Looking For Info on an Officer

Der Sturmbannführer · May 12th, 2005

hey guys, as most of you know already my great grandfather was a major in the SS. i still havent been able to find any new info on him, and i still havent been able to talk to my relatives in germany about it, let alone obtain any items of his. with little information i have im finding it hard to find anything on him, but i know alot of people seem to have magical sources that tell them what they need about some officers, and im hoping someone here might have access to one of those sources. ill try and provide as much info him as possible...

i know he made it to the rank of major (ss-sturmbannührer), he was a tank commander of some sorts, fought on more than one front till the very end of the war, and he died early last year. i also understand that he was the president of some bank at one point after the war in germany. he remained in germany after the war as well, till his death. he surrendured to the americans, escaping with his butler or whatever, the guy that helped him get into uniform and what not (or at least initialy when running from where ever he was when he retreated). his name is Alfonse Dicker. as of now, thats all the info i have on hand, but as i find more ill post it here...

i have only one pic of him, from back in '95 when he visited america for my grandfathers pool party/birthday. it was herem y dad spoke to him, and unforutnetly my dad didnt take as much interest in what he had to say as i do now, and only remembers little things, among them his rank and the fact he was a tank commander, and the whole bank thing.

any and all help is greatly apreciated.

***WiseBobo*** · May 12th, 2005

What cities did your grandfather fight near?

Der Sturmbannführer · May 12th, 2005

as of now i do not know, i only know he fought in russia, and in france, and possibly other places. if/when i find out ill be sure to post it.

***WiseBobo*** · May 12th, 2005

If he surrendered to the Americans, there is a good chance that he fought in East Germany, considering he fought on the Russian front. I know specifically SS men both fought in Leipzig (http://stadtmuseum.2211000.com/) and Weissenfels (http://www.weissenfels.de/), and surrended to the 1st Army, 69th Infantry Division. I hope this helps.

Gauntlet · May 13th, 2005

Interesting story. Now I know why you have that nick (first I thought you were an nazi-fanboy

)!

Did your grandfather fought from the very beggining? All of the time Waffen SS?

BTW: Isnt your sig a little too big?

Der Sturmbannführer · May 13th, 2005

"Did your grandfather fought from the very beggining?"

im not sure when he entered the war, or the military

"All of the time Waffen SS?

yes

"BTW: Isnt your sig a little too big?"

sig and avatar limits have increased, check the anouncments

thank you wisebobo, im going to see what divisions took part in those fights, and see if i can find anything relating to my great grandfather while looking through them...

MrFancypants · May 13th, 2005

Maybe you should try to find out the unit your father fought in. If you know the places where they fought and to which they surrendered it is possible that one of our WW2-experts can reduce the number of possible units.
If you know the unit he fought in I can ask a friend of mine who has very many contacts to veterans, if you are lucky someone fought in the same unit

Otherwise you can also post the name of your grandfather and the unit on some kind of WW2-related forum. I think BBC has some kind of history forum for this purpose.

Another thing you could try is to search the lists of Prisoner's of War. If you know name and rank there is a good chance that you will find the date and conditions under which your grandfatehr surrendered. I'll look now if I find the link to the search engine for this.

Edit: here's one link which might help you: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/ww2/Research-Family

But it's not the one I meant as you have to request documents from archives. I managed once to find details for one relative in an internet list. I believe it was a record of the merchant marine that described which prisoners from which unit were shipped to the USA at what time.

Spyder F-16 · May 15th, 2005

You could probably contact the German Military and see if they have WWII records...

Could be possible that they wouldnt though, since the Nazi Reich might've either destroyed them, or the allied forces got rid of them.

***Kill_Happy*** · May 15th, 2005

I have been researching my family for about 4 years now and I have discovered some really interesting things. Yours however, could proove to be a challenge. If what I have read is correct, the Russians and USA eather distroyed or sealed off what bunkers were left accessible when Berlin was invaded. Not to mention what the Germans distroyed prior to the invasion.
But, if there is any information out there goto Cyndi's List .. http://www.cyndislist.com/. It is a huge site that I have no doubt will at least give you some avenues to probe.

Good Luck !

***ketchupaholic*** · June 3rd, 2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heero Yuykk

hey guys, as most of you know already my great grandfather was a major in the SS. i still havent been able to find any new info on him, and i still havent been able to talk to my relatives in germany about it, let alone obtain any items of his. with little information i have im finding it hard to find anything on him, but i know alot of people seem to have magical sources that tell them what they need about some officers, and im hoping someone here might have access to one of those sources. ill try and provide as much info him as possible...

i know he made it to the rank of major (ss-sturmbannührer), he was a tank commander of some sorts, fought on more than one front till the very end of the war, and he died early last year. i also understand that he was the president of some bank at one point after the war in germany. he remained in germany after the war as well, till his death. he surrendured to the americans, escaping with his butler or whatever, the guy that helped him get into uniform and what not (or at least initialy when running from where ever he was when he retreated). his name is Alfonse Dicker. as of now, thats all the info i have on hand, but as i find more ill post it here...

i have only one pic of him, from back in '95 when he visited america for my grandfathers pool party/birthday. it was herem y dad spoke to him, and unforutnetly my dad didnt take as much interest in what he had to say as i do now, and only remembers little things, among them his rank and the fact he was a tank commander, and the whole bank thing.

any and all help is greatly apreciated.

We have the same problem with many of my mother's male family members. Her uncle was hung becasue they said he was a deserter, when in fact the war was ending and they asked him to shoot some Jews. He refused, and they hung him in front of my mother and her family.

My Father was in the 101st Airborne a few years after W.W.II and met my mother while in Germany and they have been together ever since. She doesn't talk about any of it. We have contacted the Red Cross and some other organiations looking for information on her uncle who was in the luftwaffe, and her father who was taken away by the Russians after teh war. I'll email you with some contacts to maybe help you.