My Nazi heritage uncovered.

Hey Leeky Forums, could you do me a favor and explain these decorations? IIRC, the ribbon means he was awarded an Iron Cross but I don't know much about Nazi memorabilia.

I found this photo in a shoe box in my Oma's closet, she passed a few days ago. This is her father.

While I knew that some extended family had served under the regime, my grandmother always told me that our family fled to Switzerland to avoid service (which I never believed and was also somewhat ashamed of). My family immigrated to the states in '46, 2 years after this photo was sent.

If you can read German I can also send the note scrawled on the back, the handwriting is somewhat difficult to make out.

@Lunatick
Can you self-bump on Leeky Forums?

@Techpill
Yes I can.

Well, I can tell you one of them is this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wound_Badge

@SniperGod
On 1 June 1940, Hitler decreed that any recipient of the Wound Badge in Silver or Gold be automatically awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class if that individual did not already have that decoration.

Shit, that kinda spoils the Iron Cross.

@SniperGod
Aye and the other is an Infantry Assault Badge

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infantry_Assault_Badge

@SniperGod
@WebTool

What about the clasp on his cap?

Post the note

@StonedTime
Here you go.

@RavySnake
Well, that explains why he has it at least. It gives some history and maybe some insight into his life.

@RumChicken

I would need a better look at it, can you take a better picture of that part of the photo?

@Fuzzy_Logic
I can try to get closer, give me a sec. I have a DSLR but I lost the battery, fuck.

Never seen that uniform worn like that, TBH. I was never a Nazi soldier, but I was a soldier and I've always seen the top buttoned all the way up.

@RavySnake

Silver (2nd class) for being wounded three or four times, or suffering loss of a hand, foot or eye from hostile action (also partial loss of hearing), facial disfigurement or brain damage via hostile action.

Gold (1st class, which could be awarded posthumously) for five or more times wounded, total blindness, "loss of manhood", or severe brain damage via hostile action.

These people did their part, they deserve to be heroes. I mean, it's rare case when artillery just hits nearby and makes you lose your hand, dick or causes brain damage. It would be usually achieved by serious eye-to-eye combat in Stalingrad or some such.

@RavySnake

Hardly, it shows that he was wounded multiple times for Germany.

@Lunatick

Also sage because I just posted. Check the uniform out. It looks like Gebirgsjäger (Edelweiss on hat), thick uniform that appears woolish and no helmet. Probably gebirgsjäger, because Edelweiss was their symbol. There is even a gebirgsjäger song called Edelweiss, serving as their hymn.

@Ignoramus

I think its technically TWO pins and one of them is
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wehrmacht_mountain_troops_badge
but I can't see the other well enough

Which would make sense, because his hat looks like a mountain troop (or similar) hat.
(some here)
http://www.reddickmilitaria.com/german-m43-field-caps/

@RumChicken
Looks like an Edelweiss to me, but I don't know how the Germans used that one.

@Nojokur
1944 conditions were dire. The letter also sounds rather desperate. You wouldn't normally refer to yourself as an "ewig liebender", "ewig" is kind of a strong term here. It appears he thought he was going to die.

@Fuzzy_Logic
Sorry, this is the best I can do.

@DeathDog
ROSI FAT?ER
ENGELBERT SCHMID 1944.

Ewig musst Du an mich denken
willst du dieses B??? nicht kränken
sei recht lieb und nett zu "Ihm"
denn er hat es doch verdient.

Dein Dich ewig liebender
Gatte Engelbert

@King_Martha
Maybe times were different, but I've never heard someone refer to themselves as "ewig liebender" before in casual conversation.

I think times were dire at this time. Wow.

@Garbage Can Lid
@Booteefool
I had the same thought but didn't want to say as much. It doesn't look quite right to me though.

To add, obviously 1944 was a bad year for the Third Reich army, which would explain the Wound Badge.

Obviously, a german would be able to translate that letter, but I can't make much sense of it.

Sei recht lieb - They really preferred/liked

mett. 2n "IHM" = ?

@Evil_kitten
i would not read too much into it

@takes2long
sei recht lieb
= be very nice

mett = nett =nice
Ihm = him

@King_Martha
Soll wohl "Bild" heißen.

Bewegt echt das Herz.

@kizzmybutt
the guy who wrote the letter (engelbert schmid) refered to himself when he wrote "sei recht lieb zu "ihm"

@Lunatick
You should ask on http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com, they're the experts on this.

