Post your death notices

**Paul D** · 06-25-2011, 11:10 AM

by HPL2008

No; it would appear to be on the Finnish-Soviet border. (It sounds Finnish and the card says "bei Kotosalmi an der finnisch-bolschewistischen Front", i.e. "near Kotosalmi on the Finnish-Bolshevist front.)
My guess would be that he was with the 6th SS-Division "Nord" which was operating in this theater at the time.

Concur with that , one of the Totenkopf Standarte was used to form Nord so many Tk Erkennungsmarke are found in the Karelian/ Eismeerfront area , probably killed in the early Battles in the Salla area,

Nice early photo !!

regards

Paul

**Espenlaub Militaria** · 06-25-2011 11:10 AM

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**ObKrieger** · 06-25-2011, 04:32 PM

by Paul E

Concur with that , one of the Totenkopf Standarte was used to form Nord so many Tk Erkennungsmarke are found in the Karelian/ Eismeerfront area , probably killed in the early Battles in the Salla area,

Nice early photo !!

regards

Paul

I wonder if his is still out there, waiting to be found?

Thanks for the input, guys. I tried to look up "Kotosalmi" on Google Earth and it came up with a match in Finland, but it was pretty far away from the border. Where exactly did "Nord" fight at?

**HPL2008** · 06-25-2011, 04:50 PM

by ObKrieger

I wonder if his is still out there, waiting to be found?

Thanks for the input, guys. I tried to look up "Kotosalmi" on Google Earth and it came up with a match in Finland, but it was pretty far away from the border. Where exactly did "Nord" fight at?

I don't have much material on "Nord", but unless I am much mistaken, at the time in question (Nov. 41) they should have been in the general area of Kiestinki (Russian name Kestenga) and Louchi in Karelia.

**GIZMO8Z** · 06-25-2011, 04:58 PM

Can someone give me more information on death notices? Are they one of a kind, or something that appeared at a funeral or daily editions of news papers? Also, where can they be purchased?

**HPL2008** · 06-25-2011, 05:05 PM

by GIZMO8Z

Can someone give me more information on death notices? Are they one of a kind, or something that appeared at a funeral or daily editions of news papers? Also, where can they be purchased?

Death cards were - and still are - ordered by the deceased person's family who also supply the photograph and decide about the design of the card and the number to be printed.

Nowadays (and probably back then, too) funeral parlors assist in chosing the style and text of the card and order them from the printer as part of their paid services.

These cards are mementos to the deceased that were (are) handed out during the funeral service and also sent or given by the family to those who were unable to attend in person.

**Adrian** · 06-25-2011, 06:12 PM

Has anyone got a death card of a woman who was awarded the Mutterkreuz? I would like to see one (or more) if possible.

**M18922** · 06-25-2011, 06:34 PM

That would be interesting, i would love to see one aswell. But i would imagine that they would be scarce.

**ObKrieger** · 06-25-2011, 06:41 PM

by HPL2008

I don't have much material on "Nord", but unless I am much mistaken, at the time in question (Nov. 41) they should have been in the general area of Kiestinki (Russian name Kestenga) and Louchi in Karelia.

Wow! Thanks for your help! I found Kestenga on Google Earth. I never realized that the Germans had gone so far North. That must have been a horrible place to fight at. Wet, freezing cold, lonely, etc. Although I guess if Stalingrad or the Caucasus were the alternative it wouldn't really matter anyway.

**HPL2008** · 06-25-2011, 07:10 PM

I think the name of the location where the soldier was KIA was (understandably) misspelled on the death card.

Doing a bit more online research, I found a Kokkosalmi (not Kotosalmi) very close to the aforementioned Kiestinki (Kestenga). Have a look at the upper right quadrant of this map: http://www.flamesofwar.com/Portals/0...rm-coop-05.jpg

The fighting conditions there were unfavorable, indeed. Of course, the fact that Nord was thrown into action with completely insufficient training didn't help either...

**ObKrieger** · 06-25-2011, 08:21 PM

That has to be it then. Thanks for your help in pinpointing the location. I've noticed that foreign (to German) names are often misspelled on these.

Another question... Why are there no runes on his collar tab? I remember reading somewhere that the Sicherheitsdienst didn't use runes, but not infantry. Was this man volunteered from the SD for combat or is these another reason why he would be wearing a blank tab?