I am a relatively new collector of WW2 memorabilia and recently purchased a diary from an auction house. It was listed as "Diary of a Waffen SS Solider" without many other details. I will attach a photo of the man's picture and beside it a coat of arms with what appears to be Germanic ruins on the bottom? Does anyone know more about the ruins and what they mean?
Once I received it and started looking through it, I found it contained numerous poems by German writers, including Nietzche, Flex, Rilke, Hebbel, Schiller, Holderlin, Lons, Wehner and Limpach. I have been able to translate all the poems. But it also contained many entries from the original owner, that which I cannot translate as the cursive handwriting is too hard for me to decipher. I do not even know his name, although I believe I know of a page or 2 that it is written on, maybe someone here could help tell me his name? I believe he may have belonged to the The 5th SS Panzer Division "Wiking", as one of his drawings appears to have the symbol of the unit on it. The photos are very interesting as one appears to be at the Reich Chancellery, and appears to have who I think is Hans Lammers in it?. Others look like they could be early pre-war photos of the "Wiking" Division.
It also came as a big surprise when I discovered around 35 signatures had been collected inside! The man had collected them when in the Prisoner of War Temporary Enclosure (PWTE) located in Heilbronn. Most had been collected around July-August 1945. Fortunately, the owner/writer of the diary would include a brief description with each signature, including the person's title, unit, profession, etc. It seems most are from the Luftwaffe. But I also think there are some that include a field judge, professors, the camp quartet, reporter/broadcaster from the Propaganda Ministry (and he was also an actor in Hamburg in 1928?), and teachers from the Luftwaffe flight school. Also most of the signatures have a brief note associated with the name, so I am curious as to what each person was writing about and their state of mind after having just lost the war and currently contemplating their future in the prisoner of war camp!
There are 6 signatures from the Schlachtgeschwader 2 (SG 2) Immelmann dive bomber wing of the Luftwaffe. I have been able to translate 3 so far, Friedrich Lang, Kurt Plenzat, and Wilhelm Stahler, with Lang acting as the Commander for a brief period. All 3 were awarded the Knight's Cross. There are 2 signatures I am most curious about, one of them is associated with the "Chef d. Wehrmacht b. OKW" and the other is associated with the "Propaganda Ministry" and appears to have been an actor in Hamburg in 1928? I will post both photos below.
I have taken photos of every page in the diary, there is around 115 photos, I am loading them into a photo album on Google photos, if anyone has any interest or ability to look at them and share with me what they say, that would be amazing.
I feel like it is a big mystery as to what is written inside, and you can be the first to know! I just hope you will tell me too hah!!!
Thank you all so so much!
T.D.
