6. Gebirgs-Division mutiny

[Marcus]

Were Rudolf Zatsch, Josef Wenzl, Leopold Wickenhauser and Hartmut Feyertag of 6. Gebirgs-Division executed for mutiny on 9 or 10 May 1945? I have both dates, which one is correct?
Thanks.

/Marcus

[Simon Orchard]

My files with that info is out on loan at the moment but i believe it was the 10th. At any rate all have the 10th as their date of death and all are buried at the cemetery at botn-rognan

when i get my papers back i can give you the names of all those put on trial along with their sentences.

[B Hellqvist]

The only one listed on volksbund.de is Zatsch, and his date of death was the 10th. What was the mutiny about?

[K.Kocjancic]

Details are written on above mentioned site.

Regards,
Klemen

[Marcus]

Thanks everyone.

/Marcus

[Simon Orchard]

The only one listed on volksbund.de is Zatsch, and his date of death was the 10th. What was the mutiny about?

they're all there alright.

they'll have originally been buried at Kvesmenes which is where dision HQ was located and lies at the head of the valley of Signaldalen. all the small german cemeteries in the north were gathered into either Narvik or botn-rognan post-war.

basically, they executed the NCOs and gave the others varying terms of imprisonment.

[Simon Orchard]

Just updating this thread with the sentences received by the other captured mutineers.

10 years hard labour, 1 obergefreiter
5 years hard labour, 1 obergefreiter
10 years prison, 1 gefreiter

aquitted, 2 obergefreite

The Court Martial was held on the 9th May 1945 and went on until 23:00Hrs, The sentences were relayed by telephone to General Ferdinand Jodl who confirmed them. The 10 man execution party was drawn from four different units, which i don't know but GJR 141 and GAR 118 will have been two.

[Bjørn from Norway]

Hello!
They are all listed in the Volksbund list:

Nachname: Zatsch
Vorname: Rudolf
Dienstgrad: Unteroffizier
Geburtsdatum: 15.03.1915
Geburtsort:
Todes-/Vermisstendatum: 10.05.1945
Todes-/Vermisstenort:

Nachname: Wenzl
Vorname: Josef
Dienstgrad:
Geburtsdatum: 24.12.1915
Geburtsort:
Todes-/Vermisstendatum: 10.05.1945
Todes-/Vermisstenort:

Nachname: Wickenhauser
Vorname: Leopold
Dienstgrad: Wachtmeister
Geburtsdatum: 26.10.1915
Geburtsort:
Todes-/Vermisstendatum: 10.05.1945
Todes-/Vermisstenort:

Nachname: Feyertag
Vorname: Helmut
Dienstgrad:
Geburtsdatum: 11.08.1916
Geburtsort:
Todes-/Vermisstendatum: 10.05.1945
Todes-/Vermisstenort:

B.

[Ste]

Please could someone teach me how to use Volksbund?I don't speak German and I can't traslate.Thanks

[Bjørn from Norway]

Hello!
Just enter the name in the serachfield, and you will get informations if available. Name, rank, date of birth, death, burial site etc.

B.

[Lars Gyllenhaal]

Hi all,

Am trying to establish just how unique this incident was.

According to the scholarly study Frontsoldaten by Stephen G. Fritz "there were no mutinies by the common soldiers in the Wehrmacht". Well, the 6. GD mutiny shows that this statement is too drastic. There were in fact several more mutinies, some much larger, if one counts the mutinies in German formations of eastern Europeans. But, if we limit ourselves to mutinies among Germans (ex-Austrians included), were there any other mutinies that can compare with the 6. GD mutiny?

Yours sincerely,

Lars

[Larso]

What would've happened to the fellows who got jail sentences? Obviously they wouldn't have served them into the 1950s. But were they transferred to regular POW camps or perhaps even promptly released as having demonstrated anti-nazi attitudes?

Indeed, what became of incarcerated German soldiers in general? What was done with those who'd committed serious crimes against the public for instance?

[Simon Orchard]

The policy in Norway was that soldiers under sentence continued to serve their sentences. This happened at least until they were evacuated to the continent. The British forces that came to Norway were very specific and clear in their instructions, the only change was that death sentences were not to be carried out. Because of the distances involved and the relatively remote location of the 6 Geb.Div. it took quite a while before any allied control took effect.

The main focus was to maintain normal military discipline.

[Ypenburg]

What is funny though is that the story in the link uses Karl Ruef - Gebirgsjäger Zwischen Kreta und Murmansk: Die 6.G.D. im Einsatz as a source, but according to this books the officers weren't Hauptmann Dirmbacher and Oberleutnant Fromm but Hauptmann Sornberger and Leutnant Kuhn. And I did find Lt. Kuhn on the Volksbund:
Nachname: Kuhn
Vorname: Hermann
Dienstgrad: Leutnant
Geburtsdatum: 30.07.1920
Geburtsort:
Todes-/Vermisstendatum: 08.05.1945
Todes-/Vermisstenort:
Hermann Kuhn ruht auf der Kriegsgräberstätte in Botn-Rognan (Norwegen) .
Endgrablage: Block B Grab 309

According to the book, again, it had nothing to do with the radiomessage, but the fact that the parole amongst the officers was (since the Russians were aproaching from the North-East): We don't become POW in Russian hands but if needed fight our way south and surrender to the Brits".

What also is not mentioned, and again the book does, is that the Obg. was Offiziersanwärter, but kicked of the list because of disciplin-problems. And it was him who shot the Hauptmann point-blank while he was still in his bed, and shot the Leutnant because, while being asked twice to join, replyed with a "Macht keinen Blötsinn".

Towards the men of the battery he declared that the Hauptmann wanted to continue fighting whilest ordered to surrender, and therefor was "taken out". Again, the book mentioned as source.

Nice detail, again the book: The Obg. and about 60 men reached Sweden. 5, not 11, were captured and a sixth shot himself.

Those 5 were sentenced to death and shot by members of the Divions Nachrichtenabteilung.

This sentence, again the book, was aproved by the Englisch Brigade HQ in Tromso.

Cheers,

Ypenburg

[Simon Orchard]

There are a lot of inaccuracies in the various accounts. It was certainly not 5 that were captured and it was just the NCOs that were executed. The russians were not approaching from anywhere and they knew perfectly well that they hadn't moved since nov.44, the fear was that they might or that they might be handed over to the Russians as POWs. If it was members of N.A.91 that formed the execution party then that defintely places the execution at Kvesmenes. The body of the one soldier that shot himself rather than be captured was found in 1958, i've seen the newspaper article on it and am searching for a name as the article simply states that his personal belongings such as medals and ID tag were found and had been sent off for identification.

The claim that the British Brigade HQ in Tromsö sanctioned the executions is impossible as there were no British in Tromsø as yet by the 10th