Suppression of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising 1943

[BenVK]

From the album of SS-Oberfuhrer Jürgen Stroop.
You might have seen a few of these images before but they remain quite fascinating, especially in regards to the weapons being used and some of the field caps.

[allan]

A great show of historical photos
Thanks

[Friedrich-Berthold]

The infamous Stroop report with its photos is a classic, to be sure, and thanks to Ben for sharing it with us.
One of the SS personnel made famous by these images was Josef Bloesche, who has the aged MP and the goggles on his helmet.
He was a Sudeten German who eventually ended up in the DDR and was executed there in a famous trial.
A documentary on German television tells his frightening and quite revealing story.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

For anyone who has visited Warsaw, the character and fate of the ghetto are quite shocking. It is amazing the scope of the place, as well as the level of destruction that this city endured in the second world war. The language used by Stroop is every bit as violent as the measures he took to exterminate the Jewish uprising.

[Adam M]

Great wartime photos, very interesting.

[hawkins]

I Thought this mite fit in here . its a piece that is one of the rarest id;s associated to the uprising these two items are a topic on there own , the tunic it self is in the beaver book , i wasted my time on another site showing these and a untouched sd tunic associated with the uprising .but i guess they were more interested in crusher's


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below a little bit of info

Three days after issuance of this "Ersatz" Soldbuch, Posch was wounded in action while now a member of a "Totenkopf" Reserve unit participating in the "Grossaktion" of the Warsaw Ghetto. Proof of this can be found in the 1979 edition [Pantheon Books] of "The Stroop Report", a day to day account of the Warsaw Ghetto Action [photo-copies from this book are included with this research]. Posch's SS rank, name, date of birth and unit he served with [4. Company SS Panzer Grenadier Reserve Battalion - unfortunately not listed in Posch's "Ersatz" SS Soldbuch] at the time of his being wounded are listed on page six of the original Report. Date of his wounding was listed as May 14, 1943. Posch was a member of the night assault unit listed in the original Report for that date [original Report pages seventy and seventy-one]. As four Waffen SS members are listed [by name (to include Posch) on page six of the original Report] as being wounded in a night action May 14, 1943, and all four Waffen SS members listed as wounded for that date are all from the same unit [4. Company SS Panzer Grenadier Reserve Battalion - of which Posch was at that time a member], it is clear that Josef Posch was indeed one of those wounded during the midnight firefight with Ghetto resistance members. Unfortunately, this wounding does not appear as being officially listed anywhere in Posch's "Ersatz" SS Soldbuch. The non-listing of Posch's Ghetto battle wounding may[?] have intentionally been done for security reasons.

Posch's fate is not known [date of last official "Erstaz" SS Soldbuch entry was March 4, 1944, from the Danzig-Matzkau SS and Police Punishment Camp], but should he have survived the war he surely would have been wanted by the Allies and Soviets in connection with War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity regarding his association with the Montelupich Prison in Krakow and his participation in the infamous 1943 Warsaw Ghetto "Grossaktion".

[edelweiss123]

I visited the Uprising museum in December and i agree the "home made" weapons were fantastic, i especially loved the German Flare Pistol that had been adapted to fire grenades. (See pic, retrieved from German grenade pistol | Images).

The Museum of army chaplaincy based in the undergrounds of a church was also great showing examples of home made weapons and hand made badges.

Really an interesting yet sad piece of history that intend to do further reading on.

[hawkins]

the report that day

[BenVK]

I find it completely compelling that such detailed documentation and photos were made by the SS as a result of this operation.

There is no attempt to hide or disguise what they did, indeed it is remarkably well documented which I think explains the mindset of the period and the SS personnel involved in particular. Do I sense a degree of pride that they suppressed the uprising?

In hindsight, it's very disturbing and not easy to understand but important to be aware of non the less.

It's easy to get swept up in the admiration for SS soldiers like Michael Whitman or disgust for abominations like Adolf Eichmann but Jürgen Stroop and the troops under his command are the less well known but equally disturbing aspects of the SS in my opinion.

[BenVK]

I feel like a disgusting voyeurist now but this is the most marvelous private purchase M43 style SS fieldcap I've even seen. Piping around the crown and the turn down flaps, alloy TK and eagle, large buttons, a most beautiful cap!