The Grave of Oberleutnant Joachim Sonntag at Rzhev

Image size: 1600 x 1017 pixel. 382 KB
Date: Monday, 30 November 1942
Place: Bossino, Belyj, Rzhev Salient, Soviet Union
Photographer: Achim von Bredow

"Half Jew" Oberleutnant Joachim Sonntag’s grave on the Russian front. This picture was taken in the end of November 1942 by Achim von Bredow, a “37.5 percent Jew” according to Nazi law. Sonntag (20 August 1917 - 29 November 1942) was killed in a place about 30 kilometers southeast of Bossino, Belyj, during the Battle of Rzhev against the Red Army. In the fierce battle at Belyj, the Kampfgruppe Krüger - which was part of the 1. Panzer-Division - managed to resist a massive attack by Soviet troops from the 41st Army. Soviet offensive against the Rzhev salient, held by Heeresgruppe Mitte (Army Group Centre), was launched on 25 November 1942. On its western side, Soviet 41st Army units managed to break through the German defences south of Belyj, advancing deep into the German-held front. However, not only did they fail to seize Belyj, defended by 1. Panzer Division’s Kampfgruppe Krüger – which included Panzergrenadier Regiment 113 (Kampfgruppe von Wietersheim, with the bulk of II./SR 113, I./Panzer Regiment 33 from 9. Panzer Division and II./Artillerie Regiment 73), along with two Kampfgruppen from 246. Infanterie Division and 10. Infanterie Division (mot) plus the Füsilier Regiment ‘Grossdeutschland’ – but they also faced stubborn resistance from other elements of 1. Panzer Division. To face the Soviet breakthrough, Kampfgruppe von der Meden was deployed on the eastern bank of the Natscha River. Under the command of Panzergrenadier Regiment 1, it included II./PzRgt 1 (the only tank unit with 1. Panzer Division), I and II./PzGrenRgt 1 and the Kradschützen Bataillon 1. Gruppe Holste, including Panzerjäger Abteilung 37 and Panzer Pionier Bataillon 37, deployed to the south to defend the vital town of Wladimirskoje. These units were to hold their positions until the relief force, made up of 12, 19 and 20. Panzer Divisions, dealt with the enemy breakthrough and restored the defence line. Although the attack by the 41st Soviet Army focused on Belyj, its 1st Mechanized Corps pressed on, and by 27 November had managed to cross the Natscha River in several places to the north and the south of Bossino. Only the stubborness of Kampfgruppe von der Meden’s units, most notably of Kradschützen Bataillon 1, prevented an enemy breakthrough and complete disaster. However, Kampfgruppe von der Meden’s defence line was broken into two; from now on the northern group at Stepankowa could only be supplied via a path opened across the woods. The German situation worsened on 28 November when a new Soviet attack southeast of Belyj broke through the defences and opened the way to the Soviet 47th Mechanized Brigade’s drive north. The stubborn defence put up by the Germans and a slowing in the Soviet attack (particularly with the decision to focus on Belyj) prevented outright disaster, but the German situation gravely worsened. Between 29 and 30 November the gap between Kampfgruppe Kruger at Belyj and Kampfgruppe von der Meden widened, allowing the Soviet 47th Mechanized Brigade to advance north to the Otscha River, before eventually being halted by the Kradschützen Bataillon ‘Grossdeutschland’. To the east, the German front disintegrated, leaving only a series of strongpoints that the Soviets could apparently overrun at will. On 30 November a decisive attack was launched by the Soviet 1st Mechanized Corps. In the morning, following a heavy snowfall, 75th Rifle Brigade and 4th Tank Regiment eventually failed, simply because the German defenders clung to their positions and fought to the last. In four days of combat, II./PzRgt 1 destroyed more than 40 Soviet tanks, and by 30 November it still had two PzKpfw III operational. Although desperate, the German situation was not hopeless. By mid-afternoon the leading elements of 12. Panzer Division joined Kampfgruppe von der Meden’s southern group and counter-attacked the Soviet spearheads at Ssemenzowo, pushing on to Petelino to relieve the encircled Kradschützen Bataillon 1 and eventually linking up with I./PzGrenRgt 1 before nightfall. The Soviet 1st Mechanized Corps switched to the defensive, now aware that the opportunity had been lost and that the German front was going to be restored.

