Conductor: Bruno Kittel
Performance: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Chorus: Bruno Kittel Choir
Live recording: Berlin, 1941
Performers:
- Tilla Briem
- Walther Ludwig
- Gertrud Freimuth
- Fred Drissen
01. I. Introitus
02. II. Kyrie
03. Dies irae
04. Tuba mirum
05. Rex tremendae
06. Recordare
07. Confutatis
08. Lacrimosa
09. Domine Jesu
10. Hostias
11. V. Sanctus
12. VI. Benedictus
13. VII. Agnus Dei
14. VIII. Communio
– Masses of Soviet Soldiers Captured in Ukraine;
– Wehrmacht rapidly advances on all Eastern Fronts;
– German Troops reach Gulf of Finland;
– Soviets are Routed from the Baltic States;
– Luftwaffe Bombing Raids in the Lake Ilmen Area;
Adolf Hitler - speech in the Bürgerbräukeller
November 8, 1933
My Comrades, my German Volksgenossen!
When, ten years ago today, the attempt was made in Germany for the second time321 to overcome the State of shame, the State of German misery, this attempt was not made without reflection. When grown men are willing to commit and, if necessary, sacrifice their lives of their own free will for a certain goal, this is not a thoughtless gesture. It was done under the duress of the most bitter German crisis, in the hope of possibly being able to nevertheless avert this crisis. We know that this uprising of our Volk failed back then. A few hours later, the preconditions upon which it had based its hopes were no longer given.
For I can repeat today exactly what I said then at the trial.
Never did we conceive of carrying out an uprising against the Wehrmacht of our Volk. With it, we believed, it would have been possible. Some describe the collapse which then took place as a tragedy of fate; today we would like to call it Providence and the wisdom of Providence. Today, ten years later, we know that we took up our task with pure hearts, incredible determination, and with personal courage, too. But today we also know-better than we did then- that the time was not yet ripe.
And nonetheless I am convinced that all of those who did what they did at that time were made, by the dictates of a force majeure, to act as they did.
Back then we opened the ears of the nation to the young Movement on this evening and the following day; we opened the eyes of the entire German Volk, and we equipped the Movement with the heroism it later needed. And above all: This evening and this day, they made it possible for us to fight legally afterwards for ten years. Do not be mistaken: had we not acted then, I never would have been able to found, form and maintain a revolutionary movement and stay legal doing it.
They said to me, and they were right: you are talking like the rest and you will do as little as the rest have done. But this day, this decision, made me able to see it through for nine years in spite of all the opposition.
I do not know how many hundreds of times I have stood here, but one thing I do know is that, these hundreds of times, I have never retracted what I have said, but always continued on a strict course. I have done so for fourteen years, and now that Fate has finally made me Chancellor, I should suddenly turn back? No!
Adolf Hitler - speech at the Odeonsplatz in Munich
November 9, 1933
Men of the German Revolution! My Old Guard!
When we first took up the political fight in 1919, we did it as soldiers. All of us had before honourably done our duty for Germany. Only when the homeland broke down and the political leadership pitifully surrendered what millions had paid for with their blood did we resolve to take up the fight in the homeland itself, based upon the conviction that the sacrifices of the soldier must be in vain if the political leadership becomes weak.
Because the Revolution of November 1918 violated the laws then in force, it could not expect us to acknowledge it as a legal and binding condition. At that time we men and political soldiers declared war on it, determined to overthrow those responsible for that November and, sooner or later and in one way or another, to call them to account for their actions.
Hence we marched in November 1923, filled by the faith that it could be possible to erase the shame of November 1918, to exterminate the men who were to blame for the unutterable misfortune of our Volk. Fate decided differently back then. Today, ten years later, we can make a dispassionate assessment of that period. We know that, at the time, we were acting according to the commands of Fate and that we were all probably tools of a force majeure.
It was not to be: the time was not yet ripe. What caused us the most pain back then was the rift which separated the powers which once had us, too, in their ranks, and the powers which the nation needed in order to become free once more.
At that time the rift hurt, and we had only one hope: that time would heal this inner wound again, that the brothers who were hostile to each other at the time but, in the end, really wanted only to fight for one Germany, might grow once more to form the community we had experienced for four and a half years.
