Germany's Heroes Remembrance Day 1940

 

Image size: 2048 x 1370 pixel. 457 KB
Date: Sunday, 10 March 1940
Place: Unter den Linden, Berlin, Germany
Photographer: Unknown

Heldengedenktag (Heroes Remembrance Day) 1940 on Unter den Linden boulevard in Berlin. Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler, accompanied by Reich Marshal Hermann Göring, Grand Admiral Erich Raeder and Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, greets the honor battalion of the Wehrmacht marching past. March 10, 1940. In 1919, the German War Graves Commission (Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge) proposed a Volkstrauertag (people's day of mourning) for German soldiers killed in the First World War. It was first held in 1922 in the Reichstag. In 1926, Volkstrauertag became a feature on what Catholics considered Reminiscere (the second Sunday of Lent.). On 27 February 1934, the National Socialists introduced national holiday legislation to create Heldengedenktag ("Day of Commemoration of Heroes"), cementing the observance. In the process, they completely changed the character of the holiday: the emphasis shifted to hero worship rather than remembering the dead. Furthermore, five years later the Nazis abolished Buß- und Bettag as a non-working day and moved its commemoration to the following Sunday, to further the war effort. Joseph Goebbels as Propaganda Minister, issued guidelines on content and implementation, instructing that flags no longer be flown at half-mast. The last Heldengedenktag was celebrated in 1945. Photo by Popperfoto.

Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkstrauertag
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=412210326714464&set=gm.1641608349357915

Eichenlaub Award Ceremony for Panzer Ace Otto Carius

Image size: 1600 x 1154 pixel. 304 KB
Date: Tuesday, 2 January 1945
Place: Outskirts of Salzburg, Austria
Photographer: SS-Kriegsberichter Ege

Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler (Oberbefehlshaber Heeresgruppe Oberrhein) awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub #535 to Oberleutnant der Reserve Otto Carius from schwere Panzer-Abteilung 502. The picture was taken by SS-Kriegsberichter Ege on 2 January 1945 at the outskirts of Salzburg (Austria). The ceremony was quite extraordinary because Carius had already received the announcement of his award from 27 July 1944, but the ceremony was postponed until five months later! This is because the panzer ace was seriously injured by a multiple shot in the seven parts of his body (including the neck!) only a few days before he suppsosedly received the Eichenlaub, so he had to be taken to the intensive care for months at Feldlazarett (Field Hospital). Carius received the news of his award through newspapers when lying weak on the bed, and was only able to walk with his feet in September 1944. When this photograph was taken, he was no longer in charge of schwere Panzer-Abteilung 502 but had already been transferred to Panzer-Ersatz- und Ausbildungs-Abteilung 500. Another interesting fact is that the handed-over ceremony was performed by Himmler, whereas the Eichenlaub-grade medal ceremony and above was usually attended by Hitler directly. This is because from the end of 1944 the Führer began to restrict his public activities - along with the deterioration of the war situation - so that such activities were then represented to his closest confidants such as Himmler and Göring. Carius dedicated a chapter about this moment in his book 'Tigers in the Mud': "My first impressions of this man, whom his opponents called a 'bloodhound', had really pleasantly surprised me. I wasn't apprehensive about the upcoming 'cozy' conversation anymore. I described my visit with Heinrich Himmler in such detail, because he really surprised me. After the conversation in his staff headquarters , I gathered some hope for a successful conclusion to the war. That was after I had already considered a defeat almost certain."

Source :
https://ritterkreuztraeger.blogspot.co.id/2018/03/eichenlaub-award-ceremony-for-panzer.html

Heinrich Himmler and SS Generals in Quedlinburg 1936

Image size: 1600 x 1169 pixel. 374 KB
Date: Thursday, 2 July 1936
Place: Quedlinburg, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany
Photographer: Unknown

SS generals in M32 black SS uniform and M18 stahlhem. From left to right: Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler (Chef der SS und Deutschen Polizei), SS-Gruppenführer August Heißmeyer (Chef SS-Hauptamt), SS-Gruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich (Chef SD-Hauptamt), SS-Brigadeführer Karl Wolff (Chefadjudant der Reichsführer-SS), and SS-Obergruppenführer Richard Walther Darré (Chef Rasse- und Siedlungshauptamt/RuSHA). The picture taken in Quedlinburg castle, 2 July 1936, in the 1000th anniversary of King Henry I the Fowler's death (German: Heinrich der Finkler or Heinrich der Vogler). During the Nazi regime, the memory of Henry I became a sort of cult, as Heinrich Himmler saw himself as the reincarnation of the "most German of all German" rulers. The Nazism ideology referred to Henry as a founding father of the German nation, fighting both the Latin Western Franks and the Slavic tribes of the East, thereby a precursor of the German "Drang nach Osten". For this purpose, the collegiate church and castle in Quedlinburg were to be turned into a shrine for Nazi Germany. The Nazi Party tried to create a new religion. The cathedral was closed from 1938 and during the war. Liberation in 1945 brought back the Protestant bishop and the church bells, and the Nazi style eagle was taken down from the tower. Georg Ay was local party chief from 1931 until the end of the war.

Source:

http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=83951&start=75

German and Italian Officials at Münich Conference

Image size: 1203 x 1600 pixel. 494 KB
Date: Friday, 30 September 1938
Place: München, Bayern, Germany
Photographer: Unknown

German and Italian top officials walked together in the street of München at the time of Münich Conference, 30 September 1938. From left to right: SS-Hauptsturmführer Dr. Eugen Dollmann (Führer beim Stab Reichsführer-SS and Himmler's Italian translator); SS-Obersturmführer Dr.phil. Hans-Joachim Freiherr "Hajo" von Hadeln (Adjutant Reichsführer-SS Himmler); SS-Gruppenführer Karl Wolff (Chef des Hauptamtes Persönlicher Stab Reichsführer-SS); two unidentified Italian officers; Profesor Arturo Marcipati (wearing black fez, leader of Italian Fascist Black Shirts); General der Artillerie Wilhelm Keitel (Chef der Wehrmacht-Führungsamt, Reichskriegsministerium); Reichsführer-SS Dipl.-Landwirt Heinrich Himmler (Reichsführer-SS und Chef der deutschen Polizei); Generalmajor (Luftwaffe) Karl-Heinrich Bodenschatz (Chef des Ministeramtes des Reichministers der Luftfahrt und Oberbefehlshabers der Luftwaffe); and Generalfeldmarschall Hermann Göring (Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe). All the SS officers wearing M32 black Allgemeine-SS uniform and achselschnur (Adjutant's cords). Karl Wolff wearing Italian Commendatore dell’Ordine dei Santi Maurizio e. Lazzaro (which he received in 29 September 1937) in his neck, while Himmler wearing Blutorden (ribbon on left pocket) and Italian Breast Star medal Cavaliere di Gran Croce dell’Ordine dei Santi Maurizio e Lazzaro

Source:

http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=176028