Fritz Posted October 28, 2016 Share Posted October 28, 2016 For many years now and since the fall of the Iron Curtain, the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge (similar to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, but not state funded), based in Kassel, has been trying to locate, collect and identify the dead and missing in Eastern Europe, including former East Germany, especially in places like Halbe. Erwin Kowalke, from Brandenburg, since retired, was one of the first, who, secretly and on his own initiative, located single graves of fallen German soldiers in the last days of the war, and collected and stored the remains, with the intention of later identification and proper re-burial. In the former DDR there were no war cemeteries and graves for German soldiers who fell in WW2 and it was tabu and prohiblited to even mention anything of this nature. Kowalke then later worked for and with the Volksbund. When a missing soldier has been positively identified, he is then officially declared dead, and next-of-kin are sought and informed, after which a re-burial in a proper war cemetery is made. The problem has been over many years that many graves in Eastern Europa and Russia have been plundered by relic hunters, who then sell what they find. Important are the dogtags and any other documentation, without which it is impossible to identify the dead. The Volksbund encourages prevention of these thefts and souvenir markets, but to little avail. Therefore, caution, when ground-dug identity discs are offered on the collectors market, they may be in the moral sense, illegal, although this is not restricted in Russia or Eastern Europe. Illustrations show Erwin Kowalke at work near Halbe and a find of various identity discs in various conditions. After the re-unification, new cemeteries for the war dead were built. The following clip is a documentation of a recovery/Bergung in Pottenstein-Alpenvorland/Austria. A further clip shows work in Klessin, Märkisch-Oderland, Brandenburg: 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fritz Posted January 12, 2019 Author Share Posted January 12, 2019 Polen, Rosenthal, 23.3.2014 Der erste Einsatz des Jahres führte uns in Zusammenarbeit mit unseren polnischen Partner der Gruppe „Pomorze“ in die Region östlich von Küstrin. Hier erreichte uns eine Information über ein unbekanntes Massengrab deutscher Soldaten. Diese, teilweise Insassen eines örtlichen Sanitätspunkt, kamen beim Einmarsch der sowjetischen Truppen in die Ortschaft Rosenthal ums Leben. Nach Beendigung der Kampfhandlungen wurden die Toten schnell von deutschen Zivilisten neben der Kirche begraben. Im Gesamt konnten 32 Gefallene von der deutsch / polnischen Gruppe gefunden und geborgen werden. Leider wurden die Erkennungsmarken 1945 bereits von den Zivilisten nahezu komplett entnommen, so das nur noch drei übersehene Exemplare gefunden wurden. Die Gefallen finden eine letzte Ruhestätte auf dem Friedhof des Volksbundes Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge in Neumark / Stettin. Geborgene Soldaten: 32 Deutsche Soldaten: 32 Erkennungsmarken: 3 The problem is that most of the identity discs are missing, stolen by grave robbers in the long postwar period. Without the identity disc it is almost impossible to identify them. DemjanskSchild and one of six Erkennungsmarken found by excavations at Dramburg/Hinterpommern, February 2008 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fritz Posted January 21, 2019 Author Share Posted January 21, 2019 A mass grave was discovered several years back in Villeneuve-Loubet, near the French Meditarranean resort of NICE. Local eye witness had kept silent for generations, and finally a search was made. Almost 20 German soldiers had been "executed" by the American invaders during "Operation Dragoon" around late August 1944. They were registered and reburied in the nearest proper military cemetery. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fritz Posted September 15, 2019 Author Share Posted September 15, 2019 https://www.pnn.de/suche-nach-toten-soldaten-der-knochenjob/24993666.html Im Oderbruch, wie hier an der Straße zwischen den Dörfern Wollup und Zechin, liegen Munition und Blindgänger aus dem Zweiten Weltkrieg... Grabungsleiter Joachim Kozlowski at work. In the Oderbruch Region alone, 200 million shells and grenades rained down on the defenders, many are still lingering under the surface and dangerous - and the remains of scores of thousands of the fallen. In the postwar years the DDR had no interest in the remains of the fallen, especially those of the Wehrmacht. The only military cemeteries and memorials were the Soviet ones. It was strictly forbidden to mention anything of that nature or even to go digging.Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten Fragments: The form of a steel helmet gives the first clues to the identity of the remains, every bone or teeth a further information. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fritz Posted January 30, 2020 Author Share Posted January 30, 2020 A grave was discovered in the woods around Halbe (Brandenburg), 75 years after the end of WW2. Joachim Koslowski went to investigate and found the grave, carefully uncovering it. The Erkennungsmarke was found - but this was "mysterious", as the back of it was stamped "Deutsches Reichsheer", the soldier was from 2./ Pionier-Ersatz u. -Ausbildungsabteilung 23 and his bloodgroup was "0", his age around 40 years. It took some time to positively identify him, Hermann Klein, who had settled in Zeuthen before the war. It was explained also that in the final days of the war, old material stocks were re-used, which explained how this identity tag with "Dt.Reichsheer" came into use, it was from unused stocks. Reichsheer was changed in 1935 to "Deutsche Wehrmacht". Hermann Klein had no direct next of kin, just the grandson of a sister. Originally a request was made by his wife to the "Suchdienst des Deutschen Roten Kreuzes" in Munich in 1952, but she died shortly after, and Hermann Klein remained missing till 2019. He was then re-buried in the Waldfriedhof Halbe along with other war victims three months later. Over one million German soldiers from WW2 are still missing. Report from January 2020. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fritz Posted May 19, 2021 Author Share Posted May 19, 2021 Recently in Russia 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fritz Posted May 26, 2021 Author Share Posted May 26, 2021 Recent finds in Poland. According to EU Laws these will probably be destroyed by the authorities 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gildwiller1918 Posted May 26, 2021 Share Posted May 26, 2021 Wow, its hard to imagine the amount of items still in the ground from the previous conflicts. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fritz Posted May 26, 2021 Author Share Posted May 26, 2021 Yes, and it is a shame that objects like these are wilfully destroyed through ignorance and prejudice. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fritz Posted November 4, 2021 Author Share Posted November 4, 2021 Erwin Kowalke 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulchen Posted June 19, 2023 Share Posted June 19, 2023 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulchen Posted June 21, 2023 Share Posted June 21, 2023 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulchen Posted June 21, 2023 Share Posted June 21, 2023 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fritz Posted August 17, 2023 Author Share Posted August 17, 2023 Grabungen nach erschossenen Wehrmachtssoldaten in Frankreich haben begonnen https://www.gmx.net/magazine/panorama/grabungen-erschossenen-wehrmachtssoldaten-frankreich-38535716 Auslöser der erneuten Suche war der Bericht des 98 Jahre alten ehemaligen Widerstandskämpfers Edmond Réveil aus Meymac 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fritz Posted August 18, 2023 Author Share Posted August 18, 2023 Gemeinde Ostrów Mazowiecka 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fritz Posted August 25, 2023 Author Share Posted August 25, 2023 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fritz Posted October 19, 2023 Author Share Posted October 19, 2023 Volksbund birgt einmillionsten Kriegstoten in Litauen Bundesarchiv Internet - Volksbund birgt einmillionsten Kriegstoten in Litauen Erkennungsmarke des in Kelme/Litthauen geborgenen Kriegstoten Es ist ein Meilenstein in der Arbeit des Volkbundes, ein trauriges Jubiläum und doch ein Erfolg: Heute haben die Umbetter des Volksbundes Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e. V. nahe Kelme, Litauen, symbolisch den einmillionsten Kriegstoten seit 1992 in Osteuropa ausgebettet. Das Bundesarchiv, mit dem der Volksbund eng zusammenarbeitet, hat den Toten identifiziert. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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