@takes2long
My german is atrocious but

Eternally you must always think of me
Do you want [something] not sick
Jesus just put it into google translate, will probably give you a decent sense until a german user can help.

My bad.

http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/index.php

@takes2long
Roughly translated, since it's a little poem and won't translate well:

You have to forever think of me,
if you don't want to slight this picture
Be nice and lovely to "him" (reffering to the picture)
Because he has earned it.

check out http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AP-rb774dmQ/SoGevNzombI/AAAAAAAAHlM/d30joP2ajP4/S660/Mountain+troops+M43+field+cap+Gebirgsjager.jpg for some reference but again, the pin isnt 100% correct

this one labelled "Field cap M43 for Gebirgsjäger German WW2"

@Carnalpleasure
this is the best translation so far

@Carnalpleasure
Nice, however, it does sound cryptic as if maybe he's not sure he's going to live much longer.

Thanks. Best thing I've read all night.

@Carnalpleasure
Ah, okay. I love it.

okay, I think these are the two pins

both are alpine/mountaineering pins
one is the eldelweiss and the other is the hat, but its hard to see. but I am no expert and maybe the forum would be better at this
http://www.delcampe.net/page/item/id,289465175,var,ALPINISM-MOUNTAINEERING-CLIMBING-4-HAT-PINS-WWI-WWII-AUSTRIA-GERMANY-EDELWEISS-PIN-BADGE-RARE,language,E.html

@BunnyJinx
My grandfather climbed mountains to fight enemies of the Reich?

@Fuzzy_Logic
Or at least was trained to, yeah.

@Supergrass
Well, I'll drink to that.

Thanks Leeky Forums.

@WebTool
Nice, however, it does sound cryptic as if maybe he's not sure he's going to live much longer.

Always a possibility in war, which is why he tried to conflate his person with the picture he sent to his wife, so that she has something left of him.

It's pretty beautiful.

@Lunatick
Thank you user, I think so too.

@Fuzzy_Logic
Too bad we can't see his sleeves, then we might be able to determine what unit he belonged to.

@Illusionz

"loss of manhood",

This actually happened quite often on the Eastern Front in the winter in the days it reached -40 (with maximums of -42) as described by Leon Degrelle in his memoirs.
He never mentioned how but I'm guessing it was the soldiers that threw away their underware since you had to wear the same pair months at a time, depending on where you were fighting and how good your supply line was.

@Methshot

underwear*

@Stark_Naked

Thanks for sharing. Hope you can find some more memorabilia of him.

@Stupidasole
Was my Opa stupid or something? His decorations seem quite respectable yet he is still a private.

Maybe it is that during the total war period most able bodied men were fighting and he was just a little better than average.

@farquit
Was my Opa stupid or something? His decorations seem quite respectable yet he is still a private.

Hey man, this isn't a videogame. The army needs privates to do the fighting, you don't fart around with a rifle on the front for a year or two and magically transform into a Field Marshall.

Be glad, your Opa did more to make the world a better place than most people of our generation ever will.

@SniperWish
At least he wasn't a traitor, as I was led to believe.

Maybe this is a normal thing for a lot of German-Americans, they don't know why their families are really here.

It really pisses me off that I can't share a heritage like this publicly without disrespect. Meanwhile Chicanos are shaking sombreros till dawn without any remembrance or respect for their own lineage at all.

Even if my family committed "atrocities", why can't I respect my own lineage? The dindus and spics do it all the time, worshiping rapists, murderers and thieves.

This is bullshit. I am proud of my grandfather, I think his experience is more novel than 80% of recent history.

This fucking sucks.

@SniperWish
Also, don't forget that people just get passed over for promotion quite a bit.

If he's always fighting, it's difficult to promote someone from the front lines. Usually, you get promoted during times of garrison (not Zyklon Ben) and if he was fighting in the trenches against the Soviets (Eastern Front), it's possible that he just didn't get the chance for a promotion.

The other thing to consider here is that people on the German side were doing all sorts of heroic things. Diving on grenades, killing hundreds of commies… In 1944, you'd have to have done something really fucking awesome to get a promotion at a time when they couldn't afford to pay soldiers or even feed them properly. Who cares about being promoted when everyone around you is dead and you're wounded? Consider that only the bravest and best soldiers would be getting promoted in 1944. Your Opa was probably a damn fine soldier, but there were many damn fine soldiers in the German army who weren't promoted either.

Not to derail the thread about your Opa, but many pictures, documents and letters are available to buy.

