If you like my work and want to support the channel, consider subscribing to my Patreon for more, exclusive content! patreon.com/GermanWWIIArchive Or buy me a Kaffee here: www.buymeacoffee.com/germanwwiiarchive Remarks: 00:28 „Pictures from the Homeland“ was a series of short segments, shown before the actual Newsweek. They usually featured footage from a specific city or region. As the German Newsweek was also shown to soldiers stationed throughout occupied Europe, these images were meant to remind them of their home. The series was cancelled somewhere in 1942, although I do not know exactly why. 00:57 This is the Collegiate Church (Stiftskirche), a protestant church in the inner city of Stuttgart. With its two different towers, it’s one of the most famous buildings in Stuttgart. The church was originally built in 1240, but expanded and new elements were added from time to time until 1609, and it was renovated in the 1820s. The church was heavily damaged during bombing raids in July and September 1944; it was rebuilt after WWII, but the interior was re-built in a modern way. 01:15 Swabia is a region in southwestern Germany. 01:22 The State Food Society (Reichsnährstand) was an organization set up by the Nazis in September 1933. While it was not a state organization, it had legal authority, and its main task was to control agrarian production and set prices, and also to organize and made sure farmers would be in line with the Nazis. 02:04 It is tradition in Germany to have a few apples on the table at Christmas. 02:13 Paul Lincke (1866-1946) was a German composer and theater conducter. He was one of the most important conducters in Berlin, and is regarded as the “father of Berlin Opera”. One of his most successful operas was “Miss Luna” from 1899. While he was not a direct supporter of the Nazis, he arranged himself with them, and because he was immense popular, the Nazis also made sure he could continue to perform. 02:22 The Goethe Medal for Art and Science was a German decoration established on the 100th anniversary of Goethe’s death in March 1932 by German president Hindenburg. Originally only meant to honor persons in connection with the 1932 Goethe Centennial celebrations in Weimar, it was given to people who studied Goethe or made contributions to the study of his life. The award was presented 195 times in Hindenburg’s name, including 11 times to Jewish Germans. In November 1934, Hitler took over presentations of the award, and it was awarded to artists, scientist etc. who not necessarily had a connection to Goethe anymore. Of course, it was no longer awarded to people deemed to be anti-nazi or to Jews. It was awarded 406 times under Hitler, the last time in December 1944. The medal should not be confused with the present-day Goethe Medal, which was established in 1955 and is given to foreigners who made contributions to the German language. 02:26 Ludwig Steeg (1894-1945) was a German Nazi politican. He initially worked in the city administration of Berlin; then serving in WWI, which he finished as First Lieutenant, receiving the Iron Cross 2nd and 1st class. In 1919, he rejoined the Berlin Administration, working for the city sanitation services. He joined the Nazi party in 1933 and became deputy of Julius Lippert, the mayor and city president from January 1937 onwards. In July 1940, Goebbels, the Nazi Gauleiter of Berlin, persuaded Hitler to remove Lippert, and Steeg became acting mayor and city president in July 1940. In April 1944, he lost the office of city president to Goebbels, who wanted more power over Berlins administration. In February 1945, he was formally made mayor of Berlin; when Berlin surrendered, he was arrested by the Soviets. He died in Soviet captivity for unknown reasons in September 1945. 04:14 During WWII, Germany evacuated young children from big cities to the countryside, to save them from air bombings of cities. These programs were known as Kinderlandverschickung (Relocating of children to the countryside). This program was created after the first heavy air raid on Berlin in September 1940, and until the end of WWII, over 2 million children were sent away to camps in the countryside. There was a great deal of resistance from parents who were afraid their children would be mistreated or didn’t want to be separated from their kids for year. The program was in theory voluntarily, but pressure was applied to parents who didn’t want to send away their kids. Great Britain had similar programs, evacuating big cities of children and women during WWII. 04:26 Semmering is a municipality in eastern Austria, famous for its ski resorts. 