Hello guys,
Recently this small Soldbuch grouping came in to my collection, at first glance it isn't something special it just looks like a run of the mill Soldbuch set of a soldier that served with various infantry units both in the east and in the west and although he spend lots of time in infantry regiments he never qualified for a combat related award; so like I said nothing special except the story of this soldier and his unit is rather interesting and for those that read between the lines, see that it belonged to a participant in one of the most gruesome episodes of history.
At the outbreak of the war, Josef Murr (°1910) from Arnsberg was a simple infantry soldier in the fifth company of IR63 (27ID); his unit saw action in southern sector of the invasion of Poland.
A week after the capitulation of the Polish army Josef Murr was admitted to field hospital to be treated for a bad case of bronchitis, it kept him in hospital for almost two months; after he recovered he rejoined his unit, which was now based in the west, preparing for the invasion of France.
During the invasion of France his unit saw action on the old battlefields of WW1; after the fall of France the 27ID was reformed in to an armored division, Josef Murr was most likely not the type of soldier that the Wehrmacht needed for an elite armored unit, so he got a transfer to the newly created IR747 of the 707ID.
The 707ID was an under strength infantry division, only two infantry regiments instead of the usual three, a small artillery unit and no anti tank weapons it was a division to be used for occupational duties only and that is what they will do.
In August '41 the 707ID is transferred to the east, their task is to secure a large piece of recently occupied Soviet territory, mainly in Belorussia.
It is here that the 707ID will get its infamous reputation!
The 707ID is commanded by general Gustav Freiheer von Mauchenheim genannt Becholtsheim, he was a notorious anti-Semite and dedicated follower of the Nazi regime, it is under his command that the 707ID will become the heaviest involved Wehrmacht unit in the Holocaust.
A soon as they arrive they start working together with locally recruited collaborators, police units and SS troops to exterminate the Jewish population in Belorussia, all under the pretext of fighting an anti partisan war and freeing Belorussia of Jews and gypsies.
Some examples:
- 5900 Jews are shot in Sluzk in summer of '41.
- The division report for October '41 states that they made 10940 prisoners of which they executed 10431, there own losses were: 2 dead and 5 wounded!
- During operation "Bamberg" between March 26 1942 and April 6 1942 they destroyed villages and murdered the inhabitants in the woodlands of Oktjabrski and Kopatewitschi, total amount of victims 1350.
It is after this last massacre that Josef Murr develops a stomach ulcer, it will keep him in hospital until the end of October '42.
After he leaves the hospital he is sent to a reserve unit, Inf Ers Btl 468, part of the 158 reserve division; in the autumn of 1944 he is transferred to the Volksgrenadier Rgt 225 of the 16 VGD which will see action in the Vosges mountains.
On January 30 1945 he is awarded the war merit cross with swords second class and a few months later he is a POW in Toulon (France).
In the POW camp he gets typhoid and still suffers from his bronchitis he got in 1939 but he will survive and released.
Recently this small Soldbuch grouping came in to my collection, at first glance it isn't something special it just looks like a run of the mill Soldbuch set of a soldier that served with various infantry units both in the east and in the west and although he spend lots of time in infantry regiments he never qualified for a combat related award; so like I said nothing special except the story of this soldier and his unit is rather interesting and for those that read between the lines, see that it belonged to a participant in one of the most gruesome episodes of history.
At the outbreak of the war, Josef Murr (°1910) from Arnsberg was a simple infantry soldier in the fifth company of IR63 (27ID); his unit saw action in southern sector of the invasion of Poland.
A week after the capitulation of the Polish army Josef Murr was admitted to field hospital to be treated for a bad case of bronchitis, it kept him in hospital for almost two months; after he recovered he rejoined his unit, which was now based in the west, preparing for the invasion of France.
During the invasion of France his unit saw action on the old battlefields of WW1; after the fall of France the 27ID was reformed in to an armored division, Josef Murr was most likely not the type of soldier that the Wehrmacht needed for an elite armored unit, so he got a transfer to the newly created IR747 of the 707ID.
The 707ID was an under strength infantry division, only two infantry regiments instead of the usual three, a small artillery unit and no anti tank weapons it was a division to be used for occupational duties only and that is what they will do.
In August '41 the 707ID is transferred to the east, their task is to secure a large piece of recently occupied Soviet territory, mainly in Belorussia.
It is here that the 707ID will get its infamous reputation!
The 707ID is commanded by general Gustav Freiheer von Mauchenheim genannt Becholtsheim, he was a notorious anti-Semite and dedicated follower of the Nazi regime, it is under his command that the 707ID will become the heaviest involved Wehrmacht unit in the Holocaust.
A soon as they arrive they start working together with locally recruited collaborators, police units and SS troops to exterminate the Jewish population in Belorussia, all under the pretext of fighting an anti partisan war and freeing Belorussia of Jews and gypsies.
Some examples:
- 5900 Jews are shot in Sluzk in summer of '41.
- The division report for October '41 states that they made 10940 prisoners of which they executed 10431, there own losses were: 2 dead and 5 wounded!
- During operation "Bamberg" between March 26 1942 and April 6 1942 they destroyed villages and murdered the inhabitants in the woodlands of Oktjabrski and Kopatewitschi, total amount of victims 1350.
It is after this last massacre that Josef Murr develops a stomach ulcer, it will keep him in hospital until the end of October '42.
After he leaves the hospital he is sent to a reserve unit, Inf Ers Btl 468, part of the 158 reserve division; in the autumn of 1944 he is transferred to the Volksgrenadier Rgt 225 of the 16 VGD which will see action in the Vosges mountains.
On January 30 1945 he is awarded the war merit cross with swords second class and a few months later he is a POW in Toulon (France).
In the POW camp he gets typhoid and still suffers from his bronchitis he got in 1939 but he will survive and released.
What weapon was he issued?