Source :

“Hitler’s Jewish Soldiers” by Bryan Mark Rigg 

"Panzer Divisions: The Eastern Front 1941-43" by Pier Paolo Battistelli

https://www.volksbund.de/graebersuche/detailansicht.html?tx_igverlustsuche_pi2%5Bgid%5D=b2de1544127617159dff27517ef0a1b7&cHash=e81e2d7b8de3356cee04c37e458510c7

Pulling the Dead SS Soldier from Dachau Canal

Image size: 1600 x 1218 pixel. 506 KB
Date: Sunday, 29 April 1945
Place: Dachau, Oberbayern, Germany
Photographer: Unknown

The photograph above shows two soldiers from the 42nd "Rainbow" Infantry Division and one of the released prisoners from Dachau concentration camp (Konzentrationslager) pulling the body of a dead Waffen-SS soldier from the Würm river which flows in a concrete-lined canal along the west side of the camp. The American soldier on the far right is 19-year-old Richard F. Dutro of 232 Infantry, E Company from Zanesville, Ohio. After liberated the camp in 29 April 1945, personnel of the 42nd Division discovered the presence of guards, presumed to be SS men, in a tower to the left of the main gate of the inmate stockade. This tower was attacked by Tec 3 Henry J. Wells 39271327, Headquarters Military Intelligence Service, ETO, covered and aided by a party under Lt. Col. Walter J. Fellenz, 0-23055, 222 Infantry. No fire was delivered against them by the guards in the tower. A number of Germans were taken prisoner; after they were taken, and within a few feet of the tower, from which they were taken, they were shot and killed. Quoted from the IG Report of the U.S. Seventh Army. The bodies of two other SS men from Tower B had fallen into the Würm canal beside the tower.

Source:

http://www.scrapbookpages.com/DachauScrapbook/DachauLiberation/GuardTowerB.html

Concentration Camp Inmate Breaks Out in Tears in Wöbbelin

Image size: 1600 x 1273 pixel. 285 KB
Date: Friday, 4 May 1945
Place: Wöbbelin concentration camp, Ludwigslust, Germany
Photographer: Private Ralph Forney (US Army)

At the German concentration camp at Wöbbelin, many inmates were found by the U.S. Ninth Army in pitiful condition. Here one of them breaks out in tears when he finds he is not leaving with the first group to the hospital. Survivors waiting for to be evacuated from the Wöbbelin concentration camp to receive medical attention at a field hospital. Germany, May 4, 1945. Previously, On May 2, 1945, the U.S. 8th Infantry Division and the 82nd Airborne Division encountered Wöbbelin. Living conditions in the camp when the U.S. 8th Infantry and the 82nd Airborne arrived were deplorable. There was little food or water and some prisoners had resorted to cannibalism. When the units arrived, they found about 1,000 inmates dead in the camp. In the aftermath, the U.S. Army ordered the townspeople in Ludwigslust to visit the camp and bury the dead. On May 7, 1945, the 82nd Airborne Division conducted funeral services for 200 inmates in the town of Ludwigslust. Attending the ceremony were citizens of Ludwigslust, captured German officers, and several hundred members of the airborne division. The U.S. Army chaplain at the service delivered a eulogy stating that: "The crimes here committed in the name of the German people and by their acquiescence were minor compared to those to be found in concentration camps elsewhere in Germany. Here there were no gas chambers, no crematoria; these men of Holland, Russia, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and France were simply allowed to starve to death. Within four miles of your comfortable homes 4,000 men were forced to live like animals, deprived even of the food you would give to your dogs. In three weeks 1,000 of these men were starved to death; 800 of them were buried in pits in the nearby woods. These 200 who lie before us in these graves were found piled four and five feet high in one building and lying with the sick and dying in other buildings." In accordance with a policy mandated by General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, the U.S. Army in Ludwigslust ordered "all atrocity victims to be buried in a public place" with crosses placed at the graves of Christians and Stars of David on the Jewish graves, along with a stone monument to commemorate the dead.

Source:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:At_the_German_concentration_camp_at_Wobbelin.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C3%B6bbelin_concentration_camp

http://www.reddit.com/r/ColorizedHistory/comments/1cr79l/rescued_inmates_at_nazi_concentration_camp/