06:12 Since Germany could no longer import tobacco from the Americas or the Caribbean, most of the tobacco used for German cigarette production came from the Balkans, Greece, and also Turkey. 07:39 Kurmark was a brand of the Garbaty Cigarette factory in Berlin, introduced in the late 1920s. Garbaty was one of the biggest cigarette companies in Berlin, however, its owner, Josef Garbaty (1851-1939), a Russian emigrant, was a Jew, and his factory was dispossessed by the Nazis in 1938, and sold to the Reemtsma company from Hamburg. The Garbaty cigarette company continued operating in East Germany as a state owned factory until 1990. 07:50 As you can see, the intro of the German Newsweek is missing from this episode. I am not sure exactly why, but I assume there was some mistake during the digitalization process, of the footage was damaged and it was cut out. Whatever the reason, I am sure most of you know what the intro looks like, so I have left it like that. 09:46 Hans Feige (1880-1953) was a German general during WWII. The son of an officer, Feige joined the German Army as a Lieutenant in 1900. After studying at the war academy, Feige became a staff officer in 1912, and served in the staff of various divisions, including the 1st Guard Reserve and the 1st Navy Infantry, during WWI. After the war, he continued serving in the German Army, serving again in various staff positions, before becoming commander of the 1st Cavalry Division from October 1933 to April 1935. He retired in April 1935, but was re-activated in August 1939. He became commander of the Mountain Army Corps XXXVI., with which he fought in Norway. From June to November 1941, he led his Corps in Finland against Soviet troops, but failed to cut off the railway link between Murmansk and Saint Petersburg, allowing the Soviets to continue receive Lend-Lease deliveries. This failure wasn’t his fault, rather the forces at his disposal were too weak to achieve that goal. However, he was blamed for it, and removed from his command in December 1941, and finally retired for good in June 1942. 09:54 This Finnish soldier is a Captain. 09:57 This destroyed tank is a Soviet T-28 multi-turreted medium tank. Armed with a 76,2mm KT-28 howitzer gun, it was designed to provide infantry support, and had two additional MG-turrets in the front. Initially it had up to 40mm of armor, but the Soviets later added armor plates, bringing the armor up to 80mm in front. The tank was designed in 1931 and built between 1932 and 1941; 503 were made. Many of these were lost in the first month of the German invasions, most were abandoned or broke down. Since production was not resumed, the tank was almost never seen on the battlefields after 1941. 10:09 The tank in this scene is a Panzer III Ausf. F. A successor of the Panzer III E, there were only a few upgrades, with the same armor thickness of around 30mm, and the same 3,7cm KwK 36 main gun. 435 of these Ausf. F were made in 1939-40, making it one of the most numerous German tanks built in the early war. 10:30 These guns are 152mm howitzer M1909, a Soviet heavy field howitzer designed in 1931. Around 2,550 were made between 1931 and 1941, and Finland captured 14 of these guns in the Winter War and 85 more during the Continuation War, and used them actively in combat; they remained in Finnish service until the 1960s; as a training weapon until the early 1980s. 10:33 This gun is most likely a 107mm cannon model 1877, a siege gun built by the Russian Empire in 1877. It was a standard artillery piece for its time, but had no recoil mechanism, meaning it was outdated when WWI broke out. The Finns captured a number of these guns in 1918, and had around 40 in inventory in the 1930s. During the Continuation War, 38 guns were used, but by March 1942, these old guns were too worn out and put out of service. 12:14 While some of the cattle was indeed just picked up by the Germans, much of it was forcefully seized from Soviet farmers. The Germans caused many famines in the occupied areas by seizing most of the food items, including the harvest, from Soviet farmers. 13:03 This sign reads: “Bavaria-Hut” 13:05 This sign reads: “Munich House, October 1941” 15:37 This tank is actually a Soviet heavy KV-1 tank. I assume it was captured by the Germans and used by them, which is why it appears here.
