A battlefield "Press Photograph" from the Siege of Leningrad that was later used in the post-War German book "Der Kampf im Nordabschnitt der Ostfront" which was the story of Heeresgruppe Nord 1941-1945.
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The rest of the story......
Here are a few more "Press Photos" from that battle:
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Closer of the original photo.......
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Very nice photos! They are all from the same roll....188.Comment
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This is fascinating and informative to me, what with my study of Waffen-SS war reporters. This guy is Bruno Wisniewski, a very active Waffen-SS Bildberichter. This set of photos shows the Third Battle of Lake Ladoga. During the second half of July, 1943, the Soviets attacked the Mga salient, east of Leningrad, and made their fifth attempt to capture the only high ground in the area, the low hills at Sinyavino. This was both to widen their land corridor into Leningrad, and to prevent the Germans from transferring forces from HG Nord to the Kursk area.
Schwere Panzer Abteilung 502 had just received its 2. and 3. Kompanien, and was a whole unit for the first time. Its Tigers were a key part of the barely successful German defense during desperate fighting.
I'm not certain why Wisniewski was there. In the spring of 1943 he had been at the Germanic Reception Facility at Sennheim, in Alsace. Later, in February 1944, he covered Brigade Nederland at Narva. He was killed at Narva on March 7, 1944, probably during the Soviet bombing raids on the night of March 6-7 that destroyed most of the town. My guess is that he was with the KG of the SS-Polizei Division that remained in the Leningrad sector, while the main body of the division reorganized in Greece. The KG was only lightly engaged in the Third Ladoga Battle, so Wisniewski probably headed to where the action was hottest, which was with the Tigers. My best guess is that he remained in the Leningrad area and was sent to cover Brigade Nederland when it arrived at the end of 1943. This was a target for extensive propaganda coverage, to encourage recruiting in the Netherlands, while the ever-shrinking SS-Polizei Division KG was of less and less interest.
Edited to note that, of course, the photos even have an SS-Polizei Division stamp on the back. which I missed the first time I looked at them.Comment
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