Knights Cross Recipients Who Are Still Living

save yourself some notepaper as Erich has not responded by letter to anyone except his closest associates for some time now.

last time we had correspondence with him and it was rather lengthy was in the year 2000.

 

I am interested in finding out how I can contact waffen ss veterans, but don't know where to start looking. I am 24 and non political, and would just like to hear their opinions about the war, or their stories if they felt like talking to me about it. Suppose I could just email or write them and politely ask if they would want to meet me. Can anyone please help me with this? if the names of veterans would help, I suppose id like to to contact Karl brommann, Von Ribbentrop, Josef roelleke, or fritz langake. Thanks.

 

Karl Bromann no longer answers due to ill health , Von Ribbontrop , Roelleke and Langanke may still send out signed photos bu will not answer questions,

regards

Paul

 

hi there i was wondering while reading these excellant posts, are they allowed to display there awards as our sevice men do at certain ceremonies,

 

My understanding is that medals are generally only used by veterans when commemorating dead soldiers either at events or at a military cemetery. Quite a few medals were re-issued post-war to remove Nazi insignia (the re-issued ones have oak leaves in place of the Swastika) so I assume those might be ok in a legal sense to wear outside but you might not get the best reception regardless of which war you received them in from what I've read. Although I haven't heard of any such stories I assume if you were walking around in public with a Nazi era medal you could get in trouble from the authorities.

 

I just received two signed photos back from Otto carius! What a great man. I was hoping that someone here had some leads about contact information for living knights cross holders, possibly in the ss? please pm me. Thanks.

 

Of course , most German veterans will wear their awards at Ceremonies and Jahrestreffen , though they are only allowed by law to wear 1957 awards , as stated they do not display a swastika as it is a banned symbol in Germany.

 

Not many Waffen SS RKT left and most do not reply any longer !!

 

Hi, i'm new in this forum, and i just wanted to knew if someone could gather me the postal adresses of some Knight's Cross recipients (especially carius and ribbentrop by the way). Please, i know most will not answer to mails any longer, but i'm ready to travel from South America to Germany, Holland, etc. Just need some postal adresses and will make the luggage and travel asap. I know it would be impolite of course to appear in front of their doors impolitely, but maybe i can get to see them outside or something like that. Please send me PM if you have something.

Best Regards,

Piero.

 

Sadden to report that Nachtjäger ace of the Ost and Western fronts Werner Hoffmann, I./NJG5 Gruppenkommandeur died on 8th of July 2011.

RIP

 

Does anyone know if fritz langanke and eberhard heder still send out signed photos?

 

Hello All,

I have recently started writing to Knight Cross winners in the last 6 weeks. I have been rewarded with letters and pictures from the following

Otto Carius
Erich Rudorffer
Rudolf von Ribbentrop
Fritz Langanke
Kurt Sametreiter

I have several more out and hoping for replies.

I have been advised on other forums that some of these men would not respond and would be put off by a letter. I have found the opposite. They all were pleased to receive a correspondence and that someone showed interest in their lives.

 

Hello gregoperations2,

did you write in German or English,btw?

 

I wrote in German. I use the online google translator and then cut and paste it. It works great

 

glad they have corresponded with you hopeful you are sending funds to them for their time and postage ? German is the best way but suggest shying away from the mechanical online translator, it is more of a joke than anything, I say this as I did an experiment with 3 vet friends they all laughed and said what is wrong with your Deutsche ?

for now ............... bis bald

 

Thanks Erich,

So far it has been ok but I see your point. I do have a friend who lives in Berlin who could probably help. I spoke somewhat fluent German 30 years ago but have forgotten most of it. I am amazed though at how quickly these gentlemen have responded. The average time is about 2 weeks and I always include a gratuity. They deserve that much and more

 

Thanks Erich,

So far it has been ok but I see your point. I do have a friend who lives in Berlin who could probably help. I spoke somewhat fluent German 30 years ago but have forgotten most of it. I am amazed though at how quickly these gentlemen have responded. The average time is about 2 weeks and I always include a gratuity. They deserve that much and more

 

Really, you got replies back from langanke and samatreiter? I wrote to them almost a month ago and still have not heard back. The addresses I sent the photos to were correct. I even included 5 euros for return postage, and a respectful, short letter in German. What is up with them not responding, since you guys apparently have gotten replies?

 

could it have been lost ? have had the problem back in the 1980's several times, or mixed up with other mail plus did our friend send his letter out before you thus the RK winner is replying in the order it was received. patience is a virtue that is a fact. I remember not hearing from some chaps for nearly a year

 

I still have not heard back from Heder at this point but Langanke and Sametreiter took about 2 weeks. I dont know why but they were that quick. If you dont hear back in a few more weeks, I would retry.