Researching Members of the German Armed Forces

[MRomanych]

Here are some web sites for finding information on German soldiers, sailors and airmen:

Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e.V (German War Graves Commission)
For those who died in either World War, the VDK maintains an online database of burial locations of more than 4.4 million dead and missing soldiers. It provides a quick way to find some basic information.
http://www.volksbund.de/kurzprofil/
There is an option to select English-language version of the pages, but because it uses an online translation service (Babel Fish), the "grave search" (gräbersuche) sometimes times-out before providing results. Suggest using the German-language version. Link to the database:
http://www.volksbund.de/graebersuche/content_suche.asp

Wehrmachtsauskunftstelle für Kriegerverluste und Kriegsgefangene (WASt) (Wehrmacht Information Office for War Losses and Prisoners of War)WASt is the primary repository for information about German military personnel. Their website has is in several languages to include English http://dd-wast.javabase.de/
All requests must be made in writing. The service takes time - perhaps six months - and you must pay the service. If you are not a family member of the soldier do not expect full records. Replies are provided in German.

German and US National ArchivesRecords of soldiers are kept at the Bundesarchiv : http://www.bundesarchiv.de/ (you must read German to figure this site out)and the US National Archives in College Park, MD which has personnel records of many Wehrmacht and SS officers on microfilm: http://www.archives.gov/dc-metro/college-park/. Neither archive has the records available online.

Another source of information is:

International Tracing Service (ITS) The ITS has an archive of victims of Nazi persecution and their families.
http://www.its-arolsen.org/

If you know of other useful resources or have tips and techniques for finding information about German soldiers, please post them here!

[MRomanych]

The Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e.V (German War Graves Commission) maintains an online database of burial location of dead and missing soldiers. The homepage has an option to select English, but often it times-out when trying to search the database. Therefore, I recommend using the German-language pages.

The gräbersuche (grave search) database is at this link: http://www.volksbund.de/graebersuche/content_suche.asp

Enter the name and as much data as you know:
Nachname: (Last Name)
Vorname: (First Name)
Geburtsdatum: (Birth Date) Enter dates as as day, month, and year as so: 12.03.1914. Use dots - dd.mm.yyyy – no slash “/” or dash “-.”
Todes-/Vermisstendatum: (Death/Missing date)
Geburtsort: (Birth Place)

The more data you have the better chance of finding the right information, but in the search process if the database states that it cannot find any information, then come back and remove some information to broaden the search, and try again.

Click on Suche beginnen (Begin Search) and you will get a page that requires you to register by entering some personal data. You must register to access the database. If you have not visited the database recently, you will have to re-register. Fill in the parts that are marked with an asterisk: “*”
Nachname: (Last Name)
Vorname: (First Name)
Straße / Nr.: (Street Address)
Land / PLZ / Ort: Country, Postal Code, Town

Under Grund meines Interesses an der Gräbersuche online (Reason of my interest in the grave search on-line), check the appropriate reason; it makes no difference as to the type of information you will receive. I use Geschichtliches Interesse (Historical Interest). Then you must check the agreement box, and then click on Zur Ergebnisseite (To the result page).

Next page click on Suchanfrage ausführen (Retrieve Query Data)

The web site will then provide either a list of soldiers that match the data you inputted, or a statement that Die Recherche war leider erfolglos. Dies kann folgende Gründe haben: (The search was unfortunately unsuccessful. This can have the following reasons)

If you are lucky and only one soldier matches the data you inputted, the information provided will be something like this:
Nachname: Bauer
Vorname: Joseph
Dienstgrad: Infanterist
Geburtsdatum: 21.08.1914
Geburtsort: Bei Herzing
Todes-/Vermisstendatum: 05.12.1944

Joseph Bauer ruht auf der Kriegsgräberstätte in Lafrimbolle (Frankreich) . Endgrablage: Kameradengrab (Joseph Bauer rests in a war grave in Lafrimbolle (France). Final grave: mass grave

Nähere Informationen zu diesem Friedhof erhalten Sie hier. (For more information about this cemetery, click here)

Above the soldier's information, the web page gives you the option to download (Daten Downloaden) or print the data (Daten Drucken)

If you get a list of soldiers that match your data, then you will have to deduce which soldier is the correct one by clicking on each and where possible eliminating possibilities.

If you get the notice that the search was unsuccessful, use the small bluish-green arrow below the data (…zurück zur Abfrage) to go back to the previous page and change the data you originally entered. The webpage suggests these steps:

Step 1. Enter only the surname and date of birth (with WWI dead just the death date). If that fails:
Step 2. Enter surname and first name, but no birth or death date. Possibly try first name variants. (Wilhelm, Willi, Willy, Johann, Johannes etc.). If that fails:
Step 3. Enter surname and first letter of the first name or only surname (with similar names such as Schmidt, Mueller, Fischer etc.). Then examine the list of names provided by the database. If this does not lead to the desired result, then:
Step 4. Enter first letters of the surname (at least 3); works only with rare names.

Good Luck!

[Paul Giva]

Step 1. Enter only the surname and date of birth (with WWI dead just the death date). If that fails:
Step 2. Enter surname and first name, but no birth or death date. Possibly try first name variants. (Wilhelm, Willi, Willy, Johann, Johannes etc.). If that fails:
Step 3. Enter surname and first letter of the first name or only surname (with similar names such as Schmidt, Mueller, Fischer etc.). Then examine the list of names provided by the database. If this does not lead to the desired result, then:
Step 4. Enter first letters of the surname (at least 3); works only with rare names.

Good Luck!

If you gentlemen do not mind, I would like to add a "Step 5."

If All Else Fails:

Step 5. Enter the "Geburtsort" into the appropriate field. You will receive anywhere from zero to tens of thousands of results. For example, entering "Berlin" returns 66,553 results. If you can add anything at all that could help refine the search (e.g. an individual's initials), it will substantially reduce the number of results generated, which in turn will improve your chances of finding the individual of interest.

Note: If you receive an "Achtung" after submitting the request, don't worry; select "OK" and the search results will be generated.

[MRomanych]

Paul, thanks for the tips. When it comes to working databases sometimes one has to use innovative ways to "deduce" the data. I will try your techniques on a few Sterbebilds I have that seem to defy identification.