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    SS-Feldgendarmerie Officer Set


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    Here is a superb set that I just acquired from a German auction site, thanks to a tip off from Ian Jewison.

    Many years ago, when visiting my Knight’s Cross winner friend Heinrich Springer, he took me to visit the chap who ran the Truppenkameradschaft of the Götz von Berlichingen Division, Walter Ott.

    Herr Ott asked me what my special interests were and when I told him it was the Feldgendarmerie, he provided me with the addresses of several former members of the Divisional Feldgendarmerie-Kompanie, including its commander and suggested I write to them.

    The company commander, Oskar Lösel, was one of those who replied and we remained in touch for some time during which Herr Lösel kindly supplied me with information about his career and a few photos.

    I was surprised when Ian sent me a link to the auction site, to see a seller offering a small grouping consisting of a “Soldbuch, Polizei Dienstpass and Führerschein” in the name of Oskar Lösel. Unfortunately, the auction photo showed a nice Führerschein and Dienstpass, but not a Soldbuch, but rather an Ausweis to a pre-war organisation which was later banned by the Nazis, the “Arbeiter-Turner-Samariter-Kolonne” an organisation promoting health and safety at work, first aid training etc etc.

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    Nevertheless, if it was indeed the same guy, I was still interested in his Polizei Dienstpass so contacted the seller and asked for any more images. I was even more surprised when what arrived was a set of images of --- an SS-Soldbuch. Sadly the cover was missing and had been replaced with a crude plain card cover but the inside was completely intact and even better, from the information inside it clearly WAS the same Oskar Lösel that I had known ( sadly he passed away several years ago). Even his signature was still identical and hadn’t changed in the least from the 1940s to when I had corresponded with him.

    I double checked with the seller and he confirmed that the group included the Dienstpass, Ausweis, Führerschein and Soldbuch. For some bizarre reason, he had omitted the Soldbuch from the image posted on the auction site.

    Here are the docs. First the SS-Führerschein

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    Interior.

    No photo was ever attached, the licence being validated by the Sold buch which did contain a photo.

    The Feldpost number on the licence corresponds to the Generalkommando of the SS-Panzerkorps, later to become II SS-Panzerkorps. Lösel belonged to the Feldgendarmerie Trupp attached to the Korps.

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    His last entry in the Dienstpass being in 1942, subsequent career moves are shown in his SS-Soldbuch, Lösel having been transferred from the regular Police to the Military Police.

    Lösel had been at pains to stress in his correspondence that he was a career Police Officer who had been drafted (not volunteered) into the SS-Feldgendarmerie. I suppose with Himmler being Chief of the German Police as well as Reichsführer-SS he could post “his” personnel wherever he wanted.

    Interesting then, that his rank is shown in the Waffen-SS Soldbuch, not as SS-Untersturmführer but as Leutnant der Schutzpolizei.

    (The original cover of the Soldbuch was ripped off - possibly while he was a POW). It is interesting also to note the stamp of the American CIC (Counter Intelligence Corps). Lösel even remembered the name of the US Intelligence officer who interrogated him, Captain Kaltenbach, and thar he amazed Lösel by seeming to already know all sorts of personal information about him, to the tiniest details.

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    And the most interesting entries, his awards. Note the Infanterie Sturmabzeichen and the EK1. Not especially high awards by any means, but decorations that are rarely seen being awarded to Feldgendarmerie and indicative of the heavy fighting that GvB found itself embroiled in during the battles in Normandy.

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    That is an outstanding set to of acquired, especially as it belonged to someone you had been corresponding with. Did he ever say what had happened to his Soldbuch etc after the war or did he keep it all and this has been sold by the family after his death?

    Signature on Pg 3 of the soldbuch is of, I believe, Karl Wiemann who was born 28th Jul 1903. It looks like it is also his signature on Pg 22 (second from bottom) for the IAB Silber entry.

    Edited by hucks216
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    And the signature at the bottom of Pg 22 for the EK I entry is of the Regimental Commander Josef Bäurle who was born 6th Auguat 1912 (died in 1978) and won the DKiG on 20th January 1943 while with 'Westland.' According to Lexikon he commanded SS-Pz.Grenadier Rgt 38 from November to December 1944 and SS-Pz.Grenadier Rgt 37 for just 5 days in March 1945. The Führerliste has him as being the commander of SS-Pz.Gren.Rgt 37 in April 1945. Both of those Pz.Grenadier Rgt's belonged to GvB.

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    Hi Kevin,

    You just beat me to it. Been going through the SS Führerlist and came to the same conclusions re Wiemann and Bäurle. Still trying to work out the other signatures relating to the Pz-Korps.

    Lösel sadly didn't have any of his documents. A lot of his personal docs from his Police service were destroyed when the Police HQ in Stettin was bombed. All of his personal stuff was taken from him by the American troops top whom he surrendered ( from his letters looks like he was basically stripped of all his medals and insignia while being slapped around by souvenir hunting GIs. I suppose, being Waffen-SS its not too surprising ).

    He did say that one of his captors complimented him on the conduct of the Feldgendarmerie-Kompanie.

    He also gave me some info on his EK1. It was awarded for saving a group of elderly German army troops ( typical late war second-line troops) who were sheltering along with some civilians in a bunker. He and a few of his NCOs were decorated for that.

    So, I don't think he ever had the Soldbuch after being released from captivity in 1947.

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