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Discussion in '☆☆ New Recruits ☆☆' started by W Gustloff, Sep 22, 2010.

  1. W Gustloff

    W Gustloff Member

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    Sorry for extending the thread and not putting all the attachments in one box but as my wife says "I'm a man and can only do one thing at a time".
     
  2. W Gustloff

    W Gustloff Member

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    View attachment 15212

    I would really like your comment on this one Erich as with the rest. My thought was when I read it each day is accounted for till the 25.1-1945 then a gap left and nothing till the 27-2-1945. So could I presume that if mum was on the retreat the 221 Batterie finished on the 25-1-45 and moved to Gotenhafen and the Wilhelm Gustloff and resumed on the 27-2-45?
    Why a gap? is this normal in a Ausweis Book? The Urlaub page nine shows her on holiday 19-5-1945?
     
  3. Erich

    Erich Alte Hase

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    last one shows her time as a Funkmesser-into radio/electronics at the school then into the Marine-flak Battalion, then appearances from a couple of pages her last time in the marine-Flak Ersatz-Abteilung of which there were 15 of them, 1/2 or more were disbanded with personell serving in the new or exisitng Falk Battalion units.
    I see the note about her Batterie Chef (chief) in the 2nd Kompanie which may have been a woman herself or another at Leutant capacity.

    with gaps in the stamps this is quite common during latter part of 44 into 45, while she is serving in the Flak Battalion and the transfer of Cadre, her re-positioning if there was one may have taken place and she never had her book stamped due to a variety of reasons, that alone serving on the chaotic Prussian coastal front on a constant move to retreat back into Germany -it was hoped, no one had time for particulars such as getting day books up to completion. also of note she is assigned to an all woman kommando so this would not fit the size of a Flak Battalion, this is of course a possibility due to the craziness but in genral terms could of been just a paper transfer that meant nothing but a name cover-up.


    Marinehelferinnenersatzabteilung

    Formed in Flensburg from the merging of the 1. and 2. Marinehelferinnenersatzabteilungen. The Abteilung was subordinate to the 2. Admiral der Ostsee. The base was moved to Neustrelitz then by the wars end Schleswig.
    [​IMG]
    Kommandeur Korvettenkapitän M.A. der Reserve Fritz Gallbach (00 Oct 1944-00 May 1945) [​IMG]

    will do some more studying
     
  4. W Gustloff

    W Gustloff Member

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    Thank you for all the above Erich. You tend to put options forward that I would never have thought of. I think what made me think about the gap more in the stamps was every day was accounted for, then a gap and then the next stamp was put under the gap. My thinking was "we will not put you where on the Gustloff and miss that bit out." But I can see having a book stamped was not that important considering what was happening at the time.

    I am having a problem trying to get on to the link you sent me but should have it sorted in the next couple of days, just a problem with the activation code.

    The reason I asked a while back about when the flowers where scattered on the water for the Wilhelm Gustloff by the Saxonwald was I thought it might not have been broadcasted about the Wilhelm Gustloff because it was so catastrophic but read yesterday that the Propaganda Newsletter, Nachrichten fur die Truppe informed everyone about it.

    I have been trying to read as much as I can about the Wilhelm Gustloff and found a site that gave details of the boats that picked up the survivors that night. Do you happen to know where the barracks the Navy survivors where taken and would the boats and ships that picked up survivors take names, and possibly log them somewhere? just grasping at straws. Again many thanks.
     
  5. W Gustloff

    W Gustloff Member

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    I found these pictures in my mums old handbag. I would like to put them on the Forum in the hope someone may recognize a member of their family. I presume they where taken about the middle of 1944 and are possibly Marinehelferinen.
     
  6. W Gustloff

    W Gustloff Member

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    /Users/jim/Desktop/MH 1 4TH LEFT.jpg/Users/jim/Desktop/MH 2 RIGHT.jpg/Users/jim/Desktop/MH 3 LEFT.jpg/Users/jim/Desktop/MH 4 RIGHT BACK.jpg
     
  7. W Gustloff

    W Gustloff Member

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  8. W Gustloff

    W Gustloff Member

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    View attachment 12105 [/ATTACH][/ATTACH]I would like to add these pictures in case there is any interest. When I was young we used these knives and forks every day and we used the ladle for soup. I knew when I was young they where from Germany but that was as far as it went. I got married moved out and when mum died dad moved into a flat, dad boxed things and put them in my attic as I had the biggest free space. I went on the internet last week looking for information on the Wilhelm Gustloff and come across a military site that showed plates and knifes and forks. I noticed one that had the same emblem on the handle and thought about the ones I might still have and when I found them I was over the moon as it had the M as well which I had no idea that the M stood for the German Navy at the time. It was just like finding treasure after I cleaned them up. If I could just get them to tell me where they have been the forum will be the first to know.
     

