I will get in touch with my auntie and see what he has told her.
Good idea :)
Btw, Hughey, if your grandfather took part in the battle of Monte Cassino you could show him the lyrics of this song: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Red_Poppies_on_Monte_Cassino
It's a famous song in Poland.
The lyrics: tekstowo.pl/piosenka,edyta_geppert,czerwone_maki_na_monte_cassino.html
Hughey, your grandfather will probably be able to tell you much more then anything that can be found in the archives. The archives will only have technical info such as units sevred in, dates of transfer, etc. I would advise you to sit down with your grand dad and do a recorded interview with him. I have done so with many veterans who supposedly did not want to talk about the war, and with very good results. It is important family history, and important history.
As was metioned in a previous post, I wrote a book about the liberation of the region of Nice, southern France, in August 1944. The book contains a lot of information about German Reserve Division 148, whose recruiting area was in Sileasia. Most of the "German" soldiers in the unit were from Kattowitz, Hindenburg, Tarnowitz, Bytom, Zabrze, etc. I found a grave containing the bodies of 14 soldiers from the unit. Of the 8 identified, none were from Germany proper. Anybody who is a family member of a Pole who may have been a member of Reserve Division 148 in southern France is welcome to contact me: schyzowolf@yahoo.fr
For more about finding the missing soldiers (see Villeneuve-Loubet grave) and about my book: autopsyofabattle.blogspot.com battlefieldarchaeology.blogspot.com
I've just seen your 2013 posting about your father. I've also reveived my father's war records from the MOD and was surprised to see that he served in the German army. Like your father he was captured by the allies and immediately switched to Polish forces under British command, fighting at River Senio and the Battle of Bologna/Lombardy Plain.
The MOD also sent me his medals and his German solbuch, as well as numerous documents written in Polish. He died when I was quite young and my late mother believed that he fought at Monte Casino; if that were true he must have been on the German side at the time, judging by the dates supplied.
I followed his trail on demobilisation to a farm in the Scottish borders but, although a daughter of the farm owner remembered Polish soldiers there as a child, she didn't recall any names.
The soldbuch contains several loose photos, presumably of colleagues in the German army. As they both fought in the same place at the same time, might there be a small chance that they may have known each other?
In any case, I'd be very interested to hear if you found answers to any of your questions.
Dear all who have posted on here. I realise that these posts are now quite old, however, I am a research student, looking into the experiences of Polish soldiers in the Wehrmacht during WWII. Would anyone be interested in speaking with me regarding these events?
My father was conscripted into the German Army in 1943. I have received his military records from the Dienstelle but they are very vague- they say he was with 9 Kompanie 11 Batallion Fleiger-Regiment 71 which was also called Regiment Kapuste after Commander Gotthardt Kapuste and stationed in France.
Does anyone have any information on this Regiment please? Also he was captured by the Americans at Gladbach in March 1945- I assume this was during a fighting retreat but this is just a wild guess.
You aren't really asking in the best of places. A far better source of information will be axishistory.com, which also has a very good forum with some extremely knowledgeable posters: forum.axishistory.com
My father Karol Tomecki was from Imielin, near Katowice. He was conscripted in the German army and, from the little I know, he was part of a Panzer division. My father died in 1981. One fact about his war record I do recall is that he was sent to Bulgaria with his tank unit. Would the Dienststelle website be the contact for his army record? When the war ended he was in a displaced people's camp where he met and married my mom, who herself had been shipped to Germany from Wietlin, near Jaroslaw, to work on a farm in Bavaria, then escaped to be caught and, fortunately, was spared a worse fate by being sent to work in a small gasthaus or inn (a restaurant/hotel) in Bavaria, somewhere near the town of Amberg. As kids my sister and I had little interest in learning about their past. Now that they are gone, we'd love to piece together the story on behalf of grandkids. Thanks for any help. Elisabeth
Would the Dienststelle website be the contact for his army record?
Yes, the Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt) in Berlin is the one to contact. If the records have not been lost during the war, they might send you a whole bunch of document copies and other information about your father. Just be prepared to wait over a year for a response. They are extremely busy.
Thank you, The Other. I am prepared to wait. Would you know if there is a like database that would record when (1939 or after Germany re-occupied the area in 1941) my mother was "conscripted" as a forced laborer in Germany and where she was placed. We'd love an opportunity to visit the area. Thanks again. Elisabeth
Elisabeth, I'm not aware of any public database that allows you to trace your mother, but there are plenty of web sites out there which might be of help. I would try the first one below for a more specific search, and the second one for some background information.
