Hi all. I’m new to the board. In addition to looking for World War II color photos. I’m looking for any photos from the Eastern Front from January - March, 1943. Excluding Stalingrad. My grandfather died in what is now the Ukraine. After several years, I’ve finally concluded my search for his death site, burial site and unit information. I’m hoping to get extremely lucky and find some photos from that time and area. Either Soviet or German. But German would be nice.
Thanks for any help.
Check the German Federal Archives (Bundesarchiv): http://www.bild.bundesarchiv.de/archives/barchpic/search/_1285506687/?switch_lang=en
Thanks flamethrowing. I’ve actually searched that archived with no luck. Pictures of the Eastern Front, around Lyschansk, in January/February 1943 are virtually non-existent. I reckon the weather (it was extremely cold) and the sheer brutality and confusion of the fighting are the reasons for that.
If you have knowledge about the unit your grandfather served in you might be lucky and get a copy of the divisional history - if there is one.
Usually they are illustrated…
Where would one come across a divisional history? He was in the 335th infantarie, 683rd regiment. A grenadier. At the time of his death, he was in the 1st Panzer Army. His death notice states he died in a town called Orechewo. That town does not use that name now, but I did find a German map from the time that helped me locate it.
I can’t get too much more specific, for family reasons.
Alas, a divisional history of the 335. Infanterie-Division was never written/published. Hans Kissel published some scriptures of Grenadier-Regiment 683 in 1970 but these deal with the retreat in march/april 1944 - and are very hard to find.
Did you try and contact the WASt for all available information concerning your relative?
http://www.dd-wast.de/