What I originally wanted to do for a hobby was collect them, translate them and assemble a book of lost personal stories of Nazi soldiers. The intent was to show the Third Reich as actual human beings, a story that no historian has really wanted to tell. At a time when Nazi/NSDAP memorabilia is under attack, I think someone should be curating the stories of the people who fought on the front lines.

A similar book came out, I think Ted Koppel or some Disney news anchor wrote it, with the American GI letters, but I thought even more interesting would be stories and poems like the one your Opa wrote. It was a fleeting idea I had when looking through WW2 memorabilia.

Show the human side of "le ebil Natzees" and I think you'd be surprised at how much in common even normies have with them. The Trojan Horse Red Pill for the truth about the NSDAP.

The letters and photos are available through many WW2 memorabilia sites and ebay, prices ranging anywhere from $1.00 to $20.00 if it's something really noteworthy or a long letter.

@Dreamworx

What you could do is make a thread here and request scans of documents and pictures that people here may have.

That is a project I would support.

@5mileys
You could just take the high quality images of the items themselves, but more important, there should be an actual library of the documents available in some form.

The problem with buying the documents is that you're buying a piece of history and depending on who you are and what you do with it, it could be lost forever. If someone has one or two of these pieces, it means almost nothing. But a collection of them paints a better picture into who these soldiers actually were.

I refrained from buying them because I didn't want to take a piece of history away from someone who could do more with it. If I never wrote the book, they would end up in my filing cabinet or closet and nobody would ever see them.

But what it needs is an actual foundation. A group of individuals somewhat dedicated to procuring new pictures and documents and making them available either digitally or physically to those who wish to view them. Imagine being able to connect a German with information about his or her great grandfather which shows him as an actual person instead of the evil Jew-gasser that has no doubt been drilled into his or her head.

It needs to be preserved and available, but yet it can also be told in a really fascinating story and in a very interesting way.

@Nude_Bikergirl

That is why you should make a thread, many families have old collections from WW2, you could also try asking libraries if they hold any collections.

From what I can tell:

Edelweiß
Infantrie-Sturmabzeichen
Verwundetenabzeichen

So he was a Gebirgsjäger (thus the Edelweiß), who fought on the frontline, took part in three assault total on three different days (Infantrie-Sturmabzeichen), and was wounded (can't make out the colour, so can't tell you how often)

@Poker_Star
Alright. I'll have a thread up today. I'll try to get as many images of documents that I can and we'll take it slow.

Maybe do five at a time, decide which ones are the most interesting and go from there.

@Stupidasole
Rank: private

Not really clear, since rankers didn't wear epaulets, only from "Unteroffizier" (Sargeant) upwards were they worn.
And since we can't see his sleeves, where rankers rank-insignia was worn, he could be a "Stabsgefreiter" for all we know.
German ranks used to (and still do) differ from, for example, American ones, in that there are a lot more ranks for enlisted personal.

@TurtleCat
I wouldn't be surprised if you could get a patreon/kikestarter/etc to handle the financial end of material acquisition and provide a personal incentive to follow through on the project

@Dreamworx
This would be a righteous cause.

Think about OP:
For his entire life his family has lied to him about his grandfather. Painting him as a coward and a traitor, while in truth he was fighting on the front lines.
Just because they are conditioned to be ashamed.

Such a book would help people to understand their history, instead of burying it.

@Harmless_Venom
Think of it this way user, sometime soon you'll have a chance to correct the errors with us. The smear campaign is already coming apart at the seams.

what the fuck is this?

http://leekyforums.com/thread/4850390/politics/my-nazi-heritage-uncovered.html

Literally this Thread word for word

@TreeEater
It's a page that steals content from Leeky Forums. Some Japanese ruse that tricks people into visiting the page for the ad revenue the visits generate.

@Flameblow
Ah. Sneaky japs.

Thanks

@cum2soon
I know. This was one of my better ideas and I should have followed through. I spent the better part of a week mulling it over and spending the estimated starting cost. This is a lower-key idea, but the end result would be clearing the names of these heroes.

If I bought these documents, my only caveat would be to donate them to the families, should they contact me and request them. It's only fair that they reside with their rightful owners after being scattered around the entire world, possibly, after 1945.

@Fuzzy_Logic

True, but all of those are functionally the same as a regular private. Gefreiter ranks did not have command authority over Schützen (unless they were specifically appointed to be the squad leader's aid etc.).

Looks like a cosplaying jew

@BunnyJinx
What did your great grandfather do?

