Photo Retouching- Soldiers of the Waffen-SS

[DaveNZ]

thanks for the info guys

[kokstok]

Nice pictures of the awards being pinned

i assume the soliders all knew who was going to be given the awards as they already have the loops ready to go?

Is that how it went, ie a soldier was notified of his award in advance so he had time to prepare loops for it on his uniform?

it wasnt a surprise sprung on them?

cheers

dave

And some where confident to earn the EKI in the future because some of them made their loops on the right side of the center in stead of the modest soldiers who did it in the center of their breast pocket.

[Remy Spezzano]

Photo 3

On the left standing just behind Dietrich is SS-Sturmbannführer Wilhelm Mohnke and in front saluting is Knights Cross Holder SS-Sturmbannführer Fritz Witt.

I forgot to mention that the officer on the right is Hauptsturmführer Theodor Wisch. Does anyone know for sure who is standing between Witt and Wisch?

[MarcRikmenspoel]

Hi Remy, that isn't Wisch at right, it is Albert Frey. Between Witt and Frey is possibly Erwin Horstmann, commander of 10./LAH.

I checked the book of my friend Charles Trang, Leibstandarte 1933-1942, and he obtained the same sequence of photos from NARA. He identifies Frey also, but is confused about the man in the middle. He mentions the obvious Hstuf. that it isn't, such as Max Hansen. in another part of the book, there is a grainy photo of Horstmann that seems to resemble the man in the middle. I'm not certain of the ID, but it is a reasonable possibility.

[Richard P]

All I can say is that is some incredible work that greatly improves the usefulness of many photos. Keep up the good work and please don't hesitate to share more.

Thanks!

Richard

[Graeme]

Hi Remy

Great work, I enjoyed the pics very much, especially the award ceremony, not often I have seen IABs being handed out.

thanks for posting

regards
Graeme

[Remy Spezzano]

Hi Remy, that isn't Wisch at right, it is Albert Frey. Between Witt and Frey is possibly Erwin Horstmann, commander of 10./LAH.

Based on your comment I went back and cross referenced some photos of Albert Fey and you are right. It's funny because Wisch does look similar but when you really compare photos of the two men side by side you clearly see the difference.
Thanks for the clarification.

[Remy Spezzano]

Revised image with respective names for each officer.

[Remy Spezzano]

As I search through the US National Archives collection of Waffen-SS contacts sheets I'm always finding new images that haven't been published before. Many of these images will most likely never be put in a book so I'm posting them in this thread to share.

For example these rare photos of Joachim Peiper. They were taken in the front line area of Taganrog, Russia Oct.- Nov. 1941.

Most researchers pass over these photos because they don't realize it's Peiper in the photos. What throws you off is the mustache. I can't recall any photos of Peiper where he's wearing a mustache in uniform.

[Remy Spezzano]

Here's some further information regarding Peiper's time spent visiting the front line positions at Taganrog on the Azov Sea. This information came from the Wikipedia page for Peiper.

Although no longer Himmler's official first adjutant, Peiper continued to write in Himmler’s diary until mid-September 1941. Peiper may have been dispatched to the LSSAH earlier as an observer for the Reichsführer-SS, but available records show that he formally transferred to the LSSAH before October 1941. When he rejoined the LSSAH it was engaged on the Eastern Front near the Black Sea. Peiper spent several days at its headquarters when an injury to a unit commander gave Peiper an opportunity to take command of the 11th company.

The 11th Company fought at Mariupol and Rostov-on-Don. Peiper was noted for his fighting spirit although his unit also suffered high casualties due to his aggressive tactics. The company killed a number of prisoners of war, a practice which both the Soviets and Germans were known to engage in.

During its combat action the LSSAH was followed by Einsatzgruppe D which was responsible for organising the extermination of Jews and Communists. Einsatzgruppe D continued its operations even when winter weather suspended active military operations. It shared the same winter quarters at Taganrog on the Azov Sea as the LSSAH and on occasion the division assisted Einsatzgruppe D with its operations.

[Remy Spezzano]

Photos 2

[Paul E]

Very interesting Remy , iv'e never seen Peiper with a " tash" before but as you say it is quite clearly him ,

cheers

Paul

[D_Dutch]

Here is an interesting series of photos taken by Waffen-SS Kriegsberichter Gösling of
an awards ceremony for the 1st SS "Leibstandarte" Division in France 1940.

I do not know if you already know this but this ceremony was also featured in Die Deutsche Wochenschau; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3O3nx...eature=related


With kind regards,

Koen.

[Remy Spezzano]

I do not know if you already know this but this ceremony was also featured in Die Deutsche Wochenschau; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3O3nx...eature=related


With kind regards,

Koen.

Thanks for posting the link to the newsreel on YouTube!
It's really something to see the still photos come to life. Often the men of the PK units worked together in unison with both the still photographer and movie cameraman getting as much coverage as possible of any given event. This is clearly evident in this newsreel. In fact you can see the still photographer in several scenes taking the very photos I have posted. Very interesting to freeze the video in key moments and compare the angles.

One thing I did notice is that the movie cameraman does not appear in any of the still photographers frames on the contact sheet. He made an effort to always keep the cameraman just outside of the frame when he snapped a picture.

[MLW]

More info about NARA's collection of SS-KB contact sheets can be found in this thread - http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...highlight=NARA