Harvey Sarner in his book about Anders Army, General Anders and the Soldiers of the Second Polish Corps (1997), noted that II Polish Corps was resupplied with Polish conscripts from German POW camps in the tens of thousands. This was compelled by the break with the Soviets which eliminated recruits from the East. Since these soldiers had served in Wehrmacht they were in danger of being shot at deserters if they were recognized as such. So, it is not surprising that some used assumed or borrowed identities. However, once the tide turned against the Nazis, many found that risk preferable to being viewed as Nazi collaborators at the end of the war. It was so successful that by the time II Polish Corps was demobilized, it had a "surplus" of soldiers in excess of the limit that the Brits had placed on it. Norman Davies has also recently released a book about the Second Polish Corps Trail of Hope: The Anders Army - An Odyssey Across Three Continents (2015)
My grandfather was with the Luftwaffe, and some other family members were with the Wehrmacht. Non of them told me they had ever seen a Pole serving in their lines. I know some were..but the numbers were small.
Officially, the Germans didn't recognize that they were ethnic Poles. Post-war academics have generally attempted to divide RP II 's population into somewhat arbitrary ethnic groups by religion and language without acknowledging that many were "transitional" people who could assimilate into the population on the other side of the border. They rarely were given a choice to "vote with their feet" by either the Nazis or the Soviets, who assigned them an ethnicity to further their territorial ambitions and claims. Anders' Army was the one notable exception, but even then, the Soviets took a very restrictive view of whom they declared to be Polish, and thus permitted to fight under Polish command. The Polish graveyard at Monte Casino has quite a few Jewish Star of David's, as well as Orthodox and Greek Catholic crosses bearing witness to the religious diversity of the Poles from the Kresy.
Not found anything else - I do have all records from when he was incorporated into Anders army and his resettlement to the UK in the PSC - includes the Doncaster mill that I have seen mentioned, and his Alians order.
My dad was likewise drafted into the German army on his 18th birthday in 1943. Immediately upon the invasion in 1939, Eastern Poland had simply become German with German teachers, road signs etc. He had the good fortune to be sent West and not to the Russian front and he served somewhere near Arras (FR), mainly as sentry to stop coal and fuel being pinched. He was just a kid off the farm but the older Poles told him that when the invasion came, as everyone knew it would, they would all escape and surrender to the allies. They also listened to a clandestine radio which also presumably urged them to do this. He survived interrogation when the radio was discovered, the Ardennenoffensif (as he called it), the allied offensive and the fire of the Canadians before they were seen as surrendering. He was finally taken to a POW camp in Scotland where the treatment was pretty awful. It was then that General Anders, running out of men in Italy, suggested inviting the captured Poles to join the Polish 2nd Corps. My dad remembered that he´d never seen so much food as appeared once they´d agreed to fight. He was given a new name and id (in case of capture by the Germans) and was immediately trained to be a motorcycle dispatch rider. He carried orders from the rear to the front line in Italy and was both wounded and commended before the end of hostilities, a stint enjoying post war Italy and his return to the UK. He was advised by his family not to return to Poland and was, thankfully, allowed to settle in the UK where he was demobbed in 1947. Unfortunately, while we remember his many stories, we never wrote them down. They would have made a great book. His name was Jan Szamocki and, in 2 Corps, it was Jan Polachowski.
My father likewise was drafted/conscripted into the German Army served with the Reserve Division 148 in southern France before being sent to Italy where the whole regiment was captured, he in turn then was in the Polish Army under the 8th British Army and came to the UK in 1946 with the Polish Resettlement corps. I have his service record from RAF northholt along with his German army book.
He never spoke of any of this and we only discovered this after he passed away some years back. He came from the Raciborz area in Poland, born to German parents, he was a blond haired blue eyed boy. We have letters from family but cannot trace anyone remaining, nor did we have any luck with the german army, he simply didn't exsist.
Happy to talk to anyone who has further info on where to go now? Thanks xx
Kagkat, as mentioned, I have written a book about southern France, with lots of information about Reserve Division 148. I interviewed several soldiers from the unit, have some POW interrogations, names of casualties, etc. Here is a video from 2006 showing a grave I found near Nice containing the bodies of 14 missing men from Reserve Division 148: youtube.com/watch?v=yseqYvqIqGY&list=PLQlZwIXLWC7N-VkqtfDxW7CjEluplKBLB
I am also used to researching soldiers of the German army. You can send me an email at jean-loup@gassend.com
@steved Greetings. My father was born in Gostynin and I just visited recently and have been in touch with some locals who are collected stories from the past. Were you ever able to make it there? I would be interested to hear your story.
