Waffen/SS snipers were great help for the Axis powers in Normandy. Excellent traininig, guns, scopes, and positions gave them the edge in the battles of Normandy. I do not have alot information on these expert snipers, but I have some pictures.
Here are some Waffen/SS Snipers
Waffen/SS Sniper in Normandy
Waffen/SS Sniper Helmet
Here is the preferred gun of the Waffen/SS Snipers
Kar 98k
Top of the Gun
Top of the Gun Opened and Ready for Ammo
Do remember that original German WWI rifles were also very popular amongst German snipers (Waffen-SS included)
For instance, in your black & white photograph of the Waffen-SS sniper, you can see that the sniper is using the original WWI rifle.
I feel so stupid, but what was the name of it again? G-something…
The name of the gun was the German Mauser. I never knew that German Waffen/SS snipers used this gun. Thanks for telling me that!
No no no…I mean the model. For instance, the most obbundant in WW2 was a K98… this WWI rifle is G-something… (G as in Gewehr)
Dear Flammpanzer we could find the article in wiki without your help and certainly we have already read about Dirlivanger SS-brgade. The more interestting personaly for me (and not only for me ) is that the relation to the SS units INSIDE Germany. In fact the lot of people in you country today think no like the another world. I heared the point thet the SS was elite troops wjich simply did its soldiers work. one former SS veteran ( i forgot his name)wrote a book “The soldiers like another” about his partisipation in SS.
Tell us please what do people in germany ( young people) think about participation of SS units in the front - were it mostly usial units which simply desperatively fought or it was the instrument for suppression of civilians and partisants? 
Cheers.
the pic looks strange indeed. do you think they tried to hide their faces in order to prevent a recognition after war and not to be punished for their crimes? maybe the mask is just used to achieve a psychological effect.
It’s actually a camoflauge mask.
That’s actually an airsoft gun v.v
Thanks for stating that. It looks like a real Kar98K to me. Sorry for that!
A REAL KAR98K IMAGE
you can tell by the ‘clip’
yeah, after you told me that I looked at the pictures again. Then when I saw the clip I knew it was an airsoft gun.
A Waffen SS Uniform
And rightly so, this is just a myth created to cover up the fact that the Waffen-SS was a instrumental part in the holocaust. There is lots of evidence of W-SS soldiers who takes part in mass executions of civilians in (mainly, since the Einsatz units where most active here) Russia, but also in other countries.
Units like the SS-Kavallerie Brigade (which was later upgraded to 8. SS-Kavallerie-Division Florian Geyer), 1. SS-Infanterie-Brigade (mot) (later upgraded to 18. SS-Freiwilligen Panzergrenadier Division Horst Wessel), and so on, was heavly involved in assisting the Einsatz units. There is also evidence of W-SS soldiers being posted, for longer or shoter times, to Einsatz units and taking part in mass executions of civilians in the Soviet Union.
Even if there was some elite formations in the W-SS (mainly the early units), most of the divisions was not. They mainly constisted of a small cadre of germans and was primarly built around volks deutche (ethnic germans), and volunteers from the occupied territories. Most of these units was equipped with surplus equipment (mainly taken from France, Yugoslavia and so on) and was mainly meant to combat partisans and other irregular units. When put into frontline duties, these divisions did suffer horrendously.
Some of - if not all - of these units also suffered from a acute shortage of men, most of these divisions was in fact just a beefed up a brigade and lacked support weapons and heavy equipment.
When it comes to the Dirlewanger division, i would recommend the book - The Cruel Hunters: SS-Sonder-Kommando Dirlewanger Hitler’s Most Notorious Anti-Partisan Unit by French MacLean. Even if the book has gaps, mainly because of lack of evidence in the archives, its a book I strongly do recommend.
Dear Flammpanzer we could find the article in wiki without your help and certainly we have already read about Dirlivanger SS-brgade. The more interestting personaly for me (and not only for me ) is that the relation to the SS units INSIDE Germany.
okay, so I must excuse this. sorry, it will not happen again. :-?
In fact the lot of people in you country today think no like the another world. I heared the point thet the SS was elite troops wjich simply did its soldiers work. one former SS veteran ( i forgot his name)wrote a book “The soldiers like another” about his partisipation in SS.
