Article about: That depends really Dagon, i can read the printed words on the death cards but actual handwritting can be a totally different matter, it can be quite difficult sometimes but i could try
Name: Martin Glötzl
Rank: Schütze
Birth Date: 2 November 1921
Birth Place: Neuötting Obb.
Military Unit: 6./Kompanie SS Standarte Westland
Death Date: 5 January 1942
Death Place: 22.50 uhr Reserve Lazarett Bielitz
His cause of death is noted as Verstorben: Zwerchfelllücke infolg Durchschuss mit Magen und Darmeinklemmung (Deceased: diaphragmatic gap resulting in bullet penetration with stomach and intestinal entrapment)
I couldn't find an entry for Martin on the Volksbund.
I haven't seen this cause of death before, but it Looks like he may have had a problem with his diaphragm, possibly an hiatus hernia and a blocked intestinal tract.
Thanks Will, that is different information than a heroic death for the beloved Fatherland.
A stomach through and through and everything destroyed by impact and kinetic energy.
Agony is the word my translator comes up with...
Westland was not known to me, that again is great information, thank you.
This is one of the cards I stared so long at, that Martin almost seems acquainted. I guess more picture and Bilder collectors know what I mean.
Again: your information will be filed with the card, I am so happy with this piece of information!
2./Schwadron Aufklärungs Abteilung 268 - Martin Kröninger (born in North Dakota, USA)
Name: Martin Kröninger
Rank: Schütze
Birth Date: 10 October 1917
Birth Place: Cando Towner Countÿ North Dakota U.S.A.
Military Unit: 2./Schwadron Aufklärungs Abteilung 268
Death Date: 15 June 1940
Death Place: Lening
His cause of death is noted as Gefallen: Artllerie Geschuß Brust (Killed in action: Artillery shot chest)
Martin Kröninger is buried in the military cemetery in Niederbronn-les-Bains, France.
Endgrablage: Block 24 Reihe 1 Grab 31.
Léning is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. Grand Est's capital Strasbourg (Strasbourg) is approximately 80km/50mi away from Lening (as the crow flies). The distance from Lening to France's capital Paris is approximately 327km/203mi (as the crow flies).
According to the 2010 census (in terms of ancestry), 46.5% were German, 41.5% were Norwegian, 10.4% were Irish, 7.4% were English, 5.5% were Swedish, and 3.2% were American.
Martin H Kroninger in the 1920 United States Federal Census -
Name: Martin H Kroninger
Age: 3
Birth Year: about 1917
Birthplace: North Dakota
Home in 1920: Coolin, Towner, North Dakota
Residence Date: 1920
Race: White
Gender: Male
Relation to Head of House: Son
Marital Status: Single
Father's Name: Joe Kroninger
Father's Birthplace: Germany
Mother's Name: Wilhelminie Kroninger
Mother's Birthplace: Denmark
Able to Speak English: Yes
Occupation: None
Attended School: No
Able to Write: No
Household Members (Name, Age and Relationship)
Joe Kroninger, 30, Head
Wilhelminie Kroninger, 30, Wife
Sabastian J Kroninger, 4, Son
Henry W Kroninger, 3, Son
Martin H Kroninger, 2, Son
I found an immigration record for Martin's father from the New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957.
Name: Josef Kröninger
Gender: Male
Ethnicity/Nationality: German
Marital Status: Single
Age: 23
Birth Date: about 1890
Birth Place: Germany
Other Birth Place: Langensalapu
Last Known Residence: Langeinsarhofen, Germany
Departure Port: Bremen
Arrival Date: 17 March 1913
Arrival Port: New York, New York, USA
Residence Place: Germany
Final Destination: Chataqo, New Jersey
Height: 5 Feet, 6 Inches
Hair Color: Blonde
Eye Color: Green
Complexion: Fair
Money in Possession: 50.00
Person in Old Country: Wofa Kröninger
Person in Old Country Relationship: Father
Person in Old Country Residence: Langeinsarhofen, Germany
Person in US: Josef Huber
Person in US Relationship: Friend
Father: Wofa Kröninger
Ship Name: George Washington
Obergefreiter der Wehrmacht Josef Wimmeder, Panzerabteilung
This is actually not a rare card. I think I bought about 10 or 15 some 30 years ago, kept a few, sold a few, and I see it popping up every now and then. Probably the family was so devastated that they ordered a large lot at the printing house, so Josef could be brought into church for years on All Souls' Day in November. (At least that is what I think the tradition / custom is with remembrance cards. I am not a Roman Catholic, so correct me if I am wrong.)
Josef Wimmerder was a Obergefreitene in a Panzerabteilung. Not much information on the card, just that he lost his young life on June 28, 1944, in France, aged 20 years.
Might be the 21st Panzer Division?
The family succeeded greatly in keeping the memory of Josef alive. During our first trip to Normandy (still dating my nowadays wife), we went to Cimetière Militaire Allemand de La Cambe, armed with a few cards and browsing the register at the entrance (those were the pre-smartphone days and computers had not yet taken over the world as drastically as today!), we found and visited Josef's place. I can't locate the photo album yet unfortunately, but when it turns up I will upload the pictures we took. For now I just found a blurry old picture on the net. Even at Find a Grave just his rememberence card is shown, so here lies a duty for me. It made a great impression on me (on us) to be visiting and showing my respect to someone I didn't know personally but who still felt so familiar because I knew his name and face.
I hope you like the pictures!
No casualty card for Josef unfortunately and this seems to be the case for many of the fallen from Normandy. There is no information about where he fell, so this time we will not be able to find which unit he was likely with.
That is great that you visited his final resting place in La Cambe. A small side project that I have started is to save pictures of any death card I see where the soldier is buried there.
Hi Will,
Thanks for trying to find more data. Maybe I can try with the proper German organizations. I guess somewhere his files must be stored? And hopefully, digitalized.
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