFANC.
Balfanc and Söchting were extradited from the British Zone (5 CIC) to Yugoslavia.
Roth went from the French Zone.


George_W
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Re: Carl Benno Ditges and Karl Söchting

#18

Post by George_W » 23 Nov 2017, 21:26

Thanks. So Erich Roth and Ernst Weinmann were both extradited by the French to Yugoslavia.

The another mystery is how SS-Of. Dr. Wilhelm Fuchs ended in Yugoslavian captivity. As far i know he was not extradited neither by the British nor by US authorities.

George

Ron
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Re: Carl Benno Ditges and Karl Söchting

#19

Post by Ron » 24 Nov 2017, 08:36

Thanks Steve 248
Did you come across Soching detection file and photograph ? I have not seen it yet.My Erich Roth info was from another file in the national archives,but will not be the only mistake I have come across.
On the photograph Paul Balfanc/ Balfanz he is holding a board saying Balfanz ! Unfortunately the detention file report did not come out clearly on my phone
All the best Ron

steve248
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Re: Carl Benno Ditges and Karl Söchting

#20

Post by steve248 » 24 Nov 2017, 16:53

Here is an extract from his Detention Report where his name is PAUL BALFANZ - and his signature on the next page looks like Balfanz. So a name correction.
Attachments
Balfanz Paul.jpg

steve248
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Re: Carl Benno Ditges and Karl Söchting

#21

Post by steve248 » 24 Nov 2017, 16:55

There is no Detention Report for Söchting - at least 50,000 Detention Reports from arrests in the British Zone are still missing.
FOI requests at the Ministry of Defence and Home Office/JAG came up with nothing.

steve248
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Re: Carl Benno Ditges and Karl Söchting

#22

Post by steve248 » 24 Nov 2017, 16:57

Incidentally, the handwritten notation "No Trace (JAG)" that appears on this Detention Report and many, many others I believe indicates someone checked the name in whatever versions of the CROWCASS reports they had.

Ron
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Re: Carl Benno Ditges and Karl Söchting

#23

Post by Ron » 24 Nov 2017, 17:48

Once again Steve 248 thank you for your help and knowledge.Shame about Socthing and all the other missing files.I had wondered why the ' no trace ' was on so many of the files

All the best Ron

George_W
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Re: Carl Benno Ditges and Karl Söchting

#24

Post by George_W » 25 Nov 2017, 11:09

The last mysterious officer tried after the war in Yugoslavia is Friedrich Herbst. He was extradited in 1947 by the British to Yugoslavia, sentence unknown to me, released from Yugoslavian captivity in 1953. Probably he was connected to Gestapo somewhere in Yugoslavia (Belgrade?) as far i remember as SS-Hstuf. or SS-Stubaf. R.R. I came across his name few times in BBL, as far i remember he was listed as member Stapo Potsdam but i do not have a notes from BBL regarding this name so i could be wrong.

Maybe someone has more info about this man?

George

Puck
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Re: Carl Benno Ditges and Karl Söchting

#25

Post by Puck » 25 Nov 2017, 12:50

I have a SS-Stubaf. and Regierungsrat Herbst (firstname yet not confirmed)
until 05.1943 with Staatspolizeistelle Potsdam (SD-BBl 1943-05-22)
from 05.1943 until 09.1944 with Einsatzgruppe E in Zagreb as Leiter Abt.IV (SD-BBl 1943-05-22)
from 09.1944 beim IdS Düsseldorf as Untersuchungsführer (SD-BBl 1944-09-30)

and a Friedrich Herbst
until 09.1939 as stellv.Leiter Stapostelle Darmstadt
from 09.1939 to 12.1939 vertw.Leiter Stapostelle Darmstadt
from 12.1939 unknown ...

Regards Puck

George_W
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Re: Carl Benno Ditges and Karl Söchting

#26

Post by George_W » 25 Nov 2017, 16:44

Thanks, in my opinion it's the same man. So he served - as i can see in BBL You mentioned - in Einsatzgruppe Kroatien as Leiter IV, now his extradition to Yugoslavia is clearer for me.

I also found SS-Stubaf. Friedrich Wilhelm Herbst, connected with SD, born 27.07.08 in Stromberg, promoted to SS-Stubaf. on 30.01.42, SS nr. 367235, NSDAP nr. 5371375. Maybe he is similar to this Friedrich Herbst from Yugoslavia.

George
Last edited by George_W on 25 Nov 2017, 16:56, edited 1 time in total.

steve248
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Re: Carl Benno Ditges and Karl Söchting

#27

Post by steve248 » 25 Nov 2017, 16:54

Re Friedrich Herbst:
May 1943-Sept 1944 with Einsatzgruppe E (Kroatien), Essegg then Agram (Osijek then Zagreb); probably EG Deputy Chef
1-28 April 1945, with SS-Ausbildungs Abt Konitz No. 2 in Bielefeld-Weser-Hannover
28 April 1945, captured by US forces when wounded; handed over to British and interned
24 Sept 1947, extradited from 6 CIC (Neuengamme)/British Zone to Yugoslavia.

George_W
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Re: Carl Benno Ditges and Karl Söchting

#28

Post by George_W » 25 Nov 2017, 16:57

Thanks!

George

George_W
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Re: Carl Benno Ditges and Karl Söchting

#29

Post by George_W » 26 Nov 2017, 19:55

So overall i have 15 names of high-ranking (SS-Stubaf and above) Gestapo/SD officers who were tried after the war in Yugoslavia:

Extradited by the British - Ludwig Teichmann, Karl Söchting, Georg Kiessel, Kurt Stage, Josef Vogt, Friedrich Polte, Helmut Glaser and Friedrich Herbst.

Extradited by the US - Karl Ditges, Anton Fest, Otto Lurker and Hans Helm (probably he was also extradited from US zone but i'm not sure).

Extradited by the French - Erich Roth and Ernst Weinmann.

Ended in Yugoslavian captivity but probably not extradited by the Western allies - Wilhelm Fuchs.

From these men only Fest, Ditges and Herbst did not received death sentences, were not hanged and returned to Germany after release from Yugoslavian prison.

Any new names are welcome if exist.

George

J. Ryan Stackhouse
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Re: Carl Benno Ditges and Karl Söchting

#30

Post by J. Ryan Stackhouse » 29 Nov 2017, 20:49

How much detail are you looking for their bios? If you want, I have a full timeline for Ditges from his school days and can point you toward a few post-war trials from Germany where he discussed his time imprisonment in Yugoslavia.

His "Bandenbekaempfung" duties were:
4.1940 seconded SiPo, Netherlands
1941 seconded Warthegau, bekaempfung Widerstandsbewegung
5.1945 seconded BdS Belgrade, active in Serbian Banat
11.1943 active in Albania
mid 1944 "Von dieser Zeit an war ich bis Kriegsende Verbindungsoffizier beim Grossmufti von Jerusalem."

His description of events: Während meines Aufenthaltes im Auslande war fast ausschließlich die Bekämpfung der Kommunistischen partisanen meine Aufgabe.

The short version of Ditges' story before einsatz is he apprenticed as a businessman, worked at foreign firms, picked up language skills, learned technical industrial knowledge, found himself unemployed in 1933, started work with the Düsseldorf Gestapo press division, and then transferred into II A 2 where he was responsible for Anti-KPD/Comintern industrial espionage and debriefing returnees from the Soviet Union. That made him valuable for suppressing resistance movements, often organized by members of Comintern, in the occupied territories.

Other fun facts: He was terribly disorganized, awful at paperwork, and remained unapologetic about the use of torture in treason investigations even after the war.

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