Remarks, Part II: 16:00 Maximilian von Weichs (1881-1954) was a German field marshall during WWII. Born into an aristocrat family, he joined the Bavarian Army as an officer cadet in 1900, becoming a staff officer. He served as a staff officer in various cavalry units in WWI, finishing the war as staff officer of the 2nd Army Corps. He continued his army career after the war, commanding various cavalry units, becoming commander of the 18th Cavalry Regiment in February 1928, chief of staff of the 1st Cavalry Division in March 1930, and commander of the 3rd Cavalry Division in October 1933. In October 1937, he became commander of the XIII. Army Corps, with which he took part in the Invasion of Poland and the capture of Warsaw. In the Western Campaign, he commanded the 2nd Army, part of Army Group A, and was promoted to General in July 1940. He then lead his army during the invasion of Yugoslavia, and as part of Army Group Center during Operation Barbarossa. In July 1942, he took over the command of the newly formed Army Group B, with which his task was to advance to the Volga. Despite the failure of that operation, he was promoted to Field Marhsall in February 1943, and made commander of Army Group F, and thus of all German forces in the Balkans and Greece, in August 1943. He completed the successful German retreat from the Balkans in late 1944. He was put into reserve in late March 1945, and captured by American forces in May 1945. He was tried as a war criminal in May 1947 for giving orders to murder hundreds of thousands of civilians in the Balkans, but the trial was stopped due to his bad health, and he was released. He died in 1954, aged 72. 16:27 The German Cross was a military award, introduced in September 1941 by Hitler. It was intended as an in-between medal between the Iron Cross and Knights Cross. It was awarded in silver and gold, with the silver one usually awarded for leadership, e.g. for staff officers, while the one in Gold awarded for bravery. 24,404 Gold and 1,114 Silver German Crosses were awarded during the war. The example shown here is made of iron; there was also a cloth version that could be sewn onto the uniform. 16:43 The gun on the left is a 7,5cm leiG 18, the standard German infantry gun of WWII. Roughly 12,000 made between 1932 and 1945. The gun shown here has wooden wheels, indicating that it was produced pre-war. The wartime guns all had rubber tires on steel wheels. 17:35 This gun is not a German, but a Soviet 45mm AT-gun M1932. Adopted by the Red Army in March 1932, over 21,500 guns were made between 1934 and 1937, before it was replaced by the more advanced 45mm AT- gun M1937. The gun was a decent gun against the many lighter armored German tanks, but quickly became too weak when the Germans introduced stronger-armored tanks in 1942. Many of these guns were captured and used by the Germans, as shown here. 18:30 This gun is a Soviet 152mm howitzer M1937, recognizable by their characteristic muzzle break. They were designed in 1937 as a replacement for the old 152mm M1910 guns. 6,884 guns were made between 1937 and 1947. It had a maximum firing range of 17,2 kilometers, and it was very reliable and easy to maintain. Many of these guns fell into German hands during the initial advance of Operation Barbarossa, and the Germans used them on their own and even produced their own ammunition for it from 1943 onwards. 19:18 These are early production StuG III assault guns, armed with the short-barreled 7,5cm StuK 37 howitzer. They are probably Ausf. E, which were built since September 1941. 19:27 These tanks are Panzer IV Ausf F. The Panzer IV was the most commonly built German tank during WWII, with 8,553 built between 1937 and 1945. The vehicles shown here are the F variant; 471 of these were made in 1941. It had 50mm of frontal armor and was armed with a short-barrel 7,5cm KwK 37. This was the last variant of the Panzer IV to be armed with that gun, already during production of the F variant, it was decided the Panzer IV should receive the longer 7,5cm KwK 40, this was realized with the F2 in December 1941. 20:18 This tank is a Panzer 35 (t). Originally designed by Skoda between 1934 and 1936, it was introduced by the Czechoslovak Army in 1936. When the Germans occupied Czechoslovakia in 1939, they seized 244 of these tanks and gave 52 to the newly created Slovakian Army. Production continued under German occupation until 1940, 434 were made. They were armed with a 3,7cm gun and had up to 25mm of armor. The 35(t) was a good light tank for the mid 1930s, but it was outdated when WWII broke out, and had no chance fighting against heavier Soviet T-34 or even KV-1 tanks. It was phased out in German frontline units in 1942, but used by other Axis nation, such as Romania or Bulgaria, for the rest of the war. 20:51 These planes are Ju-52 transporters. The Ju-52 was introduced in March 1932 as a civilian passenger and transport plane, where it proved to be comfortable and reliable. During WWII, the Ju-52 was used by the German Air Force as their main transport plane, both for men and supplies, and was also used by paratroopers. However, its slow top speed of only 290kmh and its weak structure meant that many were shot down by enemy planes and AA-guns; it was generally extremely outdated. During WWII, around 3,300 Ju-52 were built and delivered to the German Air Force until mid-1944. 