SS Kriegsberichter Collection on eBay

[MLW]

DVD Part 6 of the SS-KB photo collection us now ready for sale. Price is $20 plus postage. Here is the description. Please PM me if if you have questions or are interested in ordering any DVDs of the SS-KB photo collection.

Regards, Marc

Waffen-SS Kriegsberichter Photograph Collection Part 6 (M-W)

168 scanned photograph contact sheets with 5,280 images of photographs from the following SS-Kriegsberichter:

Mielke, Werner (Handschar 1943-44)
31 sheets with 918 images Sheets dated July, August, September, October, December 1943, or April, May 1944.

Möbius, Helmut (Wiking 1943-44)
10 sheets with 225 images of Himmler, Dietrich, and other senior officers observing artillery training; a group of well-decorated officers; individual soldier photographs; SS-soldiers in snow with Schwimwagen and Panzerfaust; wheeled reconnaissance vehicles on road; destroyed and captured Russian tanks; Panzer III, captured Russian soldiers, SS-soldiers in village market; Self-propelled nebelwerfer firing in snow; and 88mm Flak gun. Two sheets are dated May 1943 or April 1944.

Müller (1944)
1 sheet dated June 1944 with 32 images of unit formation and foreign soldiers.

Rottensteiner, Ferdinand (Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler, Italy, 1943)
12sheets with 384 images of Alps and local populace, unit formation and marching in a Italian city, destroyed buildings, captured Italian tanks, interment of Italian soldiers, and northern Italian landscape. Sheets are dated August, September 1943.

Talans (1943)
3 sheets with 86 images of infantry in fighting positions, training, field hospital. Sheets are dated August 1943.

Tissen (1943)
3 sheets with 99 images of range training with a Panzer III and crew, individual soldier photos, infantry in the field. Sheets are dated August 1943.

Troll (1943-44)
10 sheets with 243 images of field dentist; individual soldier photos; senior officer visit, barracks scenes; evacuation of civilian populace, perhaps Volksdeutsche; light Flak in position, and destroyed bridge. Sheets dated May and June 1943, and May 1944.

Truöl (Nederland Division 1944)
7 sheets with 245 images of airplane crash in woods, destroyed city and buildings, pioniere detonating smoke charges on a bridge, senior officer visit, Soldatenheim, and vehicles on muddy road. Sheets are dated January, April, or May 1944.

Tylawski (1944)
6 sheets with 192 images of training with a mortar, field kitchen, unit marching through a town, training with heavy artillery in snow, and marksmanship training. Sheets dated, February, March, April, or May 1944.

Ulf-Tur (1943)
5 sheets with 141 images of infantry in heavy forest, burial ceremony, field gas station, individual soldier photos, depot with ski and winter equipment, and soldiers relaxing. Sheets are dated September 1943, or April, May, and June 1943.

Vacs (1943)
One sheet with 33 images dated June 1943 with images of nurses on train and unit ceremony.

Vierbillken (Belgium 1943)
One sheet with 37 images dated November 1943 with images of soldiers and senior officers sightseeing in Brussels.

Waldbach (Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler, 1943)
6 sheets with 212 images of training camp, SS-soldiers receiving instruction, motorcycle troops, scenes of daily activities, and sporting activities. Sheets are dated June 1943.

Weill Part I (Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler, France 1940)
75 sheets with 2,433 images of soldiers in field, field graves, downed French aircraft, destroyed bridges, French prisoners and captured tanks, patrol in urban area, armored car removing a roadblock, reconnaissance unit in city and on the road, unit awards ceremony with Sepp Dietrich, group photos of senior officers, unit formation, soldiers relaxing, sport activities, maintenance on light artillery, individual soldier photos, Paris cafe and street scenes, German victory parade in Paris, Napoleon's tomb, assault gun and crew, rail-loading an assault gun, unit band concert, artillery crew training, soldiers training with assault rafts, machine gun and mortars crews training in field, scenes of occupation duties, senior officers with Himmler in field, and a unit review by Himmler in a French fort near Metz. Sheets are dated April 1943.

