Dachau Photo album via Spiegel

[Scout]

The pics below and the numerous ones in the link are comming to us via the 'Spiegel' and might be known by some here and some might be in the Bundesarchiv, but just in case some are new to some forum members here. Every little thing adds to the collective knowledge. 'Resistance is futile'

Das schreckliche Souvenir: Wegweiser - SPIEGEL ONLINE

In German only - link to the background of the pics.
Nazi-Bilder: Rätselhaftes Fotoalbum aus dem KZ Dachau - SPIEGEL ONLINE

Rundown in English:
Supposedly a Bruce Sadler found a mysterious photo album in his parents house.
As a kid Bruce found the along with other books. Some about the German Olympics in '36 and some about AH etc.
He didnt know the background of the books/albums.

At 40 Sadler asked his parents.
His dad told him of being a soldier and being in amongst other countries France.
His unit reached Germany and the father broke of his tale, as he mentioned Dachau.

Bruce's father was loath to tell about his experience there and refused to do so for years, as he had never forgotten the sight and smells.

Bruce Sadler researched his dads service and asked his dad years later.
His dad then told of reaching Dachau and bringing the photo album from there.

He died in 2011

A representative from the Bundesarchiv is of the opinion, that the majority of the pics are from photographers from the Propagandakompanien (PK).

Some pics are maked with a known name. Henisch was in the 'Propagandakompanie 612 der 6. Armee.'

Bruce Sadler and Spiegel asks for further info, if anybody knows anything about the pics, the locations and the ID and units of the persons in them.

[Bill T]

Some very sharp images and interesting story. The grave seems to read "Gefreiter Franz Schlüter"......can you possibly read the date of death or year, so we can narrow it down through the Volksbund search maybe? (too many franz schlüter's pop up)

[Scout]

Sadly no, I couldnt make out the date no matter how much I squinted.
Enlarging the pic didnt work.

[Bill T]

lol same here. worth a shot I guess

[Scout]

Yeah, we need to get our mitts on the negative! LOL.

And a good loupe or one of those PC USB microscopes......

(Im not holding my breath).

[Bill T]

Well, there are only 2 Gefreiters total. One buried in Lommel, and the other KIA in Tschudowo-Russia. Probably not much help in the big scheme of things, but something I guess.

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[Scout]

Yeah, I would hate to call either Flanders or Russia from what is seen in the pic.....

Kudos for the research though.

[Wagriff]

Is that "Frans"? It looks to me like it say "Fritz"?

[slados28]

Looks like "Fritz" to me as well... very difficult to make out anything re. the date but it appears, to my eyes at least, that it's either 1941 or 1944 at the bottom there. Only two soldiers with the Gefreiter rank as far as I could find and they both passed in '41


Nachname:Schlüter
Vorname:Fritz
Dienstgrad:Gefreiter
Geburtsdatum:04.06.1919
Geburtsort:Lothe
Todes-/Vermisstendatum:23.06.1941
Todes-/Vermisstenort:Str. Dumiskiai Prinai

Nachname:Schlüter
Vorname:Fritz
Dienstgrad:Gefreiter
Geburtsdatum:16.06.1919
Geburtsort:Rüthen
Todes-/Vermisstendatum:12.07.1941
Todes-/Vermisstenort:Besspetschna

[Wagriff]

Tougher to make out, but under magnification and fiddling with contrast and brightness, it does, definitely, look like 1941 to me too. Unfortunately, the rest of the inscription is too weathered to be legible. So, you've got it narrowed down to Two men,at least!