21:48 Kharkiv in Ukraine was captured by German forces in October 1941, after a short battle lasting between 20th and 24th October. The city was defended by a single Soviet Rifle Division (216th) and the 57th NKWD Brigade; due to the terrible losses of the Soviets, they did not manage to put up more troops to defend the city. The Germans captured it using only two infantry divisions (101st Light Infantry and 57th Infantry), supported by one assault gun battalion. 21:55 Like in most other cities, the Soviets managed to successfully evacuate large parts of the important machinery and tools of their industry before the Germans occupied it. 22:09 This plane is a Fieseler Fi 156 Storch, a German liaison aircraft, introduced in 1937 and built until the end of WWII. Around 2,900 were made. It had excellent STOL capacity, a low stalling speed of only 50km/h. These characteristics meant that it could land even on short runways or even bigger streets in a city, as shown here. 22:13 The building in the background is called Derzphrom (in Ukrainian) or Gosprom (in Russian) and is a huge office building in the center of Kharkiv. Dubbed “the first Soviet skyscraper” it was built between 1925 and 1928 as a prestige building, when Kharkiv was the capital of the Ukrainian SSR. The building still stands today. 22:55 This newspaper, the “Eastern Front” (Ostfront), was the newspaper of the 6th Army during Operation Barbarossa, printed from July 1941 onwards. There is little information available about it online; I was not able to find out when it was stopped. 23:13 This newspaper is called “Voice of Poltavshina”, so I assume it was issued in Poltava, an Ukrainian city around 140km southwest of Kharkiv. 23:15 The “Ostland-Bridge” was the German name for the Kryukov-Bridge, a street and railway bridge over the Dniepr river in Ukraine, near the city of Kremenchuk. The bridge was built by Russian engineer Amand Struve (1835-1898) between 1870 and 1872. It was destroyed by a German bombing raid in 1941, and when the Germans reached the Dniepr at that point, they had to built an improvised bridge, and later repaired the Kryukov-Bridge. When the Germans retreated from that area in September 1943, they blew it up again; and the bridge was rebuilt between 1947 and 1949. The bridge still stands today. 23:21 This is a propaganda lie, the bridge was destroyed by a German bombing raid, not blown up by the Soviets. 27:14 The Soviets extensively used armored trains, especially in the early stages of Operaiton Barbarossa. The Red Army had around 60 armored trains when the Germans attacked, many of these armed with dozens of AT, AA and infantry support guns. Many of them were destroyed in the first months of the war, but also captured by the Germans, who also used them extensively on the Eastern Front. 27:36 These vehicles are Sd. Kfz. 10, a 1-ton light artillery tractor, which was primarily used for towing smaller guns such as the 2cm FlaK 38 or the 7.5cm leIG 18. The vehicles shown here are mounted with a 2cm FlaK 30 AA-gun, making them the Sd. Kfz. 10/4 variant, a light mobile AA-gun. Around 14,000 Sd. Kfz. 10 were made in total, out of these, around 2,000 were delivered as 10/4 or 10/5, so it was a common vehicle in the Wehrmacht. 28:05 Odessa, back then part of the Ukrainian SSR, was besieged by Romanian and German troops from August 8th to October 16th. Due to the strong resistance of the 86,000-man strong Soviet garrison, the Axis took longer than expected to capture the city, delaying their advance on the southern part of the Eastern Front. Odessa was completely surrounded by land on August 13th, but strategical and tactical mistakes of the Romanian troops caused them huge losses, and the Soviets managed to hold out. After the Germans broke through on Crimea, the Soviets decided to evacuate the city from October 1st to October 16th, successfully evacuating several hundred thousand Soviet soldiers and civilians from the city. The Romanians suffered around 17,700 death and 63,300 wounded, while Soviet casualties were around 16,600 death and 24,700 wounded. The capture of Odessa was the single most significant accomplishment by a minor Axis nation without German support on the Eastern Front, although it did cost the Romanians very high losses.
