Alfons Rebane?? The others? Keppler??
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another one, what about the other? -
The Estonian RK is Harald Riipalu , being presented with his RK with Felix Steiner.Comment
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The third photo shows Riipalu , Kausch , Schlutter and Ertel at the RK award ceremony , the photos are from a well known series taken at Sillamae , Estonia in August 1944Comment
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The 4th photo shows Augsberger far left and Ziegler standing behind Kausch and Steiner,
regards
PaulComment
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The guy at far right is Paul Kresin, a Heer Oberst who commanded ARKO 138, which functioned as the artillery HQ for the III.(Germanisches) SS-Panzerkorps. It can be seen thst he is wearing the German Cross in gold he was awarded on September 1, 1944. Thus, this photo must be from that day or later.
Joachim Ziegler (commander 11. SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier Div. Nordland) didn't receive his Knight's Cross in this ceremony, and it was dated September 5, so that narrows the window to roughly September 1 to September 4. If word had arrived in time about Ziegler, he certainly would have been presented his award. Harald Riipalu (commander of Waffen-Grenadier Reg. 45), Paul-Albert "Peter" Kausch (commander of SS-Panzer Abteilung 11 Hermann von Salza, but really the overall armor commander for the corps), Wilhelm Schlueter (commander of SS-Artillerie Reg. 54), and Karlheinz Ertel (Adjutant of SS-Panzergrenadier Reg. 49 De Ruyter) all had their awards dated August 23.
About Riipalu, I at one time guessed that he had been granted full SS membership. I was wrong, Estonian friends have informed me that Riipalu and some other Estonians wore the runes as a sort of novelty, after being given them by Germans.
Also, in the bottom photo of the second post, at left, is Franz Augsberger, commander of the 20. Waffen-Grenadier Division.Comment
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Thanks Paul amd Marc for the amazing amount of informations!!! It was very very much appreciated!
@paul any book reference?
Interesting also that Riipalu is wearing the SS "runes" below the lower left breast....Comment
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Normally those are worn at gendarmerie / rural pollice tunics - indicating the wearer is also a member of the SS.Originally posted by Edgar Alcidi View PostComment
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Long time I'm trying to understand why.Originally posted by Edgar Alcidi View Post
Those were used by Polizei and WSS members that were full Allgemeine-SS members, while wearing uniforms without runic tabs (f.i. Polizei or Foreign WSS tunics).
As far as I know, full SS membership was given to Reichsdeutschen only, and I don't think Riipalu was given german Nationality.....still a mistery to me.Comment
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I was wondering the same Tom...honextly I do not have any ideas about the reasons..Originally posted by T.K. View PostComment
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I think the runes on the breast was just a "pimp up my tunic" thing amongst the Estonians. There are also many photos of enlisted soldiers of the 20th SS wearing them.Comment
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IMHO you don't dare to "pimp" anything that belongs to Mr. Heinrich Himmler....Originally posted by kass View Post
He was pretty "serious" about the SS membership, as far as I'm concerned; a very strict regulation was instituited by him in relation to such subject, in which was stated that such insigna could have been worn by full SS members only, and I don't think he was just joking...Comment
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I think Estonians just dident care of Himmler! No one of them was an ss membersOriginally posted by T.K. View Post
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