On
9 November 1944, SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS
Herbert-Otto Gille (Kommandierender General IV. SS-Panzerkorps)
dedicated the new Soldatenfriedhof (wartime cemetery) in Modlin, Poland.
In addition to the ceremony itself, a reception was held shortly
afterwards inside the Modlin Fortress. Here is a copy of the ceremony's
program, which featured a speach by Gille, as well as various tunes
played by the regimental band of SS Panzer Regiment 5 "Wiking." Besides
Gille, in attendance were the commanders of the Totenkopf and Wiking
Divisions, their staffs, and various local dignitaries from the German
administration of occupied Poland.
SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS Herbert-Otto Gille (Kommandierender General IV. SS-Panzerkorps)
views the newly-dedicated ceremony. to the immediate right of Gille
stands SS-Standartenführer Karl Ullrich, the commander of the Wiking
Division.
After
the ceremony's conclusion in the chapel of the Modlin Fortress,
commanders and staff officers file out of the front door to their
waiting staff cars. In the center stands SS-Brigadeführer und
Generalmajor der Waffen-SS Helmuth Becker, the commander of the
Totenkopf Division. In the foreground on the left stands
SS-Obersturmbannführer Manfred Schönfelder, Gille's Chief of staff; on
the right stands Gille's aide-de-camp, SS-Untersturmführer Günther
Lange. The Army officer standing in the center between Becker and
Schoenfelder is Major Otto Kleine, the Ia or operations officer of the
Wiking Division.
At
some point during the events of that day, Gille greets the commanders
of the Wiking and Totenkopf Divisions, Karl Ullrich (left) and Helmuth
Becker, right. In the background stands SS-Obersturmführer Johann "Hans"
Velde, the O1 or assistant corps operations officer of the IV.
SS-Panzerkorps.
The diagram of the German War Cemetery in Modlin, 1944.
Source :
"From
the Realm of a Dying Sun. Volume I: IV. SS-Panzerkorps and the Battles
for Warsaw, July–November 1944" by Douglas E. Nash, Sr.
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