Special German Soldiers

[Rising_Sun]

@flamethrowerguy

About him and his story a … movie made (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050803/)

Quite a good film.

I first saw it as a kid or early teenager in the early 1960s and have seen it several times since.

The film is the sum of my knowledge about von Werra, but the comment about him being a bit snobbish is interesting as Hardy Kruger came across that way in the film.

It’s often the case that people who do extraordinary things in demanding occupations (such as fighter pilots, racing car drivers, surgeons, and barristers) have a large ego. Without it, many of them wouldn’t achieve what they do.

[flamethrowerguy]

Major Robert Borchardt - a Jewish Knight’s Cross holder in the Wehrmacht

Major ROBERT BORCHARDT (*January 9, 1912 in Munich; +March 10, 1985 in Pullach near Munich). Knight’s Cross received as commander of the armoured scout company/motorized recce battalion 341. The man who earned his high decoration in the hot deserts of Northern Africa actually was a so-called “unwanted person” in according to race laws of Nuremberg. His Jewish father was inmate of the concentration camp Dachau and emigrated to the UK in 1938. Why did a (half-) jew fight for Nazi Germany? Major Borchardt: “I served to prove that Hitlers race-nonsense was all wrong. I wanted to prove that people of Jewish ancestry in fact were brave and courageous soldiers.”
Originally Borchardt was part of “Sonderverband 288”, a special unit that was meant to secure the Persian oilfields in case of a successful German advance. Eventually he was transferred to North Africa. As a regimental leader Borchardt was heavily wounded and captured by British forces near El Alamein on October 28, 1942. After spending 4 years in British and Canadian POW camps he was send home. After the war he became press relations officer of the German embassy in Washington D.C.

[flamethrowerguy]

@flamethrowerguy

Bernd “Bert” Trautmann aka “Traut, the Kraut”

Bernhard Carl ‘‘Bert’’ Trautmann (born October 22, 1923 in Bremen, Germany), Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.
Trautmann was a paratrooper in the Wehrmacht in WW2, captured by the Red Army in western Russia. He managed to escape and was re-captured by British forces near the end of the war. It is told that during the capture British soldiers yelled at him: ‘Hello Fritz, fancy a cup of tea?’ Trautmann was tranfered to POW Camp 50 in Ashton-in-Makerfield.
After his captivity he remained in England, becoming a football goalkeeper at one of England’s top clubs Manchester City. In the beginning he had to deal with open animosities by the British football fans. “Off with the German!”, 20000 shouted in the streets and many even returned their season tickets to the club. But a letter of the Rabbi of Manchester, Dr. Alexander Altmann, and Trautmanns’ distinguished performances on the pitch changed the hostile climate. In the FA Cup final of 1956 -which was won with 3:1 against Birmingham City - ‘Bert’ Trautmann (the English could hardly pronounce ‘Bernd’) broke his neck a quarter before the end of the match after a collision with an opponent. He ended the game with a broken neck and five dislocated cervicals. Doctors still call it a wonder that Trautmann survived.

Trautmann holding his broken neck after the victorious FA Cup final of 1956:

Bert Trautmann died yesterday in Spain aged 89.

[royal744]

Very interesting, FTG