Greetings,
Trying to get some information about a long lost relative. He was my Great Grandfathers brother, and served in WW1 and was injured, which apparently made him ineligible to serve in the armed forces during WW2. His name was Richard.
Richard lived with his wife in Augsburg during the War from 1939 forward. The only documentation I have is that he served as an officer in the "Rural Police" in the city of Augsburg.
Does anyone have good information about the Rural Police in general? Or even better specifics on the Rural Police of Augsburg from 1939-1945. Did they have any connections to the SS? Were the Polizei forces of Germany after 1940 under command of the SS?
The reason I ask is that my grandfather has always told me his uncle "Richard" served with the SS as an officer. However I recently contacted some relatives who live in Munich, and when they checked our family archives there were no records of Richards SS service. All they could find was that he was a member of the Rural Police. I attribute that he must have either destroyed his SS records to avoid persecution, or maybe he really just was in the Rural police and for some reason that connected him with the SS... It is all very confusing at the moment. I also think that connections with the SS are a touchy subject, and maybe my extended relatives over there are not willing to talk about that.
Unfortunately, the man in question, my great uncle Richard died in the early 1950's from liver cancer, apparently he was a heavy drinker
Anyways, any help or information concerning the situation would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Christian
Trying to get some information about a long lost relative. He was my Great Grandfathers brother, and served in WW1 and was injured, which apparently made him ineligible to serve in the armed forces during WW2. His name was Richard.
Richard lived with his wife in Augsburg during the War from 1939 forward. The only documentation I have is that he served as an officer in the "Rural Police" in the city of Augsburg.
Does anyone have good information about the Rural Police in general? Or even better specifics on the Rural Police of Augsburg from 1939-1945. Did they have any connections to the SS? Were the Polizei forces of Germany after 1940 under command of the SS?
The reason I ask is that my grandfather has always told me his uncle "Richard" served with the SS as an officer. However I recently contacted some relatives who live in Munich, and when they checked our family archives there were no records of Richards SS service. All they could find was that he was a member of the Rural Police. I attribute that he must have either destroyed his SS records to avoid persecution, or maybe he really just was in the Rural police and for some reason that connected him with the SS... It is all very confusing at the moment. I also think that connections with the SS are a touchy subject, and maybe my extended relatives over there are not willing to talk about that.
Unfortunately, the man in question, my great uncle Richard died in the early 1950's from liver cancer, apparently he was a heavy drinker
Anyways, any help or information concerning the situation would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Christian