In WWII do family members receive death benefits from dead soldiers in Germany?

Discussions on every day life in the Weimar Republic, pre-anschluss Austria, Third Reich and the occupied territories. Hosted by Vikki.
Post Reply
Sebastian_Z
Member
Posts: 12
Joined: 09 Oct 2021, 15:14
Location: China

In WWII do family members receive death benefits from dead soldiers in Germany?

#1

Post by Sebastian_Z » 09 Oct 2021, 15:27

Hello all,
I would like to know more about death benefits and other benefits a soldier's family gets in WWII Germany. There is not much discussion about it online.
What happens to a soldier if he dies in the frontline? What could his family member receive from him after his death? I assume someone in the government would notify the family of his death, would they receive the soldier's personal belonging? What about dogtags? Is it the same in 1945?
Do WWII soldiers have death benefits? If they die the family would gain help from the government, or receive money?
Thank you and best regards,
Sebastian_Z

User avatar
Mark in Cleveland, Tn.
Member
Posts: 5761
Joined: 27 Jul 2004, 02:30
Location: Cleveland ,tennessee

Re: In WWII do family members receive death benefits from dead soldiers in Germany?

#2

Post by Mark in Cleveland, Tn. » 10 Oct 2021, 19:59

Interesting group of questions and I am interested in learning .I know a member here TheMarcksPlan can help with the answers,he has helped me with TR financial and economicis issues that the Germansd faced


Sebastian_Z
Member
Posts: 12
Joined: 09 Oct 2021, 15:14
Location: China

Re: In WWII do family members receive death benefits from dead soldiers in Germany?

#3

Post by Sebastian_Z » 11 Oct 2021, 03:29

Mark in Cleveland, Tn. wrote:
10 Oct 2021, 19:59
Interesting group of questions and I am interested in learning .I know a member here TheMarcksPlan can help with the answers,he has helped me with TR financial and economicis issues that the Germansd faced
Dear sir, can you inform him of my question? I am new and I have not yet learned how to @ people in the Axishistory forum.

User avatar
Mark in Cleveland, Tn.
Member
Posts: 5761
Joined: 27 Jul 2004, 02:30
Location: Cleveland ,tennessee

Re: In WWII do family members receive death benefits from dead soldiers in Germany?

#4

Post by Mark in Cleveland, Tn. » 11 Oct 2021, 03:46

Sebastian_Z wrote:
11 Oct 2021, 03:29
Mark in Cleveland, Tn. wrote:
10 Oct 2021, 19:59
Interesting group of questions and I am interested in learning .I know a member here TheMarcksPlan can help with the answers,he has helped me with TR financial and economicis issues that the Germansd faced
Dear sir, can you inform him of my question? I am new and I have not yet learned how to @ people in the Axishistory forum.
I pmed him and asked him if he can help,he says ..ehh maybe...lol

GregSingh
Member
Posts: 3877
Joined: 21 Jun 2012, 02:11
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: In WWII do family members receive death benefits from dead soldiers in Germany?

#5

Post by GregSingh » 11 Oct 2021, 04:07

Do WWII soldiers have death benefits? If they die the family would gain help from the government, or receive money?
There is not much in English on this subject.

In 1940, according to Grunberger's A Social History of the Third Reich, there was an uproar, when it turn out, that widows of temporary teachers killed in action as soldiers, were not allowed to receive a pension. (I guess bureaucracy missed that profession in legal documents).
Early in the war it was regulated in general by Einsatzwehrmachtgebührnisgesetz from 28. Aug. 1939.
In that time private insurance still worked, so there were life insurance payments if you had it.

The whole system was overhauled by Einsatzwehrmachtgebührnisgesetz from 9.Nov.1944 (active from 1.Jan.1945).
It was commented that widows, children and parents could get backdated pension, but killed soldier had to have at least rank of Obergefreiter.
Witwen, Kinder und Eltern können die Kriegsbesoldung aus ihren Antrag auch rückwirkend noch bezahlt erhalten, wenn der gefallene und gestorbene Soldat mindestens Obergefreiter war.

Sebastian_Z
Member
Posts: 12
Joined: 09 Oct 2021, 15:14
Location: China

Re: In WWII do family members receive death benefits from dead soldiers in Germany?

#6

Post by Sebastian_Z » 11 Oct 2021, 06:18

GregSingh wrote:
11 Oct 2021, 04:07
Do WWII soldiers have death benefits? If they die the family would gain help from the government, or receive money?
There is not much in English on this subject.

In 1940, according to Grunberger's A Social History of the Third Reich, there was an uproar, when it turn out, that widows of temporary teachers killed in action as soldiers, were not allowed to receive a pension. (I guess bureaucracy missed that profession in legal documents).
Early in the war it was regulated in general by Einsatzwehrmachtgebührnisgesetz from 28. Aug. 1939.
In that time private insurance still worked, so there were life insurance payments if you had it.

