German Records in 1945

Discussion in 'Axis Units' started by JohnS, Oct 26, 2020.

  1. JohnS

    JohnS Senior Member

    Where were the records (war diaries/list of personal) for SS units held and did the majority of them survive the war? I ask from the perspective of someone looking for a unit in 1945.
     
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  2. hucks216

    hucks216 Member

    The archives in Potsdam were bombed in 1945 and a lot of war diaries and files were lost. Others were taken and copied with those copies residing in NARA and the originals in the Bundesarchiv although it looks like NARA might of kept some instead of returning them (although most war diaries don't go beyond 1944). Others would of ended up in the Russian archives while others would of been destroyed on the battlefield, reside in attics or not compiled.
    What unit are you looking for?
     
  3. JohnS

    JohnS Senior Member

    Thank you. No specific engineering unit yet. I was just curious. I read a book a number of years ago about the rebuilding of Berlin after the war and it sounded very chaotic. I am amazed that any records survived.
     
  4. ltdan

    ltdan Nietenzähler

    As far as I remember the surviving majoritiy of SS personal files are stored in Czechia.
     
  5. hucks216

    hucks216 Member

    They've certainly got a lot of Concentration Camp related Wehrpässe and I dare say a lot to men who ended up in the SS-Artillerie-Ersatz organisation that was based there in the war (a lot of which were stolen and pop up in the market quite often) but copies of personnel files to SS enlisted men and officers can be found in NARA, and I expect if they were handed back the originals will be in the Bundesarchiv.
     

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