[MLW]

SS-KB Photo Collection DVD part 7

Part 7 of the collection is now ready for sale! It is the last DVD of the set. If you have all seven DVDs, then you have scans of all SS-KB contact sheets in NARA's Record Group 242-JRP collection. Each DVD is $20. I am now trying to determine if it is worthwhile to scan the photostatic images in 242-SS.

If interested please contact me via a PM or email (digitalhistoryarchive@verizon.net)

Regards, Marc

Waffen-SS Kriegsberichter Photograph Collection Part 7 (W-Z):

145 scanned photograph contact sheets with 4,367 images of photographs from the following SS-Kriegsberichter:

Weill Part II (Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler 1943). 69 sheets with 2,076 images of unit marching in a city, wheeled vehicles crossing a bridge, destroyed bridge, visit by senior foreign officer, photos of senior officer visit to barracks during a swearing-in ceremony, visit by Himmler, senior officers at a reception, Himmler with senior officers, Hitler Youth at a concert, political rally and reception, women with child, soldiers training with dogs in the snow. Note: about half of the contact sheets in this files are studio images of SS-soldiers. Sheets dated April and September 1943. Note: This is the second party of the Weill file on SS-KB DVD Part 6.

Weill II (1943). 4 sheets with 104 images of destroyed Russian tanks, German tanks, field kitchen, infantry in the snow. One sheet is dated July 1943. Note: SS-KB Weil II is a different photographer from SS-KB Weill.

Weibgen (Russia 1943). One sheet with 29 images of infantry marching on road, German war cemetery. Sheets dated September 1943.

Weis (1943). 4 sheets with 137 images of SS-troops with horse and wagon, engine maintenance facility, road building, and infantry with tank and half-track. Sheets dated May and June 1943.

Westermann (Handschar, 1943-44). 10 sheets with 252 images of city street scenes, artillery unit in mountains, a group of senior officers, and induction processing and physicals. Sheets dated November 1943 and January, April 1944.

Wickl (Prinz Eugen, Balkans 1943). 5 sheets with 180 images of a rolled-over armored car, groups of SS-officers and soldiers, encampment in the field, SS-officer with eye patch signing photographs, and unit activities in the field with French tanks. Sheets are dated May and June 1943.

Wiegand (Balkans 1943). 9 sheets with 266 images of heavy armed infantry operating in the field, motorcycle troops, signal troops laying wire, and close-in photos of armored car with crew members. Note, several of the contact sheets contain the same. Sheets are dated September 1943.

Wiesbach (Italy, 1943). One sheet with 36 images of SS-troops and vehicles in Rome, destroyed Italian tanks, and street scenes. Sheet dated October 1943.

Wisniewski (France and Russia 1943-44). 16 sheets with 503 images of infantry in forest, city buildings damaged by bombing, post-bombing clean-up activities, remains of a downed aircraft, photos of individual SS-soldiers, interior and exterior photos of a PK company truck, training camp in the Alsace, dog team pulling a wagon, kennel, training with dogs, training of new recruits, soldiers being award EKs, and infantry in snow in Russia. Sheets dated March, April, and May 1943, and March 1944.

Wittmar (1943). 3 sheets with 99 images of farming, a granary, interior of tank with crew members, assault boat on river, and singers and dancers performing for soldiers. Sheets dated May and June 1943.

Zeymer (1943-44). 14 sheets with 437 images of river with dam; cargo ship loading material; SS-soldiers attending concert in a stadium; German war cemetery; soldier band marching; mountain landscapes; foreign volunteers training, being paid, marching through mountains and woods; scenes of livestock and crop farming, visit by senior officer, checkpoint on road, machine shop with captured Russian T-34, local villagers at a rally, derailed train, Russian church, and group photos of women. Sheets dated June 1943 and January 1944.

Zschäckel (1943-44). 6 sheets with 152 images of SS-soldiers preparing for and watching a movie in the field, senior officers with Fiesler Storch, unit parade in Paris, and street scenes of Paris. Sheets dated May and October 1943, and May 1944.

Unidentified. 3 sheets with 96 images of individual and group photographs of Wallonian SS Soldiers, burial of an SS-soldier, and infantry in Balkans. Two sheets are dated May and June 1943.