@PurpleCharger
They do nothing but show experience, yeah.

@Stark_Naked
Played for the winning team in WWI.

@haveahappyday
You may leave now.

grandfather was a sniper who saw a German shitting on the edge of the woods
instead of shooting him, my grandfather shot at the kraut's feet to literally scare the shit out of him
German runs back into the woods with his pants still half-on
Ain't war hell, Leeky Forums?

@cum2soon
That was kind of your grandfather, makes for a funny story as well.

@TreeEater
@Flameblow

I wonder if I say Leeky Forums and Leeky Forums, will it translate both of them into leekyforums.

@Lunatick
If you want further information you should contact either the DD-WASt or the German Federal Archives:
https://www.dd-wast.de
militaerarchiv.at.barch.bund.de
They can provide you with service record and material related to him for a reasonably small price.

@King_Martha
Oh yeah and the Federal Archives Department MA has most of the war diaries and command level papers assuming you know which unit he served in:
http://www.bundesarchiv.de/bundesarchiv/organisation/abteilung_ma/index.html.en

Mal was ganz anderes: 6-teiliges Interview mit Karl Heinz Ohlig über die Entstehung und Frühgeschichte des Islam. Sehr empfehlenswert!

@TurtleCat
fugg wrong thread

@Illusionz
brain damage

I can count to REICH.

@Flameblow
I sort of like that site. It's an archive of h8pol which looks like a regular blog, so I can read it anywhere and not show my powerlevel.

@Carnalpleasure
This is beautiful.

@King_Martha
What's this mean?

@MPmaster
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wehrmacht_mountain_troops_badge

@Sir_Gallonhead
Kek'd and check'd.

@RavySnake
You get the medal of honour automatically any time you sacrifice your life to save the other guys in the squad.

the regime

Holy fuck you sound like a faggot

@Booteefool
The edelweiss flower was the symbol of Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS Gebirgsjäger, or mountain rangers, worn as a metal pin on the left side of the mountain cap

@Nude_Bikergirl
Imagine being able to connect a German with information about his or her great grandfather which shows him as an actual person instead of the evil Jew-gasser that has no doubt been drilled into his or her head.
The thing is, it's not just Germans who rarely talk about war experiences. Most people from all sides keep silent about it, and maybe only when they are drunk they are able to open up a bit.

grandfather was Italian
his family moved to America pre-ww2
fought for America

What could have been…

I do have a side of my family that is German, and know little about them, so hopefully they might've fought for the Reich

@Sir_Gallonhead
Ich kann bis Reich zählen.

@haveahappyday
So he was a jew

Could anyone point me in a direction please?

My Uropa (great grandpa) was a senior officer in the S.S. (or possibly the Gestapo) I know his name but I have never found anything about him. My other Uropa on my Oma's side was in the Wehrmacht and I could get his name, but all I know is that he escaped from a PoW camp, in Norway, to Hamburg and met his wife, after she fled Berlin and they stayed in a British camp for a while. Is there anywhere online I might find out more about them? My Oma and Opa speak English but not enough to tell me what I want to know, my mom doesn't know too much, and my Uroma (the one that fled Berlin) can't speak a word of English. I am learning German, and going to Uni in Germany this summer, but I don't know if she will live that long (she is 101), or I may not be good enough in German to understand everything she says. No one ever talks about it because the high ranking SS/gestapo officer is responsible for muh 60000000000000000000, and are ashamed. Please help if you know where I can find out anything.

@Fuzzy_Logic
Someone gave this link earlier in the thread.
http://www.bundesarchiv.de/bundesarchiv/organisation/abteilung_ma/index.html.en

Have you tried googling his name? Seems obvious, but you never know what could turn up.

@Harmless_Venom
Yeah but it is the same name given to every first born son on my Opa's side. Also it is pretty generic, Deert Jacob. I found one website but it was a SS officer born a decade before my Uropa.

@Harmless_Venom
I was going to try this website later this week, but I don't know what division either of them were in.

@Harmless_Venom
I found this but I believe this Deert would have been older than my Uropa.

http://en.ww2awards.com/person/16360

sage for triple post

So when we are on the topic of nazi medals can anyone tell me abit about these to especially the first one. tried googlein them but couldn't find much. Thanks in advance.

@Harmless_Venom

Be proud of your Grandfather, even from an old photo I can tell he was a good man.
Most of all, share his image and story with your children, don't let him be forgotten.

@happy_sad
I have a list of all the 3rd Reich medals with pics.

