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Q: WW2 German Personnel Search ( Answered 5 out of 5 stars,   0 Comments )
Question  
Subject: WW2 German Personnel Search
Category: Reference, Education and News > Teaching and Research
Asked by: wilsoncurator-ga
List Price: $50.00
Posted: 21 Feb 2005 13:49 PST
Expires: 23 Mar 2005 13:49 PST
Question ID: 478288
I'm looking for information regarding a WW2 German veteran by the name
of Willi Werner Schneider.  He was born on 3/13/25 in the town of
Roitzsch, Germany. He enlisted in the German army (Wermacht)in 1942,
serving on the German offensive against Russia, in Latvia where he was
wounded.  He received a battle field promotion of 2nd Lieutenant and
the Iron Cross for his bravery. After his convalescence, Willi was
transfered to Prague where he was captured by the advancing US Army,
remaining until 1945.  After a short time, Willi was released and he
returned to Roitzsch where he married.

Question:  We are trying to find out what units he served with during
the Russian offensive?
Answer  
Subject: Re: WW2 German Personnel Search
Answered By: scriptor-ga on 21 Feb 2005 14:45 PST
Rated:5 out of 5 stars
 
Dear wilsoncurator,

The personnel records of the Wehrmacht are not yet available online.
Therfore, it is unfortunately not possible to provide you direct
information on the military career of Willi Werner Schneider. The good
news is that the personnel records that have survived World War II are
are kept by two central archives: The "Zentralnachweisstelle des
Bundesarchives" (Central Reference Office of the Federal Archive), and
the "Deutsche Dienststelle für die Benachrichtigung der nächsten
Angehörigen von Gefallenen der ehemaligen deutschen Wehrmacht" (German
Agency for Information of Next-of-Kins of Soldiers of the former
Wehrmacht killed in Action). Despite its official name, the latter
authority does not only keep records of those killed in action, but of
all members of the armed forces.



-- The Zentralnachweisstelle des Bundesarchivs --

The Zentralnachweisstelle keeps about 15 kilometers of personnel files
of the former Wehrmacht.

The Zentralnachweisstelle is bound to the strict regulations of the
Federal Archives Law; information on former Wehrmacht soldiers is only
provided:
- with approval of that person, should he still be alive
- with approval of his next-of-kins, should he be dead for less than 30 years
- without restrictions, should he be dead for 30 or more years

Requests for personal data are the more likely to be successful the
more of the following information on the former soldier can be
provided by the applicant:
- Family Name
- First Name
- Place of Birth
- Date of Birth
- Last Service Grade
- Last Service Unit

The archive's services are subject to fees. Here is full contact information:

Bundesarchiv
Zentralnachweisstelle
Abteigarten 6
52076 Aachen
Germany
--
Phone: +49(0)2408-147-0
Fax: +49(0)2408-147-37
E-Mail: zns@barch.bund.de
Website: http://www.bundesarchiv.de/aufgaben_organisation/abteilungen/zns/




-- The Deutsche Dienststelle --

The Deutsche Dienststelle (formerly Wehrmachtsauskunftstelle für
Kriegerverluste und Kriegsgefangene) keeps about 300 million personal
data records of all kinds.

Unlike the Zentralnachweisstelle, they are not bound to the
regulations of the Federal Archives Law. Therefore, they will provide
personal information:
- with approval of the former soldier
- without restrictions if the person is dead for more than 10 years

The services are subject to fees. An English version of their website
is available, online requests are possible. Here is full contact
information:

Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt)
Eichborndamm 179
13403 Berlin
Germany
--
Phone: +49(0)30-41904-0
Fax: +49(0)30-41904-100
E-Mail: St.Ihlenburg@dd-wast.de
Website: http://com-de.com/wast/


I wish I could do more for you; but I hope that this will help you to
obtain the information you are searching for.

Best regards,
Scriptor
wilsoncurator-ga rated this answer:5 out of 5 stars
This is very good and I took wish we could have found more, but this
was very helpful. Thank you Scriptor.

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