Ten years have passed, and today it makes me happiest of all that yesterday’s hope has now become reality, that we are now standing together: the representatives of our Army and the deputies of our Volk; that we have again become one and that this unity will never again break apart in Germany. Only that has given the blood sacrifice a meaning, so that it was not in vain. For what we were marching for then is what has now become reality.
Were the dead of November 9 to rise again today, they would shed tears of joy that the German Army and the awakening German Volk have now joined to form a single unit. For this reason it is right to keep our memories of that time alive, and right to unveil this day a memorial to that time. Those of us whom Fate allowed to survive wish to couple our thanks to the comrades of that time with our thanks to the comrades of the four years preceding it, that we ourselves may now fulfil the yearning and the hope of that time by doing our own duty! Fate has shown to us the path from which we will never stray. In this hour when we once again assemble for our Volk, we want to renew our faith in this German Volk, in its honour, in its equal rights, but also to renew its will for peace and its love of peace. It is painful to lose the best of a Volk; over and over again, the best have always been the ones who have had to meet the enemy in battle.
And thus today we also wish to affirm, from our innermost conviction, our belief in the concept of peace; we want to be cognizant of how difficult the sacrifices are which the fight requires, but moreover we again want to couple this love of peace with our resolve to courageously defend at all times the honour of the nation, the freedom of the nation, and its equality of rights.
When unveiling this memorial, I wish to once more thank all those who have faithfully fought for the German resurrection throughout all these long years, each in his place; I wish to thank the tens and hundreds of thousands of comrades in the Movement, to thank the men of the other associations who, marching along other routes, came to join us in the end, and I also wish to thank those who led the Wehrmacht into the new State.
In uniting the entire power of the nation today, we are finally giving the dead eternal peace: for that is what they were fighting for, and that is what they died for! And with this in mind we shall now unveil the memorial.
At 9.00 p.m. on the evening of November 9, 1933, the Führer conducted this ceremony for the first time. Approximately 1,000 members of the Leibstandarte, 100 men from the Stabswache Göring and fifty members of the Stabswache Röhm had assembled on the square, complete with steel helmets and rifles. The ceremonies began with a chorale sung by the elite soldiers in attendance. A band played. Then came the Führer:
I demand of you that you lay down your lives just as the sixteen men who were killed at this very spot. Your lives must have no other purpose but loyalty.
These dead are your examples, and you shall be the unattainable [!] examples to the others.
At half-past twelve in the afternoon of November 9th, 1923, those whose names are given below fell in front of the Feldherrnhalle and in the forecourt of the former War Ministry in Munich for their loyal faith in the resurrection of their people:
Alfarth, Felix, Merchant, born July 5th, 1901
Bauriedl, Andreas, Hatmaker, born May 4th, 1879
Casella, Theodor, Bank Official, born August 8th, 1900
Ehrlich, Wilhelm, Bank Official, born August 19th, 1894
Faust, Martin, Bank Official, born January 27th, 1901
Hechenberger, Anton, Locksmith, born September 28th, 1902
Koerner, Oskar, Merchant, born January 4th, 1875
Kuhn, Karl, Head Waiter, born July 25th, 1897
Laforce, Karl, Student of Engineering, born October 28th, 1904
Neubauer, Kurt, Waiter, born March 27th, 1899
Pape, Claus von, Merchant, born August 16th, 1904
Pfordten, Theodor von der, Councillor to the Superior Provincial Court, born May 14th, 1873
Rickmers, Johann, retired Cavalry Captain, born May 7th, 1881
Scheubner-Richter, Max Erwin von, Dr. of Engineering, born January 9th, 1884
Stransky, Lorenz Ritter von, Engineer, born March 14th, 1899
Wolf, Wilhelm, Merchant, born October 19th, 1898
So-called national officials refused to allow the dead heroes a common burial. So I dedicate the first volume of this work to them as a common memorial, that the memory of those martyrs may be a permanent source of light for the followers of our Movement.
The Fortress, Landsberg am Lech,
October 16th, 1924
Adolf Hitler
Published in „Siegrunen“ Magazine – Volume X, Number 5, Whole Number 61,
Spring 1996
7 April 1945: The 38.SS-Pz.Gr.Div. „Nibelungen“, which had been assembling at the SS-Junkerschule in Bad Tölz, was alerted for action. The divisional manpower strength on this day stood at 2,875 soldiers of all ranks, out of which, 2,719 were combat troops. At this time the 38th SS Division was organized into 7 combat battalions, only two of which were at maximum strength. Three battalions were listed at medium strength, one at „substrength“, and one was noted as being „very weak“.
