German Military KIA 1939-1945 (D. Dienststelle WASt) Records available on Ancestry

[Thomas Hendrix]

Germany, Military Killed in Action, 1939-1948 (Deutschalnd, im Kampf gefallene Soldaten, 1939-1945) added to Ancestry. From the Ancestry site:

This collection contains index cards recording German soldiers who were killed in World War II. On August 26, 1939, the High Command of the German Wehrmacht began operating an information center for war casualties and prisoners of war. It was called the Wehrmachtsauskunftstelle für Kriegsverluste und Kriegsgefangene (WASt). In 1943, part of the agency was moved from Berlin to Saalfeld/Saale and another part to Meiningen. Beginning in January 1946, the agency was renamed the "Deutsche Dienststelle für die Benachrichtigung der nächsten Angehörigen von Gefallenen der ehemaligen deutschen Wehrmacht" (German Office for the Notification of Next-of-Kin of Members of the Former German Armed Forces who were Killed in Action). The name is commonly shortened as Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt).

Deaths are for the most part recorded by hand on pre-printed index cards. Depending on the available information and on the form used, you may generally find the following details in these records:

Last Name, Given Names, Birthdate and Birthplace
Unit, Reserve Unit, Identification Number, Rank
Date of Death, Time of Death, Place of Death and Type of Casualty
If known: Burial Date, Location and Number of Grave
Cross-reference to Casualty List

[Waffenreich]

Thanks again Thomas for making us aware of this!

Gents - this is a huge breakthrough for those interested in getting the unit info etc. on your named/researchable items.

Here's a link on the Fj Forum discussing what I found within 15 minutes of becoming aware of this: http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...66#post8719366

Last night, in about 1.5 hours I pulled over 25 death registration cards for items that I have that are named.

Good hunting!

vr

Bob

[Mil-Archive]

This is great news. I am putting together a list of names before getting a trial subscription

[l-marcin]

Apologies for a lame question, but is it possible to match the soldier's number on a dog tag, with the data from Ancestry? I see there is "identification number" published there (Ancestry).

Any thoughts?

[Gary T]

Apologies for a lame question, but is it possible to match the soldier's number on a dog tag, with the data from Ancestry? I see there is "identification number" published there (Ancestry).

Any thoughts?

The identification number is the file name.

The dogtag information is on the card themselves but these haven't been transcribed and are not searchable.

While this is a great source it is, like most of these datasets made publicly available, poorly implemented and thought through from a database perspective. Some of that is lack of skill but as these (Ancestry, FMP etc) are 'for profit' sites I sometimes think they do it on purpose - to prevent the data being presented and used properly.

[Simon O.]

That's interesting news. I'm working on reconstructing the original places of burial, units and cause of death of soldiers who died in Norway and see these index cards mentioned a lot, but that they were returned to Germany.

[hucks216]

The latest date I have found a card for is July 1944. There seems to be none for after that. Not sure if they don't exist at all or if they do and will be uploaded later (or not at all.) Apologies if this has been mentioned already.

[Gary T]

The latest date I have found a card for is July 1944. There seems to be none for after that. Not sure if they don't exist at all or if they do and will be uploaded later (or not at all.) Apologies if this has been mentioned already.

I have found the odd Italian casualty for 1945 but I agree as you get later in the war the hit rate decreases substantially.

[Jean-Loup]

I have found some for August and Sept 1944, but July 44 seems to be the cut off point after which they become rare.
For some reason, one guy from a certain unit will have a card, and another guy from the same company, who died in the same event and was buried in the same hole, has no card....

Also check out this thread if you are interested by the topic: https://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/for....php?t=1044709

JL

[Gary T]

I have found some for August and Sept 1944, but July 44 seems to be the cut off point after which they become rare.
For some reason, one guy from a certain unit will have a card, and another guy from the same company, who died in the same event and was buried in the same hole, has no card....

Also check out this thread if you are interested by the topic: https://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/for....php?t=1044709

JL

Were the cards administered centrally or by the wehrkreis offices?

[Waffenreich]

Were the cards administered centrally or by the wehrkreis offices?

