Hello,
My family came to the US after the war, we're from East Prussia. All members old enough to serve in the German forces during the Reich years did, many lived, most died in the east and were buried there.
I have one living uncle, in his 90s, who served in the Luftwaffe. He's a wealth of information, as were my grandfathers, uncles, and others both family and friends but those men and their wives are dead now.
Disregarding all of the stories and photos we have no one ever bothered to document exactly where our dead are buried, or which divisions/units they served in, nor a making complete list of awards they earned. Granted, some of us were lucky and were given awards & photos which were brought to the USA with our elders, so we do have some bits of good data to start with.
I'd like to work to fill in the gaps. So does one start this journey? By writing (to my nearest) German consulate to open an information request? Are there divisional rosters online which can be leveraged along with contacting DE officials?
All leads are appreciated.
Kind regards,
DM
My family came to the US after the war, we're from East Prussia. All members old enough to serve in the German forces during the Reich years did, many lived, most died in the east and were buried there.
I have one living uncle, in his 90s, who served in the Luftwaffe. He's a wealth of information, as were my grandfathers, uncles, and others both family and friends but those men and their wives are dead now.
Disregarding all of the stories and photos we have no one ever bothered to document exactly where our dead are buried, or which divisions/units they served in, nor a making complete list of awards they earned. Granted, some of us were lucky and were given awards & photos which were brought to the USA with our elders, so we do have some bits of good data to start with.
I'd like to work to fill in the gaps. So does one start this journey? By writing (to my nearest) German consulate to open an information request? Are there divisional rosters online which can be leveraged along with contacting DE officials?
All leads are appreciated.
Kind regards,
DM
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