Veteran Interviews with soldiers who fought in the German army during WWII.

Veteran Interviews / der Erste Zug

As with any research one may do, it is always better to get the information from those who were there. With this in mind, we have posted various interviews with soldiers who fought in the German army during WWII. We know how hard it is to get this type of information and hope you find this useful in you research to better your impressionas well as to keep their stories alive. They as with any veteran, should not be forgotten.

 

nice link thanks

 

Great Link! I am always looking to read veteran accounts from World War II.

Thanks again!

 

Thank you! very interesting,I wish I could meet a German WWII veteran - Does anyone know how many German veterans are still living today? I read that in 1990 only 1,000 German veterans of Stalingrad were still alive,That number must be quite lower now

 

appreciated..and they are good reads..from 1st hand accounts.

 

I think there's only 150 left. As to how many are living today, I have no clue, probably not very many though.

 

Fantastic material here, great humor in some of them too. Reading Konrad's interview, I'm sure at the re-enactment memories of his time in the army, his comrades, etc must have come flooding back to him!

But what is a "Red Indian Ambush" [Hugo Scharnowski's interview]? Surprising hearing such a term and tactic (with the name, I'm associating it with North America) coming from Germany, in a Hitler Youth training camp no less.

 

Mehar this goes way back, the Luftwaffe fighter jocks would call US fighters Indians while calling themselves Cowboys..............go figure. they did have a thing for US Hollywood films and the characters prtryed

 

I hated the one where his kids were ashamed of his service. How terrible. I truly think many were fighting for their country just like many others were fighting for theirs. Not all soldiers were evil with world domination in mind.

 

Thiis is a subject that isn't touched on much, shame. There is so much in post war Germany that is worth documenting/telling. The little that is told is either ignored or met with much controversy (the mainstream TV airing of As Far As My Feet Will Carry Me comes to mind).

Wegner's closing statement was pretty powerful though.

Quick aside, anyone know what the "102 questions for German Vets" are? Searches bring up nothing.

Impressive, one usually associate "Cowboy culture" outside of America with Japan. Did a few searches and seems there is indeed a German following of the Cowboy scene historically/present.

http://www.thelocal.de/national/20080504-11681.html