Gary,

It depends what you mean by "administered". I believe the informing entity (field unit or medical station where the soldier died) sent a roster or register of deaths to the WASt. The WASt then recorded the information on one (or more) of the cards. You will see many individuals have a card marked at the bottom v1, and another v4. v4 seems to have supplemental information as if it was printed later. These cards were then used as the basis for official reporting to the civil authorities within the Wehrkreis or town that the soldier had recorded as his home of record at the time of mobilization.

Here's information on the records as described on Ancestry.com: "On August 26, 1939, the High Command of the German Wehrmacht began operating an information center for war casualties and prisoners of war. It was called the Wehrmachtsauskunftstelle für Kriegsverluste und Kriegsgefangene (WASt). In 1943, part of the agency was moved from Berlin to Saalfeld/Saale and another part to Meiningen. Beginning in January 1946, the agency was renamed the "Deutsche Dienststelle für die Benachrichtigung der nächsten Angehörigen von Gefallenen der ehemaligen deutschen Wehrmacht" (German Office for the Notification of Next-of-Kin of Members of the Former German Armed Forces who were Killed in Action). The name is commonly shortened as Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt). On January 1, 2019, that service became part of the German Federal Archives as the newly established Department PA (Information on Personal Data related to World Wars I and II) and is based in Berlin-Reinickendorf.

During the war and post-war period, the Deutsche Dienststelle submitted a notification of death for deceased individuals to the pertinent local Civil Registry. Therefore, in many German death registers, the "Informant" listed on a death record is the wartime agency."


I understand there is a good German book that describes all of this that would be worth reading if you're interested in the exact process. The name and author can be found on the Thread discussing this on the Fallschirmjäger Forum.

Regards!

Bob

[Jean-Loup]

There are also some cards for certain MIA, like this one. The info comes from the Red Cross and POWs.

[hucks216]

I don't know if it's just the ones I've searched for but I've found that the earlier in the war that a soldier was killed the more cards there are for him. So far I the most scans for one soldier I have found is 8 and he was killed in 1940.

[Simon O.]

8 is the same for me Hucks, also 1940

As a test I took the 11 with the rank of Hptm. buried at Narvik with death dates ranging from 1940 to 1945. Of those I found cards for 9, the 2 without of course being the two latest being oct.44 and may 45, the latest card I found of these 11 was Sept.44

[Gary T]

Gary,

It depends what you mean by "administered". I believe the informing entity (field unit or medical station where the soldier died) sent a roster or register of deaths to the WASt. The WASt then recorded the information on one (or more) of the cards. You will see many individuals have a card marked at the bottom v1, and another v4. v4 seems to have supplemental information as if it was printed later. These cards were then used as the basis for official reporting to the civil authorities within the Wehrkreis or town that the soldier had recorded as his home of record at the time of mobilization.

Here's information on the records as described on Ancestry.com: "On August 26, 1939, the High Command of the German Wehrmacht began operating an information center for war casualties and prisoners of war. It was called the Wehrmachtsauskunftstelle für Kriegsverluste und Kriegsgefangene (WASt). In 1943, part of the agency was moved from Berlin to Saalfeld/Saale and another part to Meiningen. Beginning in January 1946, the agency was renamed the "Deutsche Dienststelle für die Benachrichtigung der nächsten Angehörigen von Gefallenen der ehemaligen deutschen Wehrmacht" (German Office for the Notification of Next-of-Kin of Members of the Former German Armed Forces who were Killed in Action). The name is commonly shortened as Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt). On January 1, 2019, that service became part of the German Federal Archives as the newly established Department PA (Information on Personal Data related to World Wars I and II) and is based in Berlin-Reinickendorf.

During the war and post-war period, the Deutsche Dienststelle submitted a notification of death for deceased individuals to the pertinent local Civil Registry. Therefore, in many German death registers, the "Informant" listed on a death record is the wartime agency."


I understand there is a good German book that describes all of this that would be worth reading if you're interested in the exact process. The name and author can be found on the Thread discussing this on the Fallschirmjäger Forum.

Regards!

Bob

Thanks for the detailed reply Bob. I was thinking that if they were administered /retained locally there could be a regional bias in what survived - a bit like how wehrpass from Wehrkreis I, and to a lesser extent Wehrkreis II, are rarer to find. However, it appears that isn't the case here.