VOLUME II THE WAFFEN-SS IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE. NUMBER 5(11) NOVEMBER 1978 ISSUE CONTENTS: Editorial Waffen-SS Books "Das Reich" i Russi: 1, To the Yelnya Bend 2. The Road to Moscow 3,)"Der Fuehrer” at Rzhev Tank Killers of the Waffen-ss SS Panzer’ Abt. 102 (Part IIT) Oakleaf Records Siegrunen is published and distributed by: Richaed Landweht Hox 70, aft Reuben Ra (OR 7442 USA 4 Issues 34.25 8 Issues $9, uamenthly Above: $S-Untersturnfuehrer Michael Wittmann as Platoon CO in 13.(schwere) /SS-Pz.Rgt.l, in Feb. 1944. Wittmann, considered the best tank commander in Wi2, destroyed 132 enemy tarks and at one point hulted a major British offen- sive in Normandy single-handedly. A true legend to his contemporaries, he was killed in.action:on. 6 August 1944 at the ace of 30.SIZGRUNEN #11 Editorial/W-38 Books (2. SOG EEOROBETODEUDUNEDEUN Em nEUTIOFOET IERIE Mio Ma HOOEE Ka EA nivale Aa "The SS still saw the war with Russia as a crusade but by now they were not holding the line alone. Men of other European nations were enlisting and the SS ideas which had once been uniquely and proudly German became the inspiration of men of @ dozen nations, The Leibstandarte had suffered terrible losses tut it-had gained for itself, as the other 53 Divisions had gained-for-themselvesy-a-reputation for elan in attack, for sol idity in defense and a contempt for death which impressed the . Army; DhesSS-=the political soldiers--wore becoming the model of those soldierly virtues which had once been the sole epitome of the Regular Army." James Lucas in Hitler's Elite, page 97. SOONER Ea eR SU aa ann fm IEICE STADE AO OCH NER RE RRR te An apology is in order for some of the bad. photo, repro in SR#10--about all I can do is hope for the best with the photographs as there is no way to guarantee how they will turn out. The usual typos also appeared (like ‘heresay’ for 'hearsay') which I didn't catch until after-things, were printed--I can only promise to try and improve on past blunders. In SR#9 I|left SS-Oberscharfuehrer Gustav Wendrin- sky off the Ritterkreuztraeger list for |8.SS-Kav.Div."Florian Geyer" (the 23rd for the Division). He was MIA in Budapest; probably killed by the Russians. In case you didn't already kmow it, SIEGRUNEN is dedicated to all of the eol- @iers of the Waffen-SS, living or dead, and in its own small way is trying to present 4 positive rebuttal to the volumes of malicious slander directed toward the Waffen-SS that have beeh churned out by "special interests" and "propaganda publishers" over the lest three decades. To those elements cd the academics responsible for “atrocity” works like Soldiers of Destruction, SIBGRUNEN offers no quarter! In other areas, this publication is put out on a limited time sche— gle end a small budget--it is somewhat expensive to subscribe to, but.believe me it is also expensive to produce! At any rate, whatever is made’dn SR goes right back into acquirivig new material for it and we are on the. track of some potentially valuable source material right now. Some further notes: Several people have tried to telephone me, but I/do not have a telephone! Please don't attempt this as you will not reach me, but will probably reach another "Land- wehr" and end up wasting your money. Also, as of this issue the Book Service has been suspended--you can obtain most of what had béen listed:from'Stepping— stones Publications, FO Box 612, Silver Spring, MD 20901. Lastly: :although 1 appreciate very mich all of the letters and comments that come in, I just don't have the time to answer them all. But as always your support and contributions are of the greatest value to me. I hope you will continue to bear with some of SK's inadequacies and stay with us (and contribute if possible) in the future RL SOOO REI I HAE AEH HHI SIE KH A HAHN RMI IE RAR A I eae ei, Some short book notes. Massacre on the Road to Dunkirk is an unsavory recent British contribution in which "new" Wy nooks "Leibstandarte” atrocities were uncovered to tie in with the recent British |anti-waffen-SS hate campaign. Very weak in its allegations and totally unconvincing, Surprisingly the author, Leslie Aitken, is not nearly as derogatory towards the -S8 as some of our "American" elements like Sydnor and Weingartner, Hitler's Elite by James Iucas-and-Matthew Cooper. Lucas* contribution to this book on the "Leibstandarte' is the best writing in English to date on the subject--however Cooper mitigates this with some less competent materials But it is fully illustrated with more than 100 photos, and despite manyserrors, is most worthwhile. It can be ordered tron WUN. Enterprises, 20 Box 1455, Greensboro, NC 27402 for 510 plus 75¢post. Get it! Up and Coming:; Vorwarts Prinz Bugen!, a well. illustrated; German text history: of the-7-S8ebivs by tte one-time so Commander, Brigadefuehrer Otte Kumm. Several thousand members of "Prinz Eugen" were butchered after the war by. the dugoslav communists with full-US and British cooperation. To date no one has answered for. these heinous crimes! Also due soon is The Waffen-SS in Russia, a