Over the next 2 1/2 weeks the „Nibelungen“ Division added several hundred cadre personal from the disbanded 30. Waffen- Gr.Div.der SS („Weissruthenien“), along with several hundred more replacement troops from 6.SS-Gebirgs Div. „Nord“, in addition to other odds and ends, including two heavy artillery batteries from the 4.SS-Polizeipanzergrenadier Division. The core of the division was built around the last war time class at the SS- Junkerschule „Tölz“, in which about a score of different European nationalities were represented. The SS-Junkers would serve as both NCO’s and officers in the division. The main portion of the division’s soldiers seemed to be 17-year-old Hitler Youth recruits. Indeed, one entire battalion was composed of students from the Hitler Youth School „Sonthofen“.
24 April 1945: The 38.SS-Pz.Gr.Div. „Nibelungen“ was judged to be fully battle ready and was assigned to the XIII. SS Corps on the Danube River Front in southern Bavaria. Command of the division passed from SS-Gruppenfuhrer Heinz Lammerding to SS-Obersturmbannführer Martin Friedrich Stange, an artillery officer from the „Totenköpf“ and „Reichsführer“ SS Divisions.
The main elements of the 38th SS Division were now as follows:
Stab (Staff)
Panzergrenadier Rgt. 1
(Changed to SS-Pz.Gr. Rgt. 95 on 5 May 1945).
Panzergrenadier Rgt. 2
(Changed to SS-Pz.Gr.Rgt. 96 on 5 May 1945).
SS-Artillerie (Artillery) Abteilung 38
SS-Panzerjäger (Anti-tank) Abteilung 38
SS-Pioniere (Engineer) Abteilung 38
SS-Ersatz (Replacement) Bataillon 38
In sum total, „Nibelungen“ had an estimated 9,000 troops by this date, about 1,000 of whom had come from SS-JS Tölz. Many recruits came from the R.A.D. (Reich Labor Service). Also added to the division (on 9 April 1945), had been the last „Special Use“ Escort Battalion of the Reichsfuhrer-SS. The 38th SS Division had gone from being one-third motorized on 7 April to only one-fourth motorized on 24 April, the difference being that the number of incoming personnel outstripped the amount of vehicles being obtained by the division.
The commander of Panzergrenadier Rgt. 2 (96th SS), was SS-Ostubaf. Walter Schmidt, a veteran of die 5.SS-Panzer Division „Wiking“, who was at the time recovering from his 18th combat wounding! The leadership of the division was distinctly Pan- European due to the make-up of the SS-Junker class that had been incorporated into „Nibelungen“. Virtually all of the squad and platoon leaders and company commanders had come directly from SS-Junkerschule „Tölz“ and among them were many Norwegians, Danes, Dutchmen, Frenchmen, etc. A number of rank-and-file French volunteers from the reserve regiment of the 33.SS- Gren.Div. „Charlemagne“, were also added to the „Nibelungen“ Division.
25 April 1945: On this date, the 38th SS Division became a frontline formation of the XIII. SS Army Corps. „Nibelungen“ had been given the task of holding down the Corps’ right wing. As such the division was assigned to defend a 20-kilometer sector stretching from Vohburg to Kelheim, with bridgeheads along the north bank of the Danube opposite Vohburg and around Kelheim. Almost immediately the hopelessness of the positions became evident, when the neighboring 82nd Army Corps was unable to close up the gap that existed between its left wing and the XIII. SS Army Corps’ right wing. As a result, „Nibelungen“ was forced to extend its lines another 15 kilometers to the western outskirts of Regensburg. It was now so thinly deployed that it could not long resist any concentrated pressure at any one point in its lines.
26 April 1945: After a day of heavy fighting, the 38th SS Division conducted a withdrawal during the night of 26/27 April in conjunction with the rest of XIII. SS Army Corps. While under extreme pressure from the full impact of two enemy divisions—the 14th U.S. Armored and 99th U.S. Infantry—“Nibelungen“ attempted to build up a new defensive line, still 35 kilometers long, in the area about 10 kilometers to the south of the Danube.
