Provide a list of names of the soilders who served under hitler when
he was a corporal during WW1.

Fact checking for a book... please provide source.

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Clarification of Question by marksem-ga on 05 Jul 2005 14:28 PDT

We are trying to determine if either Andrew(Andrij)Semotiuk or Elie
(Ilja) Semotiuk served in the same unit with Hitler. Can you advise
whether this is correct?

Again, this is fact checking for a book, so please provide a source.

Thank you! First time user, love the concept behind your service.

Dear marksem,

Unfortunately, it is not possible to give you a direct answer. The
personnel records of the Imperial German Army are not available
online. But I have nevertheless good news for you:

While many German archives were destroyed in World War II, the former
Bavarian military archive suffered almost no damages. So almost all
records are still available for research. Adolf Hitler, albeit still
an Austrian citizen when war broke out in 1914, enlisted with the
Bavarian army as a volunteer (the various states of Imperial Germany
had their own armies, with a joint high command).

Hitler's regiment was the Bayerisches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr.
16 (16th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment). And the muster rolls and
personnel records of this regiment are now held by the Bavarian
Central State Archive in Munich. If Andrij/Ilja Semotiuk ever served
in the Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 16, as Hitler did, his name
must be in the regimental personnel records.

Upon request, the archive will assist research and look up information
from their inventory. If the research is of genealogical or academic
character, the services are generally free of charge.

To request research assistance or a look-up of information, please
contact the Bavarian Central State Archive, Dept. IV, War Archive
(don't hesitate to contact them in English):


Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv
Abt. IV Kriegsarchiv
Leonrodstr. 57
80636 München
Germany
--
Phone: +49(0)89-18951680
E-Mail: kriegsarchiv@bayhsta.bayern.de
Website: http://www.gda.bayern.de/hsta00.htm


I hope that this, since it is not possible to obtain the information
you require from online sources, will be helpful for your research.
Best regards,
Scriptor

Hi Marksem-ga,
Hitler's rank in WW I was "Gefreiter", which is not "corporal" but
"lance corporal".  This is not a non-commissioned officer's rank, so
Hitler did not have any soldiers serving under him.  This is explained
in the last two quotations from Wikipedia below.

The first two just confirm that Hitler ended his WW I military service
as a "Gefreiter" or lance corporal.  I included the German site  -
that may be more "friendly" to Hitler -  just to confirm that the
Jewish site did not understate his rank.  The last line in the German
translate: "Above [the rank of] Gefreiter, Hitler did not rise."

Hitler served as a courier during the war, was injured and was gassed
in the last four weeks of the war.



In Gefechtspausen vertreibt sich Hitler die Zeit mit Malen, Zeichnen,
Lesen und Gedichte schreiben.
Im Jahr 1918 bekam Hitler erst das Regimentsdiplom für hervorragende
Tapferkeit, danach das Eiserne Kreuz erster Klasse. Freiherr von
Godin: ?Als Meldegänger leistete er sowohl im Stellungskrieg, als auch
im Bewegungskrieg Vorbildliches an Kaltblütigkeit und Schneid und war
stets freiwillig bereit, Meldungen in schwierigsten lagen unter
größter Lebensgefahr durchzubringen. Ich halte Hitler würdig zur
Auszeichnung mit dem EK 1.? Über den Gefreiten kam Hitler nie hinaus.
http://www.hitler-biographie.de/Hitler_3.html

In May 1913 Hitler left Vienna for Munich and, when war broke out in
August 1914, he joined the Sixteenth Bavarian Infantry Regiment,
serving as a despatch runner. Hitler proved an able, courageous
soldier, receiving the Iron Cross (First Class) for bravery, but did
not rise above the rank of Lance Corporal.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/hitler.html

United States Marine Corps
Lance Corporal insignia (USMC)
Lance Corporal insignia (USMC)

In the U.S. Marine Corps, Lance Corporal is the third lowest enlisted
rank, just above Private First Class and below Corporal. It is not a
non-commissioned officer military rank.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lance_Corporal

During World War I and World War II, Gefreiter was considered more to
be a lance corporal, with the rank of full corporal known as
Unteroffizier (lowest grading Junior Non-Commissioned Officer),
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gefreiter

Myoarin

Since you have provided names to check, the approach to an answer has
changed considerably, which is not apparent from the subject line.
Maybe Scriptor-ga, a researcher who is an expert at finding people can help you
-  and will notice his name here.

Good luck to you both, Myoarin

From here, thanks, Scriptor-ga.  I wasn't sure if it was fair to call
you in, but you proved this was in your field.  No reply needed. 
Myoarin