Great Display of Firepower by LSSAH

Great display of firepower from the soldiers of Leibstandarte Division along fenced area of a Ukrainian farmhouse during Operation Barbarossa in 1941. If the sniper fire is not adequate, a few bursts from the MG 34 machine gun will suppress any enemy activity.

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/147862177882/great-display-of-firepower-from-the-soldiers-of

War Crime of Soviet NKVD

A member of the Leibstandarte Division photographed with a distraught crowd of women after seeing the piles of corpses of murdered people by NKVD in Lviv, late June 1941. From 22 June 1941 to 28 June 1941 before the German advance arrived, the Soviet NKVD brutally massacred over 4,000 of Ukrainian and Polish civilians and political prisoners in the city of Lviv. The NKVD committed many massacres in Eastern Europe, primarily Poland, Ukraine, the Baltic states, Bessarabia and other parts of the Soviet Union from which the Red Army was retreating in 1941.

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/147866015232/a-member-of-the-leibstandarte-division

SS Wiking Officers

    Wiking Division officers at the beginning of Operation Barbarossa in Ukraine, 1941. The man in the foreground is an SS-Hauptsturmführer, while on his right is an SS-Obersturmführer.

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/147908936532/5sswiking-wiking-division-officers-at-the

The Greatest Fighter Ace in the World

    During the Second World War, one German Luftwaffe pilot compiled a combat record so remarkable that he earned the distinction of becoming the most successful fighter pilot in the history of humanity. Erich Hartmann, called the Blond Knight of the German Luftwaffe, achieved the staggering total of 352 confirmed kills. Hartmann’s incredible combat record earned him the coveted diamonds to his Knight’s Cross from Hitler personally. He was never shot down or forced to land due to enemy fire.

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/149147882742/5sswiking-during-the-second-world-war-one

SS Car Passing Russian POWs

A Kfz. 15 medium cross-country personnel carrier from the Das Reich Division move past Red Army prisoners during Operation Barbarossa, area of Smolensk in the summer of 1941. The white letter ‘G’ indicates it belongs to Panzergruppe Guderian.

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/149195267632/a-kfz-15-medium-cross-country-personnel-carrier

Puppies of SS Soldier

During Operation Barbarossa in the summer of 1941, a Das Reich Division member makes new friends: two puppies!

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/150000281492/during-operation-barbarossa-in-the-summer-of-1941

Das Reich Division On The Way to Smolensk

An advance party from the Das Reich Division en route to Smolensk pass through a Soviet village during Operation Barbarossa in the summer of 1941. The vehicle with the Das Reich Wolfsangel symbol and tactical sign on the front left is a Sd.Kfz.10 towing a 3.7 cm Pak 36 anti-tank gun. The division was part of Generalfeldmarschall Fedor von Bock’s Heeresgruppe Mitte (Army Group Centre) and took part in the great encirclement battles during the first weeks of Soviet campaign.

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/150141395887/an-advance-party-from-the-das-reich-division-en

Das Reich Soldiers Marching Through the Burning Soviet Village

Das Reich Division soldiers photographed marching through a Soviet village with their two 7.5 cm leIG 18 light howitzers during Operation Barbarossa in 1941. Stalin’s scorched earth policy can be seen in the background.

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/150186588847/das-reich-division-soldiers-photographed-marching

SS Reich Soldiers Seeking Cover in Russia

On leaving the Soviet village near Yelnya, the SS-Division "Reich" troops were fired on. forcing the men to seek cover in a ditch near the road. This photograph was taken during Operation Barbarossa in 1941. The battle around Yelnya (30 August - 8 September 1941) was the first substantial reverse that the Wehrmacht had suffered during Barbarossa. Nazi propaganda presented the retreat as a planned operation. For its part, Soviet propaganda hailed the offensive as a major success and wanted to draw worldwide attention to it. Thus, the Yelnya battle was the first occasion on which foreign correspondents in the Soviet Union were allowed to visit the front. Seven of eight of them visited the area between 15 and 22 September 1941. In the words of British war correspondent Alexander Werth, the battle was built up in the Soviet Press "out of all proportion to its real or ultimate importance".

