Tracing a soldier - should or should not?

[Akira Takiguchi]

I do not know if this fits in this forum but anyway:

Today while I was browsing the missing-lynx forum, I encountered an interesting website.

It is about an estate (Soldbuch and award documents) from a <i>badass</i> (so describes the page) man from 9.Panzer-Division, who threatened his men to advance with his gun, but after the capture by the US, he was shot in the head because of his crazy behaviour. His body was never properly treated due to this illegal action. It was late September.

I searched him with Volksbund database. Yes, he was there. His gravesite is known. His birthplace and place of death is unknown (now I know both). His official MIA date is quite late, December 1st (as can be expected).

On reading the website, one would blame this man's crazy behavior. He may have deserved death. What made a fanatic out of this 19-year young guy? It could possibly have been due to his gene. Probably because of Nazi education. His experience in hellish eastern front may have turned him into something evil.

A man, even for a 19-year youth, has a long history. If he has to be remembered by his terrible act in his final day, it's too bad...

Do you think this kind of finding should be reported to the Volksbund? If I were the relative, I would like to know how tragic it is. But some may think otherwise...

[Rick Research]

History is the truth. My friend Rockie Blunt was captured during the Battle of the Bulge by German Panzer troops who had run out of gasoline. The Americans were stripped of their boots, any warm clothing, and anything edible or smokable. A young German soldier felt sorry for them and snuck a piece of food over, was caught-- and summarily shot by his commander for what the Nazis called "action detrimental to defense strength." No trial, simply shot dead with a pistol in front of all the Germans and Americans.

This officer then decided to kill all the American POWs, but Rockie talked him out of it, and the captors became the captives. No one, German or American, then did anything to this Major, whose lethal brutality had needlessly taken the life of a young German kid-- for the "crime" of being humane. Summary military justice-- and the Major's right to inflict it, no matter how senseless, was accepted by the soldiers on both sides.

Somewhere, there were parents, brothers, sisters, maybe a girlfriend, who no doubt do not know to this day what happened to that young soldier--or why.

As a genealogist, in my experience someone SHOULD be told-- but only the Germans there knew this teenaged soldier's name.

[Lena Heidorn]

Akira,

at this point I am myself researching the fate of my Grandfathers brother. It´s not easy to find out about him. If someone had a story about him anywhere, I would desperately want them to tell it. Even this day today, there are so many requests to the Volksbund and other Organisations. So many fates are still unknown.

Please copy the information you found, and send it to the Volksbund. There might very well be somebody out there who will be grateful for it.

Best wishes, LH

[Lena Heidorn]

I almost forgot...

There are three more places that people use to find out about relatives:

Bundesarchiv
Zentralnachweisstelle
Abteigarten 6
Aachen, Germany

Deutsche Dienststelle in Berlin (don´t know the address)

And Deutsches Rotes Kreuz (Red Cross), also holds a section for WW2 research.

If you don´t mind bothering, inform them.

[Akira Takiguchi]

Rick, Lena, thanks for your messages. His first name is fairly uncommon (less than 10 in Gr&auml;bersuche) and his birthplace is known, actually it will be rather easy to find out his relative.