The whole system was overhauled by Einsatzwehrmachtgebührnisgesetz from 9.Nov.1944 (active from 1.Jan.1945).
It was commented that widows, children and parents could get backdated pension, but killed soldier had to have at least rank of Obergefreiter.
Witwen, Kinder und Eltern können die Kriegsbesoldung aus ihren Antrag auch rückwirkend noch bezahlt erhalten, wenn der gefallene und gestorbene Soldat mindestens Obergefreiter war.
Dear sir, how much RM (Marks) are we talking about? I know a private gets around 150 RM/Month for basic income, how much would the death benefits be? A few hundred RM? or a few thousand RM?

GregSingh
Member
Posts: 3877
Joined: 21 Jun 2012, 02:11
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: In WWII do family members receive death benefits from dead soldiers in Germany?

#7

Post by GregSingh » 11 Oct 2021, 08:40

how much RM (Marks) are we talking about?
It depended on rank, number of children and some other factors. It's a long document...
It starts here:
https://alex.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/alex ... 04&size=45

User avatar
TheMarcksPlan
Banned
Posts: 3255
Joined: 15 Jan 2019, 23:32
Location: USA

Re: In WWII do family members receive death benefits from dead soldiers in Germany?

#8

Post by TheMarcksPlan » 11 Oct 2021, 10:44

Mark in Cleveland, Tn. wrote:
11 Oct 2021, 03:46
Sebastian_Z wrote:
11 Oct 2021, 03:29
Mark in Cleveland, Tn. wrote:
10 Oct 2021, 19:59
Interesting group of questions and I am interested in learning .I know a member here TheMarcksPlan can help with the answers,he has helped me with TR financial and economicis issues that the Germansd faced
Dear sir, can you inform him of my question? I am new and I have not yet learned how to @ people in the Axishistory forum.
I pmed him and asked him if he can help,he says ..ehh maybe...lol
I'm flattered but Mark has over-promised. To the extent I have any knowledge it's on the production side of German WW2 economics - not social welfare.

Greg's link is our best bet.
https://twitter.com/themarcksplan
https://www.reddit.com/r/AxisHistoryForum/
https://medium.com/counterfactualww2
"The whole question of whether we win or lose the war depends on the Russians." - FDR, June 1942

Sebastian_Z
Member
Posts: 12
Joined: 09 Oct 2021, 15:14
Location: China

Re: In WWII do family members receive death benefits from dead soldiers in Germany?

#9

Post by Sebastian_Z » 11 Oct 2021, 10:59

TheMarcksPlan wrote:
11 Oct 2021, 10:44
Mark in Cleveland, Tn. wrote:
11 Oct 2021, 03:46
Sebastian_Z wrote:
11 Oct 2021, 03:29
Mark in Cleveland, Tn. wrote:
10 Oct 2021, 19:59
Interesting group of questions and I am interested in learning .I know a member here TheMarcksPlan can help with the answers,he has helped me with TR financial and economicis issues that the Germansd faced
Dear sir, can you inform him of my question? I am new and I have not yet learned how to @ people in the Axishistory forum.
I pmed him and asked him if he can help,he says ..ehh maybe...lol
I'm flattered but Mark has over-promised. To the extent I have any knowledge it's on the production side of German WW2 economics - not social welfare.

Greg's link is our best bet.
In that case, I do also have a question I would like to ask you. You see, Nazi Germany was always criticized for the low production rate of tanks and planes from 1939 till 1942. For many months less than a hundred tanks were produced.
Many claim that this is because Germans are lazy, that they rather enjoy an 8-hours work day than work to their bones, that Germany mobilizes in 1943 and it is too late.
To me, that sounds like a lot of bullshit, but I do not have enough evidence to prove my point.
I believe Germany do mobilization a couple of times during the war, including 1939 before the war broke out and 1941 before the invasion of the soviet union. It is only that 1943 claim to be "Total war".
I also read documents from RAD claim that normal German citizens work 6 days a week and more than 8 hours a day starts from 1934.
At last, I believe the increase of production in 1943 till mid-1944 is thanks to the mass use of slave labor and more factories (Which start building in 1939-1940).
I digress, so what happened to the tanks and planes production in 1940-1942? If the German people work so hard, why is there a low production rate? Are slave labor and foreign labor key to mass production?
Best regards,
Sebastian_Z

User avatar
TheMarcksPlan
Banned
Posts: 3255
Joined: 15 Jan 2019, 23:32
Location: USA

Re: In WWII do family members receive death benefits from dead soldiers in Germany?