The march at 3:15 "das ist die Berliner Luft" is still considered something of an unofficial anthem of Berlin. Lincke himself died shortly after the war, never being able to return to his beloved Berlin
Remarks, Part III: 28:10 Michael I. (1921-2017) was King of Romania from 1927 to 1930 and from 1940 to 1947. As his father, King Carol II. (1893-1953) was exiled in 1927, Michael I became King, but Carol II. returned on the throne in 1930. After Romania lost many territory to Hungary and the Soviet Union, Carol II. was again forced to step down, and Michael was crowned again in 1940. He had little power over Romania, which was de-facto a dictatorship under Ion Antonescu (1882-1946). After the Soviet attack on Romania in Summer 1944, Michael ousted Antonescu and made peace with the Soviets, but Romania came under Soviet influence, nevertheless. Michael was forced to abdicated and leave Romania in December 1947, spending the next 43 years in exile in Switzerland. He returned to Romania in 1990 and 1992, gaining back his Romanian citizenship in 1997. Three castles and twenty other houses were given back to him in the early 2000s, but he continued to live in Switzerland. He died in December 2017, aged 96, and was buried in the cathedral of Curtea de Arges, where most Romanian royals are buried. 28:26 The Order of Michael the Brave is the highest military order of Romania, introduced by King Ferdinand I. in 1916, named after Michael the Brave (1558-1601), Prince of Wallachia, Moldovia and ruler of Transylvania, considered as one of Romanians national heroes and unifier of Romania. It was awarded in three classes and was awarded 364 times in WWI and 1719 times in WWII, the majority of these were third class (1628 out of 1719). The award could be awarded to individuals, but also to whole units. It was also awarded 17 times to German officers. The order was abolished in 1947, but re-introduced in 2000. 28:34 Ion Antonescu (1882-1946) was a Romanian military officer and from September 1940 to August 1944 dictator of Romania. A close ally of Germany, he contributed the most troops of all Axis countries after Germany to the invasion of the Soviet Union. He was tried as a war criminal and executed in June 1946 by the Communist Romanian government. 29:00 These guns are French Canon de 75 modele 1897. Designed by the French Schneider company in 1898, it became a huge commercial success, and many countries imported these guns. Romania did so too and bought around 80 French guns in the 1920s. They were used for field artillery battalions in infantry division and were horse drawn. Some guns were modernized in the 1930s. 29:03 These guns are 10cm howitzer model 30, a gun made by Skoda in Czechoslovakia. Designed between 1928 and 1930, they were produced between 1932 and 1939. Romania ordered a number of these guns from Skoda, and when the Germans occupied Czechoslovakia, they gave a few more of them to Romania, although the exact numbers are unknown. They served as the standard heavy field howitzer for Romanian infantry units during WWII. 29:08 These tanks are Czech 35 LT tanks, see entry at 20:18. The Romanian Army ordered 126 of them in August 1936, which were delivered from late 1938 onwards, and the Romanians used them under the name “Skoda R-2”. In mid-1939, Romania wanted to further order 382 more tanks, but the Germans, who had occupied Czechoslovakia in the meantime, turned that request down, as they needed the 35 LT for their own tank units. The Romanians equipped the 1. Regiment of the 1st Royal Tank Division with these tanks, but lost a high number of them during the Siege of Odessa, 47 tanks were lost from August 11th to August 14th alone. In Summer 1942, Romania received 26 35(t) from the Germans, and continued to use them during defensive fighting at the Don and Stalingrad, loosing over 60% of them. Left with only 19 tanks, they were placed in reserve after 1943. 