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  9. W Gustloff

    W Gustloff Member

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    I would just like to add this picture with the life boat hanging in the front from my mums photos. On the reverse it says Sassnitz Hafen/ Harbour. I searched the internet and I think I found which ship it was in the foreground of mums picture and what angle it was taken from. I highlighted parts to show on the pictures why I think it was this ship. I think ship (1) was in the middle harbour and my mums picture was taken from the right hand side of the harbour looking to the centre. Under the magnifing glass my mums photo is much more detailed but I can't pick up any more detail on the scanner.
     

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  10. W Gustloff

    W Gustloff Member

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    Sorry, not sure how I got the picture on its side.
     
  11. W Gustloff

    W Gustloff Member

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    Any thoughts please as to whether its a man's uniform or woman's on the first photo.
     
  12. W Gustloff

    W Gustloff Member

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    I hope the forum does not mind my ramblings and my speculation? I do so in the hope that I may be guided by the forum at some point which leads me to find what I’m looking for eventually. That is to find some reference to my mum being on the Wilhelm Gustloff, who picked her up and where she was taken after the sinking. My latest find was this picture of Sassnitz Hafen and to pinpoint it from where it was taken, and I’m wondering was she there before or after the sinking?

    In my mums collection of photos there are no holiday snaps or scenery type pictures they all seem to show purpose so I know Sassnitz was taken for a purpose. My mum was a 21 year old Marinehelferinnen in January 1945.

    I found a reference on the internet from a Frau Bendrich and her daughter Inge, who were survivors from the Wilhelm Gustloff. The second last reference states that the survivors walked a snow path. There is no snow on my mum’s picture but then I go back to the Ausweis Book and it shows she finished with the Flak on 25-1-45, the sinking was on 30-1-45 and then nothing until 27-2-45 when she is stamped back into her Ausweis book. So where was she all that time?? I now wait for the two books I have ordered, The Damned Don’t Drown by A V Sellwood and The Cruellest Night by Christopher Dobson, John Miller, Ronald Payne, that may answer my thoughts or give me more lines of enquiries.

    I have not forgotten your advice Erich and the path forward. My sister is just getting set up in Germany with a computer so in the next couple of weeks we can pass details faster than the postal system. She will be able to translate the findings better and the link you sent for the Forum Marinarchiv.

    “I don’t know how the author, A.V. Sellwood, came by my mother’s story, as I am not aware of her having made any contribution. I can only assume that her story was told to him by another survivor, and I believe this could be a lady by the name of Sigrid Bergfeld, a MarineHelferinnen (womans naval auxiliary) whose own story of survival is described vividly in Sellwood’s book.

    Sigrid owed her life partly to the fact that, due to a lack of space, she did not get a spot in the swimming pool where the rest of the Marinehelferinnen were quartered. Instead, she was in a cabin where five others, and was thus spared when one of the torpedoes that sunk the Gustloff struck the swimming pool.

    After my mother and I were rescued, we were taken to a camp in Sassnitz. In the bunks next to her were two survivors of their group. Both were very young, in their late teens, and one was not able to communicate. I cannot help but feel that the one who talked at length to my mother was the one who passed our story on to Sellwood. If this was Sigrid, then I must congratulate her on her memory, and would certainly like to contact her if she is still alive. If anyone reading this account knows of her whereabouts, I would be very pleased if they could contact me.

    After we berthed we walked with other shipwrecked people to a camp on a path made of trampled snow. A part of this path I can still remember clearly but I cannot judge if it was much more than a kilometre. Could someone from the TZ-36 have provided me with shoes?

    I remember that the camp had long rows of double storey bunks. Two of these bunks were taken by two of the Marinehelferinnen who were rescued from the water. Both were totally naked under their blankets. The uniforms had to be cut from their bodies. One of the girls had a high fever; I was able to talk to the other one.”

    Do any of the forum members know of any camp near Sassnitz Hafen 1945?
     

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