#10

Post by TheMarcksPlan » 11 Oct 2021, 22:50

Sebastian_Z wrote:
11 Oct 2021, 10:59
TheMarcksPlan wrote:
11 Oct 2021, 10:44
Mark in Cleveland, Tn. wrote:
11 Oct 2021, 03:46
Sebastian_Z wrote:
11 Oct 2021, 03:29
Mark in Cleveland, Tn. wrote:
10 Oct 2021, 19:59
Interesting group of questions and I am interested in learning .I know a member here TheMarcksPlan can help with the answers,he has helped me with TR financial and economicis issues that the Germansd faced
Dear sir, can you inform him of my question? I am new and I have not yet learned how to @ people in the Axishistory forum.
I pmed him and asked him if he can help,he says ..ehh maybe...lol
I'm flattered but Mark has over-promised. To the extent I have any knowledge it's on the production side of German WW2 economics - not social welfare.

Greg's link is our best bet.
In that case, I do also have a question I would like to ask you. You see, Nazi Germany was always criticized for the low production rate of tanks and planes from 1939 till 1942. For many months less than a hundred tanks were produced.
Many claim that this is because Germans are lazy, that they rather enjoy an 8-hours work day than work to their bones, that Germany mobilizes in 1943 and it is too late.
To me, that sounds like a lot of bullshit, but I do not have enough evidence to prove my point.
I believe Germany do mobilization a couple of times during the war, including 1939 before the war broke out and 1941 before the invasion of the soviet union. It is only that 1943 claim to be "Total war".
I also read documents from RAD claim that normal German citizens work 6 days a week and more than 8 hours a day starts from 1934.
At last, I believe the increase of production in 1943 till mid-1944 is thanks to the mass use of slave labor and more factories (Which start building in 1939-1940).
I digress, so what happened to the tanks and planes production in 1940-1942? If the German people work so hard, why is there a low production rate? Are slave labor and foreign labor key to mass production?
Best regards,
Sebastian_Z
Why some German production was so low early in the war, relative to later, has some very complicated elements and some very simple ones. I'm discussing this at more length here. The simple element is that increased use of foreign labor after failure of the blitz on the SU contributed massively to later increases in German production. The more complicated element is whether Germany was inefficient and/or undermobilized early in the war. As I argue in the linked thread, inefficiency and undermobilization are not wholly distinct phenomena. German firms were misallocating workers between war and civilian production, for example, which is hard to categorize as an efficiency or mobilization issue (the workers were "extra" to firm war production and thus subject to rationalization measures, OTOH one could say the workers were not actually mobilized for war). Regardless of whether we call these facts inefficiency or undermobilization, Hitler/Germany refused to take steps to fix these well-known deficiencies until after the defeat at Moscow and the Winter Crisis of 1941-42.

Tank production is a particularly illustrative example. There the total workforce was quite small (<10,000 in 1940) yet even prior to Barbarossa the army obtained additional resources for the slight pre-Barbarossa production uptick by taking resources from ammunition production. Why wasn't the army given more resources overall? Because the Germans simply weren't worried about defeating the SU - it would be easy.

Had the Germans taken relatively straightforward steps to increase rationalization/mobilization, and to use more foreign labor, I have argued that they would have defeated the SU no later than 1942 and would have been basically invulnerable in Europe.

There is no evidence that the Germans were markedly harder-working or lazier than any other population in WW2. You observe the whole gamut of human behavior, as with any populace. The German work week ended up being slightly longer than, e.g., the American by war's end. But of course Germany was harder-pressed than America and German workers had basically lost the right to collective action (union actions were significant in US and UK during the war). Many Germans also passively resisted efforts to shift them around the country to replace mobilized workers - they worked so poorly that they were fired.
https://twitter.com/themarcksplan
https://www.reddit.com/r/AxisHistoryForum/
https://medium.com/counterfactualww2
"The whole question of whether we win or lose the war depends on the Russians." - FDR, June 1942

gebhk
Member
Posts: 2623
Joined: 25 Feb 2013, 21:23

Re: In WWII do family members receive death benefits from dead soldiers in Germany?

#11

Post by gebhk » 12 Oct 2021, 08:54

You observe the whole gamut of human behavior, as with any populace.
Indeed. The ossues you mention are very familioar to any reading of the Breitish home front too.
The German work week ended up being slightly longer than, e.g., the American
There is, in any case, little benefit to production of extending working hours as was, I believe, demonstrated during WW1. People working 10 hours (after an short initial increase) produce much the same as whent they did working 8 hours. However, from the point of view of paranoid totalitarian (and not so totalitarian) states, there are obvious benefits of reducing the time people have to themselves to meet and foment politically inappropriate ideas.

Post Reply

Return to “Life in the Third Reich & Weimar Republic”