[tim.forrest@bto]

Just received disc 2 & 3 from Marc (great, quick delivery to the UK Marc) and have to say I am absolutely delighted.
OK some of the images are not the best, but what do you expect from a contact sheet?
Overall I cannot say how good it is to see all the range of images captured by the KB. There are a few pictures that will be well known to most on here, but the images in the same sequence of shots are fascinating.
I have never been a fan or collector of non ‘front-line’ images but I found the images of everyday life in Germany and the occupied territories great.
I wonder if the original negatives, from which these contact sheets are made, are still around. You could capture some brilliant images from them with a top end digital scanner.
Well done Marc, keep up the good work

[MarcRikmenspoel]

Many of the war reporter photos were released to the press as individual 8x10 inch prints (not exactly 8x10, but roughly that size). They went out to newspapers and press agencies all over the world (for example, to neutral countries such as Sweden, or in South America). The majority, of course, went to German press agencies.

One way or another, thousands of images survived the war. Some went into private collections, for example if American soldiers found some. Others were taken in by museums, such as the Museum of Modern History in Slovenia, which has hundreds of them. The ones in private hands sometimes become available via estate sales, or in similar ways. Collectors such as Todd Gylsen from this board, or Ken Nieman, or many others, pick up photos where and when the opportunity presents itself.

So, prints do exist for many of the NARA contact sheet images. The Waffen-SS negatives, essentially, do not. I can't swear that no negative survived, but the mass of them, representing 100,000 photos, was burned in March 1945 when it was clear the war was lost.

Large prints naturally make for better reproductions in books. However, it is quite possible to make a decent print from the contact sheets. I expect that many images we've all seen over the years in various books are produced from the contact sheets at NARA, or the larger holding of them at the Bundesarchiv Koblenz. Individual contact sheet images have severe flaws, but most are salvageable with a good scanner. I made many good prints this year after scanning the contact sheet images at 2400dpi. Anyone with the time and patience to make 3200dpi scans would get even better results (I experimented, with my scanner, each 3200dpi scan took around 2.5 minutes, compared to 30-45 seconds at 2400dpi).

[tim.forrest@bto]

Whilst I agree it is possible to get acceptable results from scanning prints and contact sheets I have always achieved far far better results from scanning the original negative.

All the inbuilt variations inherent in the production of a print, ie exposure, development, chemistry condition, substrate type, condition, batch & storage variations in the paper etc are removed with direct scanning.

My background is 30+years professional scanning experience and working with major museums, archives and photo libraries here in the UK in getting their images digitised.

[Johnny R]

I have a complete set of what has been produced as of yet and for the price and they are a great value for general reference. I am a published author as well and work with vintage images on film- we typically use scans of the film/negatives to save time and money while researching. To me these provide "a catalog" of available images to use for reference. If I was going to publish anything I would use the scans of the contact sheets to select images and then request higher resolution images for use in publications. For general use and for observing how day to day life was in the field, how uniforms were worn and equipment used etc. they are fantastic.

[Jeff S]

One of my favorite purchases from years ago was the original negatives of a SS Kriegsberichter. Most are 35mm, some larger immulsions. There are approx 2500 images. I am unsure what his name was. He had some pictures taken of him, and others with his family. The shots of him show two cufftitles in wear, the SS Krieg title, and Prinz Eugen as the second cufftitle. He also wears a bronze infantry assault badge (don't remember what else).

Some of my favorite non-combat images are of his office, showing the duty boards, which SS KB's were at different times. I guess you would call them assignment boards.

I really need to get them out again, haven't looked at them in years.


I think I'm going to have to order these DVD's...I love stuff like this, seldom seen and truly one of a kind images.

[Remy Spezzano]

Some of my favorite non-combat images are of his office, showing the duty boards, which SS KB's were at different times. I guess you would call them assignment boards.

I really need to get them out again, haven't looked at them in years.

It would be really interesting to see some of the office photos you mentioned. It's not everyday we get to see what it's like behind the scenes.

[MLW]

The SS-KB collection has quite a few daily life and behind the scenes type of images. Of the top of my head there are scenes of barracks life, small arms and vehicle maintenance, training, unit award formations, senior officer visits, unit parades, soldier concerts, funerals, and views of KB studios and vehicles (inside and out). I would be glad to post some of theme here, but I lack proper privileges to attach photos. If someone with such privileges would help post them, then please PM me.

Regards,
Marc