27 April 1945: Throughout the day, violent, heavy fighting raged along the 35 kilometer „Nibelungen“ front, but the division’s soldiers managed to hold on. But on the 38th SS Division’s right, the 416th Division had collapsed under an all-out attack by the 99th U.S. Infantry Division. On the „Nibelungen“ left, the 352nd „Special Use“ Volksgrenadier Division managed to keep its positions.
28 April 1945: The 38th SS Division was forced to fall back another 12 kilometers, but its frontline sector was reduced slightly to 30 kilometers. To the west, troops of the XDL SS Army Corps were fighting desperately for the city of Munich and numerous elements were soon cut off.
29 April 1945: This was a day of continuous retrograde fighting, as „Nibelungen“ retreated across the Isar River and through the town of Landshut for a distance of about 16 kilometers. The division established a new line, about 20 kilometers long, beginning to the southeast of Landshut and running west towards the positions of the 352nd Volksgrenadier Division. As the day progressed, two large task forces from the 14th U.S. Armored Division began simultaneously assaulting both wings of the unarmored 38th SS Division.
30 April 1945: By now badly battered by non-stop combat against massive enemy forces, „Nibelungen“ was forced to fall back for another 18 kilometers before assuming a 17 kilometer long front sector about 18 kilometers to the northwest of Pastetten. But this new withdrawal did not buy the division any breathing space, „Nibelungen“ was now directly assaulted by the fresh 86th U.S. Infantry Division, while the 14th U.S. Armored Division continued to harass its right wing.
ABOVE: The Estonian SS volunteer Ülo Nerep, who served with the 38th SS Division „Nibelungen (Courtesy of the Erik Rundkvist Archives).
1 May 1945: The 38th SS Division conducted another desperate 12 kilometer pull back to a new defensive line to the southeast of Pastetten, but these positions could only be held for a few hours. 14th U.S. Armored Division was now beginning an outflanking movement to the east, while 86th U.S. Division was driving straight at „Nibelungen“ from the north. Additionally, the 20th U.S. Armored Division was pressuring the weak juncture point between the 38th SS Division and the 352nd Volksgrenadier Division. In the afternoon and evening, yet another continuous retreat of about 20 kilometers, mostly on foot, brought „Nibelungen“ to the northwestern outskirts of Wasserburg.
2 May 1945: In difficult, sacrificial fighting, the 38th SS Division brought the entire 86th U.S. Infantry Division to a grinding halt some 5-10 kilometers to the northwest of Wasserburg. Unfortunately this effort came to naught when the main portion of the 20th U.S. Armored Division assaulted weak „Nibelungen“ positions to the west-southwest of Wasserburg. The American tanks could not be stopped and the entire 18-kilometer-long divisional front collapsed.
3 May 1945: In a fighting withdrawal of more than 20 kilometers to the Chiemsee (Lake Chiem), the 38th SS Division began to break up. The bulk of the division took up a 13 kilometer long line running along the north bank of the Chiemsee, but by late in the morning this had given way. One segment of the division was now pushed into the sector of the 2nd Gebirgs (Mountain) Division, while most of the „Nibelungen“ Division fell back on foot along the western shore of the Chiemsee.
Another part of the division began retreating along the north shore of the Chiemsee along with a battlegroup from the 352nd Volksgrenadier Division. After a march of about 25-30 kilometers to the east-southeast, this „Nibelungen“ group finally reached the relative security of the mountains to the east of Traunstein.
4 May 1945: The main body of the 38th SS Division finished its final withdrawal via a forced march to the south of the Chiemsee through Bemau and Schillechnig. By late morning, after covering around 25 kilometers on foot, the surviving young grenadiers regrouped in the last „Nibelungen“ defensive positions due west of Oberwoessen. Later in the day a strong assault by the 12th U.S. Armored Division was successfully repulsed by members of the division in hard, close-combat.
Other American attacks on the northwest sector of the 38th SS Divisional front were likewise beaten back. The brave, stubborn resistance by the SS grenadiers at this late stage of the war, while certainly admirable, did not go unnoticed by the enemy. Probably as a result of the division’s efforts, literally hundreds of the „Nibelungen“ soldiers who fell into American hands were executed on the spot It has only been in the post-war years that these terrible atrocities have been documented. None of the „victors“ of course ever had to answer for these crimes! No „Nuremberg“ style tribunals for those „heroes“!