Tell us please what do people in germany ( young people) think about participation of SS units in the front - were it mostly usial units which simply desperatively fought or it was the instrument for suppression of civilians and partisants?
young people here are not very interested in that era of history, but the whole tendency is to judge hard all the crimes that SS-units and also wehrmacht-units commited on the fronts, especially those which were set against civilians. there is no glorification of the SS at all, despite with some stupid neo-nazi-folks that are dreaming of a good and glorious past. most people here are very aware of the brutal treatment of the jewish and the whole engagement of the SS and waffen-ss in the holocaust.
allthough I have the same opinion that all the crimes never should be forgotten and that had to be judged hard, I am a bit surpised that some here are trying to prove that the waffen-ss was a bunch of bad equipped, bad fighting foreign guys which achieved hardly no effectiveness on the battlegrounds. maybe you have those pictures in mind from the TV-series band of brothers where a small us unit nearly wipes out a whole batallion of waffen-ss (with wrong uniform btw., all the field-units hat camouflaged uniforms by that time and no feldgrau). if all us soldiers fought like that (and all german), the war would have been over one week after D-day …
I can understand that everyone is thinking “his” country had the bravest and best soldiers, but I am quite sure the waffen-SS was not so bad like many think here. from that what I have read so far, I am convinced that most units were well trained and highly motivated, despite a better equipment than most wehrmacht units. front reports from allies (I have recently read a book about the battles here in the area where I live) very often point out that waffen-ss-units were hard opponents unitl the end of the war.
maybe you also found this before, but this is an interesting report of some US guys playing SS-troops from a german TV-magazine. the undertone of the comment is very critical and judges the acting. this would be absolutely impossible here in germany, as a “soldier” says in the interview (a former german who lives in the states). maybe the report shows a bit what many germans think of the SS …
http://www.myvideo.de/watch/547223
jens
Hey,
I am from Germany, too.
The father of my neighbour was in the SS and told me much about this time.
He told that you could’nt join the Waffen SS if you are smaller than 1,80meter.
He joined the SS hisself, because he believed that Germany could win the war. He was in the “Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler” until 1944 than he was shot in the thigh by an russian sniper. So he could survive the war in a hospital.
Because of the stories he told me, today I don’t think that the SS were only kind of monsters without feelings…
Regards,
Jan
PS: Sorry for bad English
Well Flammpanzer thanks a lot for the detailed spreaded post.
young people here are not very interested in that era of history, but the whole tendency is to judge hard all the crimes that SS-units and also wehrmacht-units commited on the fronts, especially those which were set against civilians. there is no glorification of the SS at all, despite with some stupid neo-nazi-folks that are dreaming of a good and glorious past. most people here are very aware of the brutal treatment of the jewish and the whole engagement of the SS and waffen-ss in the holocaust.
Oh if we do hear about holocaust again so the question is appears.
And how many germans believes in the official Holocaust? I heared in the Gernany and Austria there is the special low which forbid any denial of official version. Do you hear about billions marks of compensation for the victims of Holocaust?
allthough I have the same opinion that all the crimes never should be forgotten and that had to be judged hard, I am a bit surpised that some here are trying to prove that the waffen-ss was a bunch of bad equipped, bad fighting foreign guys which achieved hardly no effectiveness on the battlegrounds. maybe you have those pictures in mind from the TV-series band of brothers where a small us unit nearly wipes out a whole batallion of waffen-ss (with wrong uniform btw., all the field-units hat camouflaged uniforms by that time and no feldgrau).
He ha
well i know the holliwood version of WW2 when in the best traditions of StarWars the small group of allies soldiers finished the whole battalions of SS.
I have to agree this stupid propoganda ( but thats funny though).
if all us soldiers fought like that (and all german), the war would have been over one week after D-day …
That’s right the war should finish for the two-three weeks after D-Day 
right after the brave american guys took the battle in its hands( the Red Army in the holliwood “masterpieces” look aslo like a herd of idiots)
I can understand that everyone is thinking “his” country had the bravest and best soldiers, but I am quite sure the waffen-SS was not so bad like many think here. from that what I have read so far, I am convinced that most units were well trained and highly motivated, despite a better equipment than most wehrmacht units. front reports from allies (I have recently read a book about the battles here in the area where I live) very often point out that waffen-ss-units were hard opponents unitl the end of the war.
Well you say the Waffen-SS was highly motivated.What does it mean?
Do you mean the they were ready to everything for the name of Nazi ideology?
maybe you also found this before, but this is an interesting report of some US guys playing SS-troops from a german TV-magazine. the undertone of the comment is very critical and judges the acting. this would be absolutely impossible here in germany, as a “soldier” says in the interview (a former german who lives in the states). maybe the report shows a bit what many germans think of the SS …
http://www.myvideo.de/watch/547223
jens
No i did not see this tv-issure, but i wath on the tv the report from the litle polish village near the polish-german border. The germans and poles meets in here , dress the ww2 uniform , drive on the ww2 vechicle … nice kidding guys.
