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    #1

    Great partisan grouping, Polizei Regiment 19 related.

    I was recently contacted by a person seeking help to do a bit of WWII research. He explained to me that his great uncle had been in the resistance in the area of Bonneville during WWII, Bonneville being just south east of Geneva, only a few km from the Swiss border.
    Anyways, according to the family story, his great uncle, who died in the 1960's, had killed a German Luftwaffe soldier during the war, with a gunshot to the head, and now some papers belonging to this German soldier had been discovered. Could I help find the relatives of this German soldier so the paper could be sent back to them?
    Below are some of the papers he sent me. There were also papers with the soldier's date of birth, in 1905, and papers saying his one room home in Munich had been destroyed in an air raid in April 1944. No wife or children were mentionned, and the letter shown below is signed by "dein Freundin", in other words not a wife.
    Attached Files
    Last edited by Jean-Loup; 07-12-2014, 02:57 PM.
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    #2
    I found this case very interesting so immediately started looking into it.
    I found that no soldier of the name Franz Aigner born in 1905 was listed in the Volksbund databases, and I noted that the Feldpostnummer corresponded to SS Polizei Regiment 19, and not to a Luftwaffe unit. I was very interested to find on the internet that Polizei Regiment 19 had first been involved in partisan warfare in Slovenia for several years, and had then arrived in France in early 1944, the 1st Battalion participating in fighting at the plateau des Glières, right near Bonneville. When the Allies landed in southern France in August, some soldiers managed to cross into Switzerland, others managed to get away, and apparently 80 were executed in Bonneville and Annecy by partisans

    I explained to the man that no man of this name was known to be buried, so either he was buried as an unidentified, either he was still in a clandestine grave somewhere, or either these papers had not belonged to a killed soldier, and the family story was just that... a story. I also said that papers were to a policeman, not to an air force soldier as he had believed.

    Below is a map with some of the places mentionned.
    Attached Files
    Last edited by Jean-Loup; 07-12-2014, 03:04 PM.

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      #3
      The man aswered something along these lines:
      "Indeed, perhaps the papers did not belong to the killed soldier then. But my granduncle did kill one soldier for sure, because the helmet has blood in it. I also have two caps that my great aunt found in the school at Saxonnex when the Germans left (I have sold one of them). I found everything in the same trunc in my grandparent's attic when I was a kid."

      Needless to say when I heard about all this, and that he had already sold a cap, I got very excited, and asked if he would like to sell the rest. To make a long story short, the man had kept these family heirlooms preciously untill now, but he now lives in Japan, and spends time all over the world, and decided it was time to sell these things. We agreed on a price, and I drove up to visit him at his family house today.
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        #4
        When I arrived, the man explained to me that all these items had been his childhood treasures. He had washed the cap once because "it stank", and had oiled the helmet liner in order to preserve it. Also in the grouping there was one other cap and a gaz mask that he had sold many years ago, and some bloodstained papers and a bloodstained zelbahn, that he had thrown out or sold, he couldnt remember.

        Let us start with the best item, a Polizei cap with Edelweiss. Considering the associated papers to Franz Aigner, of Polizei Regiment 19, I assumed that this cap had also belonged to a Polizei Regiment 19 soldier.
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          #5
          Great surprise inside the cap, it is named to a Hans Fütterer, and numbered to Bataillon 72, which was later to become the 1st Batallion on Polizei Regiment 19 ( http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Polizei_Regiment_19 ). A corresponding Hans Fütterer is also not to be found on Volksbund databases as having been killed in 1944.
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            #6
            Next is the supposed blood stained helmet of the German soldier that was killed by the great uncle according to the family story. Unfortunately there is no name to be found anywhere, but the helmet liner was indeed splashed with something, perhaps blood.
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              #7
              Rucksack named to a Jahn; no unit info or first name though. I did check the Volksbund database for any Jahn's killed on 2nd September 1944, the day when many policemen were executed by the partisans, but found no possible match.
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                #8
                More documents belonging to policeman Franz Aigner, with Polizei Regiment 19 stamp visible. Apparently there used to be some heavily blood stained documents that are no longer to be found in the grouping. These papers have a few traces on them that could for some of them perhaps be blood, but I am not convinced.
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                  #9
                  Also included in the grouping are a Wehrmacht belt buckle and a Verpflegung bag marked with an eagle. The bag was used as a doormatt in the grandfather's house untill my contact noticed a piece of eagle sticking out, after which the bag was rescued.
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                    #10
                    The final item in the grouping is this tank marked "Souvenir de Dornbirn". After the Bonneville area was liberated, the partisan great uncle joined the army and ended up garding German POW's in Dornbirn. It is there that he acquired the tank, that was apparently made by a POW, and probably traded for food, cigarettes, etc. The tank seems to represent a T-34.
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                      #11
                      All in all, this was a really great find, due to three soldier's names being availlable on the items, due to the facts cross checking the family story very well, and due to the great condition the helmet and cap are in. This is the first cap I ever find, and it seems that the Polizei and Edelweiss combination are rather rare. It is great that the exact location the cap was found in is known, and that this "story" cross checks perfectly with the cap itself, that is named and unit numbered. All these items are reminders of this little known area, where the Germans were involved in partisan warfare.
                      These all come right next to Switzerland. It must have been very paculiar for people in Switzerland to be neutral, while hearing gunfire coming from the other side of the lake, knowing that men were killing each other.

                      Here is a view of Lac Leman today, with the French Alps visible to the left, and neutral Switzerland to the right. The items come from the general vicinity of the mountains visible in the background on the left.

                      I would like to use this thread to remind everybody that the "story" or context of a find can be very important. Of course you should not believe every ebay seller, but when your source seems believable, then the info provided can be very usefull, as was the case here.
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                      Last edited by Jean-Loup; 07-12-2014, 05:37 PM.

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                        #12
                        I am now of course on the look out for any information or photos regarding Polizei Regiment 19. If anyone has anything availlable, please post it.
                        So far I have found several threads on the internet, the best being this one: http://www.forum-der-wehrmacht.de/in...on-9-Kompanie/

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                          #13
                          Very interesting find and story Jean-Loup, thanks for showing the group to us and please keep us posted if you discover any further information!

                          Kevin

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                            #14
                            JL, as always I find your threads fascinating. Well reseached and extremely well written. What is nice is that the subject matter is always fresh , about not well known subjects, which makes for a great oppertunity to learn something new. As I did yet again.J

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                              #15
                              Thanks Jacques and Kevin.
                              I asked for help on this German forum regarding the names, the guys there seem very sharp: http://www.forum-der-wehrmacht.de/in...d29#post423716

                              I was told Hans Fütterer (the cap) and Walter Jahn (probably Rucksack owner) were both captures on 14 August 1944, the day preceeding the southern France invasion, and both survived the war. No info yet on Aigner (all the documents).

                              I forgot to ost earlier, but all these funny little Volksfest "flyers" were also included in the grouping.
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