What did my grandfather do?

Hi, i´m new here. I just got a letter from the personal archive in Berlin whit info of my grandfathers station during ww2. I need help to understand more about his units. Was he just a soldier or is there more?

Someone thats up for the task?

 

Welcome to the forum. To begin, post the information (either a scan or just typing out what the letter says). I'm sure someone here will be able to help. I'm assuming your grandfather was in the German Army? We have a few very knowledgeable members that specialize in that area.

 

Welcome Svensson! Or should I say, son of Sven!!
To be honest, the best thing anyone can possibly tell you, is "Google is your friend". Figure out his unit number, etc and google it. You will more than likely find information right away. Once you get a foundation for what your Grandfather did, you can progress from there. If your Grandfather was in the German army though, I would not get your hopes up too high on getting specific information. I believe I'm correct in saying that a vast majority of their information was destroyed as the Allies advanced.

 

Thank you. I have tried to google the info I got. But I don´t have the knowledge to fully understand and interpret the facts. Im grateful for any help you can give me.

In the attached file is what i found out.

Thanks! View attachment 15284

 

Well yeah, it looks like he was "just a soldier".

I don't read German but it looks like he served one year in Russia as a machine-gunner and rose to the rank of Gefreiter. I'm impressed by that achievement. It looks like his service with the 198.Infanterie Division ended when that unit ceased to exist (destroyed in battle).

Thank you for sharing, I found this document interesting.

Hopefully someone with a better background than me can fill us in.

 

Thank´s Erthican.
Im very curios abut the footnote where it describes one of his units as "Waffen-SS". But I´m not sure how to interpret that info. Any help would be appreciated.

 

I didn't translate the text of that last sentence/paragraph, but it looks like a source footnote. It seems to be citing a book published in 1973 that covers units of both the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS. Where there is a numeral one (1), that is where they used this book for information. I see the (1) where they identify the division that his regiment belonged to and where they were operating.

After the 198.Infanterie Division was destroyed it looks like he went to the Bakery company of the 305.Infanterie Division. I wonder if he was wounded and partially recovered before that assignment. According to the Internet the 305.ID served in Italy.

Hard to say what he may have saw in Russia or what he may have done there. It was an all out war between two terrible regimes. But it seems he was young and if he held views in line with the Nazis, I would be inclined to be understanding of the times in which he lived.

What would trouble me the most is anyone that served as a mid-grade officer or higher in the SS, Waffen or otherwise. Middle-aged people have no excuse. The aims of the Nazis were clear in the 1930's.