Photo Retouching- Soldiers of the Waffen-SS

[Lloyd I.]

Another unpublished of Peiper from the Bundesarchiv. 1940 in relaxed conversation.

[Lloyd I.]

I have documents in .pdf format with research I've gathered. They are formatted for publication. As mentioned a pet peeve of mine is not sequencing photographs. Understandable for publishers but inconsistent in what is presented. If a publisher so wanted they could present a one side set of images of a personality. This was often done with Peiper.

Here is an example from my document on Wünsche. As I put a lot time into it and there is the possibility of publication one day I've added watermarks.

Which do you publish? The intense Wünsche or the one of him smiling?

[Lloyd I.]

Heinz Harmel re-touched.

[Remy Spezzano]

Nice work in bringing out the details on the Harmel portrait! Thanks for sharing.

[Erwin L]

My compliments. Personally i think it really improves the photos

Regards

Erwin

[MarcRikmenspoel]

FWIW, my in-progress work on the Germanic Waffen-SS will include hundreds of SS-PK photos from the US National Archives. These will be sequenced, along with as much detail as possible on the photographer, the location, etc. By agreement with Helion, this project will now be split into two volumes, so as to include more photos. There will be much more than just war reporter photos, and the other ones mostly can't be sequenced, but there will be many sequenced sections in the books.

On the other hand, retouching will likely be at a minimum. The photos have been scanned at 2400 dpi from the contact sheets in the Ribbentrop collection, so the initial scans are as as good as can be reasonably expected. I'm not really a Photoshop expert, my time is going more into extensive research, to allow very accurate captions.

[Remy Spezzano]

SS-Sturmbannführer Christian Tychsen, Panzer Division "Das Reich" (KIA 28 July 1944) In April 1943 he was awarded the Knight's Cross. Tychsen became 2nd SS Panzer Rgt commander on November, 1943, and held command until he replaced the wounded Heinz Lammerding as temporary Commanding Officer of the Das Reich Division.

[Remy Spezzano]

During the awards ceremony in which he received his Knights Cross in April 1943.

[Remy Spezzano]

This light hearted group shot photo was taken shortly after the Knights Cross awards ceremony in April 1943.

[Remy Spezzano]

This very well might be the moment in which Tychsen is personally receiving the Oak Leaves to his Knights Cross from Hitler at the Wolf's Lair.

[MarcRikmenspoel]

Remy, I strongly believe that the photo indeed shows Tychsen receiving his EL from AH. Meanwhile, there's the photo of the Das Reich award winners standing in line in April 1943. It can be seen there, if you look closely, that Tychsen is crying from the emotion of the moment. This is more evident in a closeup photo taken a moment before or after.

Tychsen is actually a common name in South Denmark. Christian is a common Danish name, too. Christian Tychsen was from Schleswig, near the Danish border, and probably had some Danish ancestry. Keith Bonn (RIP) of Aberjona once pointed out to me that one of the American generals commanding a unit fighting against Das Reich in Normandy was named Tychsen, and was the son of Danish immigrants. He speculated that the US General could have been very distantly related to Christian Tychsen.

[Remy Spezzano]

Here's a nice sequence of photos I thought were pretty unique. Retouching this batch took some time to accomplish but it was worth it.
It's the 27th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division "Langemarck" marching in formation through the city streets of Antwerp, Belgium.

Date: June 18, 1943
SS-Kriegsberichter: Damm-Jensen
Location: Antwerp, Belgium
Film Roll No. 13
Frame No. 5

[Remy Spezzano]

Frame No. 11

[Remy Spezzano]

Frame No. 12

[Remy Spezzano]

Frame No. 14