The some of interesting photo Kovalsky shewed for us in the other thread.
So i’ve noticed the some young germans mens who were dressed on SS uniform.
Cheers.
One of the best if not the best was the 5th Wiking Division, as for tought german troops the 2nd Para at Monte Cassino.
As I said before, the early divisions was - almost to the end - some of the best divisions fielded by the German Armed forces. Divisions like Das Reich, Frundsberg etc. is - rightly - seen as elite formations. Others, like Nederland, Kama, Landstorm Nederland, Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (which was made up by upgrading SS-Sturmbrigade Dirlewanger) is as far away from these units when it comes to equippment and personal. Or would you call Dirlewnagers gang for a elite formation?
There is also no denying that a lot of the Waffen-SS personal was Volksdeutche (ethnic germans), i.e. Prinz Eugen, Nordland, Maria Theresia, Horst Wessel and so on. Since the Waffen-SS was forbidden - until 1944 - to conscript reichdetuche, they had to use Volksdeutche.
People also seems to forget that some of the W-SS division wasn’t - at least when they were formed - to fight against regular units. Divisions like Handschar, Kama, Karstjäger and so on, was primarly used to fight partisans, and thats also the answer to why some of the divisions was rather poorly equipped. As the German fronts was moving closer to many of these soldiers homes, many deserted, and the divisions moral plummed. The Handschar division was by the end of the war, no more than a Kampfgruppe consiting of the divisions germans, volksdeutche and a few bosians.
As with all Wehrmacht units in the end, the W-SS had to use what ever was at their disposal, which meant that the last Divisions had to be equipped with what was left.
As far as the units outfits nothing is impossible, the germans had to do with what they could find, it’s also obvious that the germans isn’t a elite formation. It’s probably some very hastly formed unit, that just been sent to fight the allied forces.
And another thing, this incident is noted in the units wardiary, and acutally happend.
I wonder just if people would have reacted differently if a W-SS unit had shot up a lot of americans?
Some where, most where not. Usually the divisions made up by mostly germans, and to some extent volksdeutche, is seen as the best divisions. They were also equipped with the best equippent, mostly because these divisions was meant to fight regular divisions.
The later divisions was made up of what was available, both when it comes to soldiers and equipment.
Thats correct, som of the last defenders of Berlin where volunteers from Sweden, Spain, France and Holland.
But again, there were 38 W-SS divisions (plus divisions that was scrapped and their numbers reused), and most of these divisions were far - when it comes to equipment and personal - to LAH, Nordland, Das Reich, Wiking, Totenkopf, Hohenstaufen, Frundsberg, Nordland, Hitler Jugend and Nord.
These divisions where equipped with the top equipment, divisions like SS-Polizei, Handschar, Prinz Eugen, Reichsführer SS and so on wasn’t.
And another thing, this incident is noted in the units wardiary, and acutally happend.
maybe true, but it still remains a movie.
I wonder just if people would have reacted differently if a W-SS unit had shot up a lot of americans?
no, it would be the same to me and it would also look ridiculous like in that case. unbelivable hollywood-crap like most scenes of many other movies like “saving private ryan” f.e. it is always the same pattern: a small bunch of brave us guys is killing germans, who do not know how to use their rifles, by divisions without hardly any losses within their own rows. so my theory still is that many people believe that the german forces were a hord of criminal idiots shouting around and only be waiting to be killed by the good one, because they always have these pictures in mind. if you look at the british para-losses of the battle of arnheim, you can imagine that they were able to kick some asses, too.
As far as the units outfits nothing is impossible, the germans had to do with what they could find, it’s also obvious that the germans isn’t a elite formation. It’s probably some very hastly formed unit, that just been sent to fight the allied forces.
this sounds logic indeed, you may be right with that.
@mr chevan:
Well you say the Waffen-SS was highly motivated.What does it mean?
Do you mean the they were ready to everything for the name of Nazi ideology?
yes, something like that. there is enough proof for that. f. e. deserting soldiers were much more often from wehrmacht units and the whole “esprit” of the w-ss was quite high up to the end (I also know that in the latter phase of the war the W-SS did not only consist of volunteers). maybe this has something to to with the thoughts of the post-war-situation. ss-members knew well, that they had to await a bad treatment if not death after surrendering.
jens