5 May 1945: After sporadic fighting, a negotiated ceasefire went into effect at 23:00 hours. On the same day the regiments of the „Nibelungen“ Division received their official designations, (SS Pz.Gr.Rgts. 95 and 96), to bring them into the authorized Waffen-SS regimental numbering scheme. The next few days would be peaceful ones.
8 May 1945: On this day the XIII. SS Army Corps and the last fully European volunteer formation of the Waffen-SS, 38.SS- Pz.Gr.Div. „Nibelungen“, went into American captivity.
* * * * *
„NIBELUNGEN“ DESIGNATIONS
27 March 1945: SS-Grenadier-Division „Junker-Schule“.
7 April 1945: SS-Grenadier-Division „Nibelungen“.
9 & 15 April 1945: 38. SS-Grenadier-Division „Junker-Schule Tölz“. („Nibelungen“).
May 1945: 38. SS-Panzergrenadier-Division „Nibelungen”.
The divisional title. „Nibelungen“, was suggested by SS- Ostubaf. Richard Schulze-Kossens, the last commandant of SS- JS „Tölz“ and the first commander of the 38th SS Division. It was accepted by the SS Main Office in April 1945.
„NIBELUNGEN“ COMMANDERS
March-April 1945: SS-Ostubaf. Richard Schulze-Kossens.
April 1945: SS-Gruf. Ritter von Oberkamp
April 1945: SS-Gruf. Heinz Lammerding
April- May 1945: SS-Ostubaf. Martin Friedrich Stange
Ostubaf. Schulze-Kossens was initially responsible for the divisional formation. Gruf. von Oberkamp and Gruf. Lammerding appear to have been „caretaker“ commanders if in fact they actually reached the division. Ostubaf. Stonge very capably led the division during its crucial combat phase.
* * * * *
The divisional ID sign seems to have been the split-shield with the eagle’s head and SS runes. The helmet emblem may have been a post-war creation. A number of cuff titles evidently of post-war manufacture, have also appeared but lack legitimacy.
ABOVE: SS-Ostubaf. Walter Schmidt (here a Stubaf.), a holder of the Oakleaves to the Knight’s Cross who was wounded 18 times in battle while serving with the „Wiking“ Division. He was the CO of SS- PZ. Gr.RgL96/38. SS-PZ, Gr.Div. „Nibelungen ”.
II.Btl./SS-Pz.Gr.Rgt.96 was commanded by Stubaf. Richter. This battalion was given rough treatment by the Americans both on and off the battlefield. The fates of some of the battalion officers were as follows: Ustuf. Dimter, wounded on 28 April 1945;
Obeijunker Björn Dick Brynjulffson (Norwegian), killed in captivity on 27 April 1945 for failing to comply with his captors’ wishes to call Hitler a „swine“; Oberjunker Julius Schafleitner, KIA on 17 April 1945; Ustuf. Gerhmann shot and killed in the Siebenburger Forest, probably in captivity; Ostuf. Meysing, battalion supply officer, disappeared on the Reichsstrasse 299 near Neustadt on the Danube, (presumed executed in captivity); Oberjunker Oskar Schönleber, KIA at Bad Abbach.
SS-Standartenobeijunker Brandstatter, the battalion adjutant of n./SS-Pz.Gr.Rgt.95, was killed in action on 28 April 1945 in a combat action against U.S. troops near Neustadt on the Danube. Ustuf. Seewald was the CO of 8th Company in the same battalion.
SS Engineer Btl.38/“Nibelungen“ was formed at Freudenstadt in the Black Forest in early April 1945. An Army reserve battalion led by Oberst Hermann Fritz joined the 38th SS Division during the fighting against U.S. forces at Wasserburg on 2 May 1945.