If you don't have the answer after the Trump rally, I'll make sure you know what they are. Maybe I'll find them before…

@happy_sad
Second one is a War Merit Cross 2nd Class with two swords.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Merit_Cross

@happy_sad
The first one is just a commemorative pin, not a medal
It reads:
Maritime travel is emergency (also the name of a naval novel)
25th Day of the German seamanship 26.5.1935

@Deadlyinx
Maritime travel is emergency

A more accurate translation would be "Seafaring Is Necessary".

The first is called the "First Voyage Day Badge."

Seems rare and probably gives some insight to your Opa. Is there a date on it?

@eGremlin
@Deadlyinx
@farquit
@Fuzzy_Logic
Thanks for the help. ive got a few more questions if its not to much trouble

Whats the book called?

Do you know more about the ship one is something to do with the cruises or what?

Its really been a mystery for me.

@Lunatick
A picture of your Grandfather that served in the Gebirgsjäger =/= "my nazi heritage".
Last time I checked, it's completely normal to serve in your country's armed forces during a war.
Having to make up fake stories about being a draft dodger shows how the jewish/British anti-German propaganda was a complete success. If I remember correctly, German Americans made up about half of the white population. During WW1 being German became bad and now most Americans wouldn't know if they have German ancestry or not. My grandmother was German and my mother never mentioned it until I was 34.

Feel free to hang out here until the brainwash wears off. It will eventually.

@Ignoramus
The one with the ship is called the "First Voyage Day Badge."

I assume he was in the kriegsmarine and was given that on his first voyage. There are subsequent voyage badges. When you think "voyage" it would be associated with naval forces.

@Harmless_Venom
Be smart about it, simply do not state he was a nazi and bam, you're done, the people that would nag for being proud of him don't know jack shit about history anyway.
neither do spics or dindus, they just want to be proud of their past and they weren't taught to feel bad about it

@Supergrass
Be glad he didnt fight for the Italian army.

It would probably make things worse somehow, knowing the Italian army.

Congrats OP
I'm truly happy for you.

@cum2soon
did he shoot the shit?

@MPmaster
@iluvmen

Personnel of the German mountain units wore the pin with the stem facing forward, while units of Austrian origin pointed the stem towards the back.

@Lunatick

Kraut here.

As others said, he was with the Gebirgsjäger. An elite outfit, something to be proud of.

The cord should be a Schützenschnur, i.e. a kind of marksmanship certification. No surprise here, you needed to demonstrate skill with rifle, pistol and MG to obtain one.

The helmet medal on his left breast is a Verwundetenabzeichen, i.e. a wound badge. There were three classes (bronze, silver, gold) according to severity.

The other one I don't recognize.

All in all fine stuff, your Uropa seemed to have been quite the lad during wartime. Be worthy of him.

@WebTool
Schützenschnur

That's obviously a whistle lanyard or pocket watch chain of some sort.
The Schützenschnur is much larger and attaches to the shoulder board.

@iluvmen

Ok, good catch.

@DeathDog
@King_Martha

Translate pls.

@WebTool
You also have to qualify in swimming and ruckmarching.

There are 3 grades of the schutzenschnur award for Americans. Gold, silver and bronze. I earned the gold schutzenschnur as an American with the German army.

@Carnalpleasure
I can never play WWII games the same way anymore after having been here for long enough.

We were never truly enemies, and now we face extinction together.

…I cried a little.

@Harmless_Venom
At least he wasn't a traitor, as I was led to believe.

Maybe this is a normal thing for a lot of German-Americans, they don't know why their families are really here.

It's probably for the same reasons that people who have confederate ancestors don't know. Because the winners wrote the history, and then it became a disgraceful fact. After that they just never talked about it, so all descendants have no idea.

The fact is that more than likely all white southerners and even most black southerners had confederate ancestors. Because there were black confederates, and they were generally not slaves actually.

Anyone who doesn't are more than likely northerners who came after or immigrants well after that war.

@Fuzzy_Logic
If there's a language barrier, then you need to find someone who can translate your questions into German. Have them simply write/type out answers in German.

Since you're going to speak German soon (beware the rapefugees) then you can just read them after.

The ones that don't know English well enough can be handled the same way. They'll know enough to understand what you want, and what you want is a detailed history of everything they know of your family.

Then one day you can translate it for your own kids when you have them.

IT WAS ALREADY TRANSLATED

@Carnalpleasure

@King_Martha
Dat feel. Desperation…