What kind of records were kept regarding Wehrmacht deserters (Fahnenfluechtige), and where can they be located today? Is there a central records office/agency in Germany or elsewhere?
I am trying to find out what happened to a particular Pionier who went AWOL from the Pionier Ersatz Battl. in Bevern, near Holzminden, in the last week of October 1942.
I only know his surname and the initial of his Christian name.
Thanks!
Information on a deserter
More generally!
What was the judicial process a deserter (Fahnenfluechtiger) faced when caught within the Reich or at the front?
What kind of punishment was meted out and by whom?
I can't find any reference material on this subject, so any help would be appreciated.
What kind of punishment was meted out and by whom?
I can't find any reference material on this subject, so any help would be appreciated.
there's no precise reference, but it's touched upon in several books and soldiers will tell you that, in the beginning, they were arrested and tried for treason. In the final years of the war they were executed. No trial by jury, etc. Military justice as the commanders saw fit.
Generally they were shot, but at times hanged.
Generally they were shot, but at times hanged.
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Volks ans Gewehr
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C. Udentz
Information on a deserter
This is pretty much a closed subject, but the following may be of interest.
The Militärstrafgesetzbuch (a revised German military criminal code introduced in october 1940) gives the following penalties for desertion:
1. The punishment for desertion is imprisonment for not less than 6 months. (minimum sentence-6 months).
2. If the offence is committed in the field, or the circumstances caused special difficulties, the death penalty or lifetime imprisonment is to be imposed.
3. If the offender returns [voluntary] and continues his military service within 4 weeks, imprisonment for not less than 6 months can be imposed.
If the offender returns to the 'field' within one week, imprisonment of not less than 6 months will be imposed.
The revised German military code gave more consideration to capital punishment. The Kriegssonderstrafrechts-verordnung(KSSVO)- a special code of procedure in force during the war, further reinforced the German military code.
Increasingly, as the war progressed, military judges imposed max. penalties on decisions regarding desertion. During the last months of the war, convictions for desertion and related offences, resulted in death sentences. Summary executions for desertion in the field have been noted, but speculation and rumour cloud the issue, and little recorded details or confirmation exist.
German research estimates that during the war:
1. 35,000 desertion convictions by military courts
2. 22,700 death sentences passed
3. 15,000 executed (members of the Wehrmacht)
Records are incomplete, as is only to be expected considering the nature of the offence. The notion of desertion remains an emotive subject in Germany, for conflicting reasons.
There is a German Federal Archive in Koblenz, Germany.
Cal Udentz.
The Militärstrafgesetzbuch (a revised German military criminal code introduced in october 1940) gives the following penalties for desertion:
1. The punishment for desertion is imprisonment for not less than 6 months. (minimum sentence-6 months).
2. If the offence is committed in the field, or the circumstances caused special difficulties, the death penalty or lifetime imprisonment is to be imposed.
3. If the offender returns [voluntary] and continues his military service within 4 weeks, imprisonment for not less than 6 months can be imposed.
If the offender returns to the 'field' within one week, imprisonment of not less than 6 months will be imposed.
The revised German military code gave more consideration to capital punishment. The Kriegssonderstrafrechts-verordnung(KSSVO)- a special code of procedure in force during the war, further reinforced the German military code.
Increasingly, as the war progressed, military judges imposed max. penalties on decisions regarding desertion. During the last months of the war, convictions for desertion and related offences, resulted in death sentences. Summary executions for desertion in the field have been noted, but speculation and rumour cloud the issue, and little recorded details or confirmation exist.
German research estimates that during the war:
1. 35,000 desertion convictions by military courts
2. 22,700 death sentences passed
3. 15,000 executed (members of the Wehrmacht)
Records are incomplete, as is only to be expected considering the nature of the offence. The notion of desertion remains an emotive subject in Germany, for conflicting reasons.
There is a German Federal Archive in Koblenz, Germany.
Cal Udentz.
Thanks Cal for the informed response.
Do you have a source for your statistics?
If the offence was within the Reich, do you think imprisonment would be in a military goal, or, as "Volks ans Gewehr" suggested, in a concentration camp?