Hitler Youth Quex (1933)
Directed by: Hans Steinhoff
Produced by: Karl Ritter
Written by: Bobby E. Lüthge
Screenplay by: Karl Aloys Schenzinger; Baldur von Schirach
Based on: Der Hitlerjunge Quex by K.A. Schenzinger
Music by: Hans-Otto Borgmann
Cinematography: Konstantin Irmen-Tschet
Edited by: Milo Harbich
Release date: 19 September 1933
Running time: 95 minutes
Country: National-Socialist Germany
Language: German
Starring:
Jürgen Ohlsen: Heini Völker
Heinrich George: The father Völker
Berta Drews: The mother Völker
Claus Clausen: Bannführer Kaß (Brigade Leader Kass)
Rotraut Richter: Gerda
Hermann Speelmans: Stoppel
Hans Richter: Franz
Ernst Behmer: Kowalski
Hansjoachim Büttner: Arzt (doctor)
Franziska Kinz: Krankenschwester (nurse)
Rudolf Platte: Moritatensänger (carnival singer)
Reinhold Bernt: Ausrufer (barker)
Hans Deppe: Althändler (furniture dealer)
Anna Müller-Lincke: Eine Nachbarin Völkers (Völkers' neighbour)
Karl Meixner: Wilde
Karl Hannemann: Lebensmittelhändler (grocer)
Ernst Rotmund: Revierwachtmeister (desk sergeant)
Hans Otto Stern: Kneipenwirt (bartender)
Hermann Braun
Heinz Trumper
Plot
Heini Völker is a teenage boy, living in poverty in Berlin, in a one-room apartment. The year is 1932 - the depth of the Great Depression. Heini’s father, a German Army veteran of the Great War, is an out-of-work supporter of the Communist Party who sends his son on a weekend of camping with the Communist Youth Group. Though his son objects, Herr Völker is adamant and sends him anyway. While there Heini finds the undisciplined revelry of the Communists to be distasteful. There is smoking, drinking, and dancing late into the night. Meals are served by cutting hunks from loaves of bread and throwing them to hungry campers who push to get something to eat. Boys and girls play games where they take turns holding each other down and slapping each other on their private parts. Heini runs away and in another part of the park finds a group of Hitler Youth camping by a lake. He spies on them from a distance, and is amazed at what he sees.
The Hitler Youth are working together to make fires and cook a hot dinner. They sing patriotic songs, listen to speeches, and shout in unison their support for an „awakened Germany”. The Hitler Youth members are disciplined and highly motivated, and there is no smoking or drinking. When they catch Heini watching them, they are suspicious, as they know the communists are encamped nearby, and send him away. Too fascinated to stay away for long, Heini soon returns to the hill overlooking the HJ camp and watches as they get up early and run to the lake for a before-breakfast communal swim. Health, cleanliness, teamwork and patriotic nationalism is the image projected. Heini is so enraptured that he starts to practice marching before reluctantly returning to the Communist camp.
When Heini returns to his home singing one of the Hitler Youth songs, his father beats him and signs him up to become a member of the Communist Party. Heini wants nothing to do with the Communists, but he overhears some of them talking, and informs the Hitler Youth that the Communists are planning to ambush them during a march using guns and dynamite. After some hesitation, the Hitler Youth leadership decides to believe the warning and thus save their members from the ambush. Heini becomes a pariah to the Communists, but the Hitler Youth welcome him, giving him the nickname „Quex“ (Quicksilver) in reference to how quickly he takes action and carries out orders. His distraught mother tries to kill her son and herself by extinguishing the pilot light and leaving the gas on in their one-room apartment at night. She is killed, but Quex survives. His father, crushed by what happened, happens to meet with Quex’s Hitler Youth troop leader, Bannführer Kass, when both men go to see Quex at the hospital. After speaking with Kass and with his son, Herr Völker begins to wonder whether his son is right — National Socialism may be better for Germany than Communism.
A recurring character in the film is the Communist street performer. His theme is that „for some people things work out well... but for George they never do.“ The message is that life in Germany may improve for everyone else, but for the working man, George, life won’t be good unless he joins the Communist Party. The Communists bring George in on a plan to hunt down Quex after all the trouble he has caused the Communist Party. Quex is out alone when the Communists come after him, and though he tries hard to get away, he is eventually cornered and fatally stabbed. Other Hitler Youth members, who came running after hearing Quex’s cries for help, find him too late. Quex dies in the arms of his comrades in the Hitler Youth, and posthumously becomes a hero to the National-Socialist movement.
Heini Völker’s antagonist is the communist youth leader Wilde, „a National-Socialist version of the incarnation of the ‘Jewish-Bolshevik’ will to destruction“. The film’s message is characterized by its final words, „The banner is greater than death“.