29:11 These tanks are French Renault R-35 light infantry tanks. Designed in 1934, around 1,600 were made between 1936 and 1940. As with most French tanks of that time, they had strong armor for a light tank, up to 43mm, and were armed with a 37mm gun, but they were quite heavy at 10,6 ton and only had a 82hp engine, giving them a top speed of only 20kmh. Romania ordered 200 tanks from France, but only 45 were delivered in August and September 1939. Another 34 tanks were acquired when a Polish Light Tank Battalion, fleeing the Germans, interned themselves in Romania. They were used in Romanian tank battalions, but many were destroyed, and after the Battle of Stalingrad, 30 of them were upgraded with captured Soviet 45mm 20K guns. 29:13 This is a Renault UE, a light tracked prime mover, developed by Renault in the early 30s and 5,168 were built between 1932 and March 1941. Between 1,200 and 3,000 of these were captured by the Germans and used for various roles; many of these were rebuilt. From December 1940, around 700 Renault UE were fitted with a 3,7cm PaK 36 and used as light TDs, attached to infantry units. Romania bought ten of these in 1937, and acquired a license to built 300 more locally, intended as primer for the 47mm Schneider AT-gun. However, only 126 were actually built from 1939 to March 1941. After the fall of France, Romania received fifty more from Germany, bringing the total number of UE used by Romania to 178. 30:25 On days were awards were handed out, especially when they were handed out by high-ranking officers or generals, a good meal or some alcohol was usually provided to celebrate the occasion. 32:05 This newspaper, “Die Oase” (The Oasis) was the soldiers newpapers of the German Africa Corps, published once a week from March 1941 untill the end of 1942. 32:27 These tanks are again Panzer IV Ausf. F. 32:48 While it is a bit hard to identify, this is a Sd. Kfz. 6, a half-track artillery tractor. 3,500 vehicles were built between 1939 and 1944. It is shown here towing a 10.5 cm leFH 18, the standard German light field gun of WWII. 11,848 were produced between 1935 and 1943, with a further 10,265 produced of its successor, the 10.5cm leFH 18/40, from 1943-1945. The fact that this gun here has no muzzle break indicates that it is an early war model. 32:59 Using artillery for direct fire was often done, especially when proper direct fire guns were not available. 33:34 The tank on the right here is a light Panzer II, next to it is a medium Panzer III. 34:02 This tank is a Vickers MK VI., a light tank used by Great Britain during WWII. Designed in 1936, 1682 tanks were made until 1940. It had only up to 14mm of armor and was only armed with a 12,7mm Vickers .50 machine gun, making it only suitable to fight against infantry. It suffered heavy losses in the Battle of France and in North Africa, particularly when it encountered other tanks. 34:04 This is a British Matilda II infantry tank. Designed in 1937, 2,987 were built between 1937 and 1943. It had strong frontal armor, up to 78mm, and was equipped with a 40mm gun, but only had a maximum speed of 24kmh on road and 14kmh off-road. The Matilda was used extenly in North Africa, were it provided highly effective against German and Italian tanks until mid-1942. It was gradually phased out in North Africa after the arrival of the Valentine in Autumn 1941, and by mid-1942, only few remained in active service. 35:44 These planes are Fw-200 Condor.
I really love your work man. Awaiting every weekend for new video. Is it possible to upload the No. 639? The one with the arrival of Italo-German troops to Tunisia. That would be awesome to see.
The Cigarette factory Josef Garbaty in Berlin-Pankow continued to work in the DDR as Berlin Cigarettes. Garbaty himself died 1939, he was a jewish immgrant from Belarus. He donated a lot of money for jewish schools and orpanages, hence he was forced to sell his company to the Reemtsma family, even if the Garbaty name and the brands like Kurmark were retained. His villa houses the lebanese embassy in Berlin today.
I would like to ask if you have any combat documentaries about the Grossdeutschland infantry or armored divisions in World War II, especially on the Eastern Front. There are not enough documentaries about this division that are popular on RU-vid. I hope there are detailed combat documentaries about them.
Fieseler Storch landing in front of the derzhprom building in Charkov. One of those medevaced my Grandpa in 1943 and he talked about it until his death.