photo» album by: B.quarrie! from the Bundesarchiv files in Koblenz. SOCRODROOSOBINERHDEEEEREEETEEOSEIEETIEEEICEE EEE I IIIA IERIE IIR EHO IIE CIESIEGRUNEN #11 "Des Reich": in: Russia 3e, SCORE SEC J EE ECACC HE “Das Reic! “in Russia: The First Nine Months, Juné 1941-narch’ 1942 This is the first article in a series* concerning ‘the’ exploits of the senior SS Divisions during the critical first nine months of the Russian campaign. We will ‘be dealing with in turn, "Das Reich" with army Group Center, “Leibstandarte" with Army Group South ana "Toten— kopi™With Army Group North. During this phase of operations all of these units proved that their combat effectiveness was considerably more valuable than their personel strengths would indicate. Although losses during this period were al— most debilitating, the general thrust of social Darwinism; i.e, that the fittest survive, helped guarantee thet. the Waffen-SS in its next stage of development would be trained and officered by ‘the tough- est and best soldiers available anywhere,"In ‘fact the performance of the senior SS units in the early Russian campaign lifted the W-ss Out of the nebulous “special pur- pose troops" category into a seni rate branch of the Wehrmacht and in deed eventually into the very back- Done of the entire German Armed Porces. SHE ERO EBE IONE ODSEEOEGEEOEE :| Photos: Kradschittzen and grenadiers of “Das-Reich" advancing towards Yelnya, July 1941. Srrpor net Ra REN EONERENOEOC OE Virtually nothing in the pages of military history can’ compare’ with the. extreme Valor, tenacity and effectiveness displayed by the! W-S5 soldiers from June 1541 to March 1942. and this is not mere hyperbole! For that reason alone it is vital that SIZGRUNEN give space to this important story, combining text and “photos from a variety of different sources. It should be pointed out in advance that St this period of time, the units of the Waffen-SS were not at all-equel to the mumerous.Heer panzer and panzer grenadier elements in. terms of ordnance and eq— uipment--which makes this story 21] the more amazing. RL fo The Yelnya Bend Qn 22 June 1941, 5S Infanterie (mot. ) Div. "Das Reich" was part of Panzergruppe Guderian, the chief armored striking force on the front of army Group Center. Its manpower complement stood at 19,021 all ranks. The officer co- mmanding was the father of the Waffen-SS itself, SS-Gruppenfueh- rer Paul Hausser. The Div. .con- tained three grenadier regiments: “Der Puehrer" under SS-Brig. Geord Keppler, "Deutschland" under SS- Oberfuehrer Wilhelm Bittrich, and the 11,SS-Inf.Ret. under SS—Ober- sturmbannfuehrer Dr.iim Brandt. In addition there were the usual divisional detachments. including (Continued Next Page)SIBGRUNEN #11 "Das Reich" in Russia 43, NOOOU IACI CTIA MEE EISEN IER the original SS artillery regiment under SS-Ostubaf.Kersten and the dashing motorcycle battalion under the redoubtable SS-Stubaf.Pritz Klingenberg, "Das Reich" was one“of the first German units. to penetrate the Russian frontier, operating mich of the time with the as- sistance of either the 4th or 10th Panzer Divs. Early opposi- tion was stiff, but much progress was made. By 4 July "Das Reich" was established at St.Rechki and the Divisional motor- cycle and recce elements had cut-out a bridge-head on the east bank of the Beresina River, The Dneiper was also soon forded on 11 July near Shklov and by 16 July, "Das Reich" in conjunction with 10th Panzer had reached Pochinok about 35 miles south’ of the key city of Smolensk. Smolensk fell to German troops in a storm of fire on the same day. "Das Reich" was off again, driving towards the town of Yelnya on the Desna River, Yelnya was secured on 25 July when the last 1,100 defenders sannwexxnanennnnninnnnunnnnnnn or surrendered to the Division. Right Gruppendiekine? But the heavy fighting had jer in + Below: taken its toll. Both the com- §The positions of Divisional manders of 11.SS-Rgt. and 2. elements in the "Yelnya Bend", SS-Art-Ret. had been killed. mown as the “graveyard corner", Brigadefuehrer Keppler of "DPWRMMNH¥K» MuxdnawEumMSeNaEMeAo eK Ret. was sent to take over the “Totenkopf" Div., after its. 00, Gruf.Bicke, had been severely wounded. Taking charge of "Dr" Ret. was Stubaf. (promoted to Obersturmbamnfuehrer) Otto Kumm, formerly CO of III./"D?F The advance-was now held-up by geographical and political pro= lems. The Division hela diffi cult positions that bulged in- to the enemy lines, The salient subsequently became known as the "Yelnya Bend". A supply problem also existed due to the fact that stripped its logistical capa- city and thie in turn took time to remedy. The political problem came from the Ruehrer HQ, where there was indecis— ion about which objective, Moscow or Kiev, would be most vital to take at this point in the campaign. Moscow lay 185 miles east of Yelnya while Kiev, the capital of the Ukraine and "“breadbasket" of the country t was several hundred miles to the south. The delays and procrasti- nations led to an inevitable build-up of Red Army forces against the Yelnya salient. SOONER EIDE DIE RODE I EI