Apropo your comment of desertion as an emotive subject, I was curious to read that some towns in Germany have begun to erect memorial plaques honouring Wehrmacht deserters [ http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/europe/s ... esert1.htm ]. This is something new to me and quite thought provoking - I can understand why it arouses conflicting emotions.
My grandfather had the opportunity to desert in February 1945 (his brother allegedly wanted to hide him), but he returned to the front in Czechoslovakia. One of the principle reasons for returning, so the family says, was Kameradschaft (whether of loyalty to, or guilt of abandoning his comrades).
To desert must have taken great courage or great desperation.
Do you have a source for your statistics?
If the offence was within the Reich, do you think imprisonment would be in a military goal, or, as "Volks ans Gewehr" suggested, in a concentration camp?
Apropo your comment of desertion as an emotive subject, I was curious to read that some towns in Germany have begun to erect memorial plaques honouring Wehrmacht deserters [ http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/europe/s ... esert1.htm ]. This is something new to me and quite thought provoking - I can understand why it arouses conflicting emotions.
My grandfather had the opportunity to desert in February 1945 (his brother allegedly wanted to hide him), but he returned to the front in Czechoslovakia. One of the principle reasons for returning, so the family says, was Kameradschaft (whether of loyalty to, or guilt of abandoning his comrades).
To desert must have taken great courage or great desperation.
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C. Udentz
Information on a deserter
Hello k-pp,
Cannot reply at the moment. I am having problems with the UK's so-called biggest and 'professional' ISP.
Cal Udentz.
Cannot reply at the moment. I am having problems with the UK's so-called biggest and 'professional' ISP.
Cal Udentz.
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C. Udentz
Information on a deserter
Hello k-pp,
I read a copy of the Revised German Military Penal Code some years ago, unfortunately I did not keep it. Recent knowledge comes from German press reports from the last three years.
The issue of German desertion has become a highly political subject in Germany and it is difficult to get a objective view. However you may want to look at this German web page:
http://www.rewi.hu-berlin.de/online/fhi ... stortz.htm
It is in German. But if you type the above address into the google search engine, you should obtain a partial translation into English.
To my knowledge, members of the Wehrmacht convicted of desertion, were imprisoned in penitentiaries within Germany. German soldiers were not sent to concentration camps, except in extreme circumstances. It was not legally applicable.
Germany is probably the only nation, so far, to erect memorials to convicted deserters. This is purely political, but not surprising, since Germany is now a pacifist nation. Some welcome this acknowledgement, the majority do not.
In 1945 the eastern Front was in a state of disintegration and near collapse. The German Leader was demanding his soldiers to fight to the last man and bullet. I can only assume that German troopers remained with their units in a desperate attempt to defend their homeland and remain true and loyal to their kameraden, rather than for any political viewpoint. This is commendable in my view.
If I come across a English language source, on the net, I will let you know.
Cal Udentz.
I read a copy of the Revised German Military Penal Code some years ago, unfortunately I did not keep it. Recent knowledge comes from German press reports from the last three years.
The issue of German desertion has become a highly political subject in Germany and it is difficult to get a objective view. However you may want to look at this German web page:
http://www.rewi.hu-berlin.de/online/fhi ... stortz.htm
It is in German. But if you type the above address into the google search engine, you should obtain a partial translation into English.
To my knowledge, members of the Wehrmacht convicted of desertion, were imprisoned in penitentiaries within Germany. German soldiers were not sent to concentration camps, except in extreme circumstances. It was not legally applicable.
Germany is probably the only nation, so far, to erect memorials to convicted deserters. This is purely political, but not surprising, since Germany is now a pacifist nation. Some welcome this acknowledgement, the majority do not.
In 1945 the eastern Front was in a state of disintegration and near collapse. The German Leader was demanding his soldiers to fight to the last man and bullet. I can only assume that German troopers remained with their units in a desperate attempt to defend their homeland and remain true and loyal to their kameraden, rather than for any political viewpoint. This is commendable in my view.
If I come across a English language source, on the net, I will let you know.
Cal Udentz.