Are these new newsweeks? or are these re-uploads of previously uploaded newsweek's but in HD? Just asking because I've been trying to watch the ones you have uploaded in order and when a new upload from 1941 comes up its excites me but i'm not sure if its content I have seen on your channel already anyways, good work! I'm glad I found this channel!
This is a new upload. If it's a re-upload, like No. 567 from two weeks ago, it's mentioned in the remarks (pinned comment). Btw, there is a playlist on my channel called "German Newsweek" that has all uploads in chronological order.
I know that Mannerheim told Hitler at least twice that the German troops fighting in Finland were subpar and many didn’t have the heart for fighting and Hitler had to take it because he needed Mannerheim.
I used to smoke a pack and a half a day. Tried German cigarettes when I was there, never found a brand that was very good. The difference between the tobacco they use and ours is obvious. The news film is from November 20/41. In two more weeks, the German advance stopped dead due to weather and fierce opposition. The closest they got to Moscow was a town called Klimki, 30km north of the Kremlin.
Just two additional remarks: 16:27 The German Cross in Silver was not awarded for leadership but for exceptional administrative and other non combat achievements. For example, it could be awarded to medical officers or members of tank repair workshops of frontline units, but also to holders of high administrative posts in Germany. So SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Polizei Kaltenbrunner, head of SS-Reichssicherheitshauptamt, was awarded this decoration , but also SS-Obersturmführer (1st Lt) Weise, commander of a tank repair company of 2nd SS-Panzer-Division"Das Reich". Leadership achievements of staff officers were recognized by the award of the German Cross in Gold. So the Chief of Staff of an army or the 1st General Staff officer of a division (operations officer) would receive the Gold variant when they distinguished themselves in their respective positions. Just to give am example: on March 30th 1945 the 1st General Staff Officer(operations) of 10th SS-Panzer-Div. received the German Cross in Gold for his leadership merits, while on April 18th 1945, the 2nd General Staff Officer (logistics) of this division received the German Cross in Silver for his administrative merits. 20:18 The Panzer 35(t) was only to be found in Panzer Regiment 11 of 6th Panzer-Division which took part in the offensive on Moscow, starting in October 1941. At the start of "Barbarossa", it contained 155 of these tanks. Until September 10th , 47 of these were total losses, 8 were in repair and the regiment received 2 replacement tanks.
The German Cross in Silver was awarded for, and I qoute: "vielfache außergewöhnliche Verdienste in der militärischen Kriegführung" or, in English "repeated exceptional merrits in military warfare" The German Cross in Silver was not awarded for non-military deeds, as for that, the War Merrit Cross was usually awarded, which was specifically introduced for exactly that.
@@GermanWWIIArchive The citation is of course correct - the question is just how you define "merits in military warfare." 😃 Obviously, Kaltenbrunner was supposed to have had those, just as SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Waffen-SS Richard Glücks, head of the Concentration Camps, who was awarded the Silver Cross on January 25th 1945. Or Himmler's physician SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Waffen-SS Dr. Karl Gebhardt, who held never any military post (except for a short stint with SS-Verfügungs-Division in 1940) nevertheless received the Silver Cross on April 20th 1944. All three also were awarded the War Merits Cross with Swords.
It is remarkable that the pilots decorated by Göring only half-heartedly returned the typical Hitler salute or merely offered the military salute. The Luftwaffe had an elitist self-image and the Hitler salute did not become compulsory for members of the Wehrmacht until 1944.
The Luftwaffe was typically "loose" on military protocol. That never changed, and even in the presence of the Fuhrer himself. Hit ler didn't care, he knew the value of German Aces.
German military was not ready for war, probably another 2 more years ,almost at the end of ww2 their very effective automatic rifle invented, just imagine having that rifle at the beginning of the war? The Russian army used a full automatic rifle almost from the beginning of ww2, nevertheless the German military was all about perfection
![German Newsweek No. 585- 20 November 1941 [Full HD] (Winter Combat, Romanian Parade, Channel Raids)](/img/logo.svg){kind=logo}