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/150187757932/on-leaving-the-soviet-village-the-das-reich
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yelnya_Offensive
http://histomil.com/viewtopic.php?t=3918&start=4010

Das Reich Battles Their Way in Russia

An advance party from the Das Reich Division has encountered another Soviet defensive position during Operation Barbarossa in 1941. The men dismount from their vehicles to move forward in open formation.

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/150224587347/an-advance-party-from-the-das-reich-division-has

Das Reich Soldiers During Barbarossa

A group of soldiers from the Das Reich Division stopped to consult a map and conduct a radio check during Operation Barbarossa in 1941.

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/150836145637/a-group-of-soldiers-from-the-das-reich-division

Face of War

Portrait of a Totenkopf Division soldier in the battlefield during Operation Barbarossa in 1941.

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/150921014022/portrait-of-a-totenkopf-division-soldier-in-the

German Soldier Greeted by Civilian

A German soldier from Heeresgruppe Nord (Army Group North) is lifted aloft by a deliriously happy population of Riga on 2 July 1941, following the Latvian capital’s liberation from the hated Soviet occupation.

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/150922853087/5sswiking-a-german-soldier-from-heeresgruppe

Totenkopf Soldiers with Civilian

The men from the Totenkopf Division giving humanitarian aid to the poor and affected people in the Baltic states, as they push towards Leningrad during Operation Barbarossa in 1941.

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/150930177887/the-men-from-the-totenkopf-division-giving

Red Army Personnel Being Searched by SS

Red Army soldiers and personnel being searched by soldiers of the Totenkopf Division in Demyansk area during Operation Barbarossa in the autumn 1941. Some of them were dressed in civilian clothes to escape captivity.

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/150981836312/red-army-soldiers-and-personnel-being-searched-by

German Officer Buying Flowers in Paris

A German officer buying a bouquet featuring lily of the valley (muguet) in Paris, France on 1 May 1941, the day when the French greet each other with a small bouquet of lily of the valley, a flower that is considered a lucky charm.

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/151490517482/a-german-officer-buying-a-bouquet-featuring-lily

Kriegsmarine Crew Training

Kriegsmarine Crew IX/39, meaning the men who joined the German Navy in November 1939, wearing field grey naval infantry uniforms during their initial training. Many of these activities looked rather innocuous, but anybody having gone through the process will know that they sap energy from the body, making difficult to concentrate and to aim guns accurately.

Source :
Book "Wolfpacks At War: The U-Boat Experience In WWII" by Jak Mallmann Showell

Gebirgs Engineer Fixing a Telephone Line

Poland 1939: One of the most important aspects of military synchronization was effective communication. Here, in this photograph, a Gebirgsjäger signalman engineer is seen fixing a telephone line so that the various commands could communicate between themselves.

Source :
Book "Hitler's Mountain Troops 1939-1945" by Ian Baxter

Gebirgsjäger Medical Stretcher Bearers

Poland 1939: Two Gebirgsjäger medical stretcher bearers are seen moving an injured comrade to one of the hastily erected field hospitals in the rear. An officer overlooks the procedure, possibly wearing the Gebirgs wind jacket.

Source :
Book "Hitler's Mountain Troops 1939-1945" by Ian Baxter

Gebirgs Pioneer Erecting a Bridge

A Gebirgsjäger pioneer unit are seen erecting a bridge equipment "C" across a river in Poland, 1939. Much of the wood obtained to construct these bridges were commandeered from lumber stocks and followed the advancing column into Poland.

Source :
Book "Hitler's Mountain Troops 1939-1945" by Ian Baxter

Gebirgs Engineers at Work

Gebirgsjäger engineers have set to work preparing ground, probably for a bridging section across a river in Poland, 1939. Many of the bridges in southern Poland were destroyed by Polish demolition teams which often hindered German movement.

Source :
Book "Hitler's Mountain Troops 1939-1945" by Ian Baxter