I have been very interested in reading all these post as my father was also conscripted into the German forces. He was born in Bralin (Poland) in 1920. About 10 miles from the German border. The family had a Polish name, Cegla, but had some connection to the German state as his father was also in the German army during WW1 ( I had a grand father on either side of the trenches). The family were classed as Volk Deustche. He worked as a butcher in Breslau (then in Germany) until he was conscripted in 1941/2
His 3 brothers were also conscripted into the German army. Two of them were on the Russian front My father being a butcher, was put into the kitchens of his unit. I have photos oh him and comrades in Holland were they operated the anti-aircraft guns. He eventually ended up in Crete (German occupation) still in the kitchens. He told me he wanted out, so volunteered with some others for the paratroopers and was sent to Italy, he thought for training, but I think it was just to reinforce the troops there. When he arrived there he was again sent to the kitchens, His mates were at Cassino a few day later. He was attached to a group of officers behind the German lines and didn't see any fighting. The unit retreated north and he heard the officers discussing Switzerland. One day he was posted on guard duty at some cross roads, but he wasn't relieved. He walked back to the unit, but they had left, presumably deserted into Switzerland.
He was captured by the Americans and I still have his "arrest" papers saying he was captured near the river Po. He was only in a POW camp for 2-3 weeks when a Polish officer arrived to recruit Poles from the German army to join the Polish 2nd corps, which he did. He told me he thought he might be sent to the far east where the war was still being fought.
To me there seemed no reason to reinforce the allied army as the Germans were by now defeated. However, whist researching, I found information that Churchill was laying plans to fight the Russian, attacking them near Dresden. His staff were tasked to put together a plan using British & American forces together with the Polish army and even German POW's.
( militaryhistorynow.com/2012/10/15/operation-unthinkable ) The paper were kept secret until 1998. It didn't happen and after a year in Italy, my father came to England on the Mauritania in 1946 with the Polish resettlement forces. He was in camps around Pickering & Helmesly North Yorkshire, ending up at Wooler camp in Northumberland, from where he was de-mobbed. He Came to Teesside working in the shipyards and was part of the Polish community in Middlesbrough. His 3 brothers also survived and the family being Volk Deusche were expelled from Poland and moved to Germany.
After the war, all over Europe, Volk Deusche suffered at the hands of partisans and those seeking vengeance ( a different story, see "A Savage Peace" on Youtube, A BBC documentary).
Since 1957 we visited the family many times in Germany and I met his brothers & sister along with my Grandparents. I was fortunate to be able to ask my father questions and he told me many stories, all of which I need to write down for my Grandchildren. He died age 95 in 2015.
I am wondering if there is a way I can connect with poster Jochemczyk directly. S/he mentions the village of Imielin, which is where my father was born. He too was conscripted in the German Wehrmacht. We have cousins on my father's side by the surname Jochemczyk, whom I visited. They live in Germany. I received the information about my father's war history from Deutsche Dienststelle just yesterday, explaining my renewed interest in this forum. My father Karol Tomecki was in Panzer division 5. He was in North Africa in 1943. The record indicates he was released to the Americans in 1945, then placed in a displaced people's camp in Amberg Germany where he met my mother.
@jochemczyk So sorry about the repost. I just figured out how to post so you are notified. I took notice that you mentioned the village of Imielin. My father was born there. We have cousins with the surname of Jochemczyk, which means that we are very likely related! My father was also conscripted in the German Wehrmacht. I hope you get this as I'd love to hear from you directly. My father's name was Karol Tomecki.
Like many other contributors here I have just landed on this site by trying to find out more about my father's background.
My father, Michael Temkow, was born in 1919 in what is now western Ukraine but was then I believe part of Poland. He also found himself in Italy in 1945 and enlisting in Polish Second Corp but was undoubtedly serving on the axis side at some point during the war.
I have just written to the German archives in the hope they can provide some information prior to July 1945
Like your father Kasia he was at Askern and worked as a miner until retirement in 1980. He passed away in 1982.
I do have very few some poor quality photos in Italy and probably Askern with his friends. I would happy to share if any contributor is interested in possibly spotting their father as young man.
I would like to make contact with anyone who may know something about how this young farmer's boy ended up in Italy.
Sorry for the brevity of the post but rushed for time and wanted to put something down immediately
Hi my father was called Stanislaw Fierek and was born in Czerk . His father owned a farm and Stan worked their as a labourer until he was conscripted into the German army in 1943 when he was 18 years old. I have his pay book record and have been able to trace some of his story. He was part of 176 battalion defending the Merville gunsin Normandy. I am confused as to what happened later as he was wounded 2.7.44 and he spent some time in hospital in Baden from 17.8.44 until 2.9.44. However his POW records are stamped as being captured in Masstrich. He was eventually sent to POW camp 12 as this is in his pay book....where was camp 12? He eventually ended up coming to Plymouth UK and helped rebuild the city after its devistation in the war. If anyone can help me piece his story together a bit more I would be very grateful. As with many others discovering their family story at times it has been a shock and sometimes amazing revelations but definately a worthwhile research to pass down the family line and to be proud of our relatives , their achievements and the life they made and gave to us. Grateful for any help. Thanks . Fierekk
