A Look at In-House News Publications of “Grossdeutschland” 1943-45

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By Richard Stone. This article first appeared in ‘Der Zug ’ the newsletter of 7. Kp GD USA. In June 1944, as the war torn remnants of Panzer-Grenadier-Division “Grossdeutschland” recovered and rebuilt in Romania after the devastating retreat from the Ukraine, a new weapon went into circulation that was to bolster the Division until the very end. This weapon was “Die Feuerwehr”, a frontline newspaper intended to inform, educate and keep up the morale of a unit that had proved itself beyond doubt but still faced the prospect of harder times to come. Few published details exist about this GD newspaper, but sufficient clues exist to get some idea of where it came from, how it developed, how many were produced and what was found within its pages. This article is the current sum total of my research and knowledge on the subject, which as you will find is limited. Any further information (and help with translations) would be much appreciated. Part 1 – 1943. The “Nachrichtenblatt Inf. Div. Grossdeutschland” To my knowledge the first known to me attempt to provide a regular printed news bulletin within the Division actually appears to have been the “Nachrichtenblatt Inf. Div. Grossdeutschland” (with the word ‘blatt’ indicating a single sheet of paper printed on both sides). As you will see, there is some doubt as to whether this “Nachrichtenblatt” can truly be considered to be a ‘newspaper’ in the sense that we understand it today, but as “Die Feuerwehr”, in its first issue, claims to be born from the “Nachrichtenblatt”, it is worth investigating.	Nachrichtenblatt Inf. Div. Grossdeutschland
	This article is copyright © 2007. No un-authorised use.

All the examples I have seen are from 1943, have the same distinctive banner, are typewritten and look to have been copied on a hand-operated printing system: The first (as above), dated 29th March 1943, emanates from the Divisional CP (Div. Gef. St.). The front page contains extracts of three OKW daily reports (15/17/18th March) lauding the role of GD in the just completed Manstein‘backhand’ offensive to secure the Belgorad/ Kharkov region. The reverse side continues the GD theme with a further three OKW reports (19/20/22nd March), a transcript of a radio report describing the counterattack, and finally an official announcement (28th March) that Oberst Graf Strachwitz (Pzr Rgt GD) was to be awarded the swords to his oak leaves for his part in all of the above. In comparison the second example is comparatively subdued, and at first glance seems somewhat at odds with the concept of a newspaper in that it has only one item of ‘news’. Dated 11th April 1943, it stems from the Divisional Staff Quarters (Div. St. Qu.). Both sides are taken with a “history of the ‘Miski Mlyny’ Manor house”, apparently a tale of a nearby landmark (and its former [German?] owners) as related by ‘der einheimischen bevölkerung’ (the local population). My German is not the best, but I understand the word ‘Juden’ and this appears several times on the rear page. Considering the nature of the times, I have to assume that they are unlikely to be the heroes of this particular little story. The third I am aware of, dated 11th May 1943, is part complete in that I only have a photocopy of the front page. This is devoted exclusively to the recent loss of Tunis and surrender of Germany’s African Army, but under a sub-heading that infers it was to be used by Officers for teaching/lessons (Gedankenbeitrag zum Unterricht des Kp.-Führers.). Taken in isolation, each sheet has a completely different focus, and there appears to be little connection between the three. However, put our samples into the known history of GD and some sense can be made of the contents.

Willi Langkeit, commander of Panzer Regiment 'GD'

The first example (29/March/43) coincides exactly with the Division’s first week of uninterrupted rest after a bitter winter of relentless fighting. Relieved from the frontline starting 22nd March and shifted into the Poltava area, the Division CP was established in Oposhnya (along the Vorskla valley) on the 26th March. Having survived the trials and tribulations of the previous months, and now securely ensconced in a safe area, it is of little wonder that this issue is full of elation, triumph and success.

The second, appearing about two weeks later (11/ April/43) is apparently an attempt to provide some local cultural information (and racial slander?) for a Division well into its rest period and undergoing an established calendar of events, both official and social.

Willi Langkeit enjoying a copy of Die Feuerwehr.

The opening sentence of the ‘Miski Mlyny’ article places the Manor house and its attendant village opposite Oposhnya (where the command staff are quartered), on the banks of the Vorskla. This then would presumably have been a local landmark familiar to many of the Division’s troops. (Interestingly, a five-sided typewritten booklet entitled ‘Die Schlacht von Poltava 8. Juli 1705’ is found next to this issue of the “Nachrichtenblatt” on the GD microfilm in the Bundesarchiv. Given this, and its geographical [and military] context, it appears that this booklet was another ‘in-house’ attempt to provide appropriate educational literature for GD troops at this time).

The third, issued exactly a month later (11/May/43) comes at a time of some uncertainty for GD. It is only natural that some would want answers as to why there had been a defeat in North Africa (especially on the back of Stalingrad), and this particular issue appears to give some explanations. Since the end of April, a bulk of the Division had been uprooting and moving into the Akhtyrka area, but this relocation had been stopped on the 9th May. Unknown to the troops, this had been yet another cancellation of the forthcoming Citadel operation rather than a supposed deployment to the Mediterranean in light of recent events, so training continued unabated until the whole Division transferred into the Tomarovka area at the end of June for deployment in what was to be Germany’s last major attack in the east.

It is interesting that this ‘Tunis’ issue appears to suggest that the “Nachrichtenblatt” was not actually intended for all-ranks visual consumption but rather handed to officers so as they could verbally relay the contents to the men under their command in group talks. This then raises the question as to whether the “Nachrichtenblatt” really was mass-produced for universal reading (approx. 20, 000 men) or actually restricted to (the few thousand) company level Officers as educational material in the political teaching/ lessons they were undoubtedly conducting throughout the Division’s three-month working up period. Such a system of face-to-face communication between officers and men constituted another daily aspect of a multilayered ‘spiritual welfare’ programme designed to educate the troops within the confines of the National Socialist world-view.

A report issued by the Division on 5th June 1943 gives further evidence that this may be the case. In a summary of the various types of literature (books, newspapers, periodicals etc.) passed to the troops in the prior four weeks, the report notes that certain pamphlets served ‘as a foundation for the spiritual guidance of commanders and unit leaders’. Strangely, the “Nachrichtenblatt” does not get a mention here, but neither is it listed amongst the various newspapers (approx. 75,000 per week) the Division received in the same period, which one would expect if the “Nachrichtenblatt” were considered a newspaper. Either way, the euphoria of the post-Kharkov first example, designed to give the combat-exhausted veterans proof that their efforts (and sacrifices) were not in vain and being hailed back home, the ‘cultural’ nature of the second, possibly intended to give the troops some understanding of their immediate locality and its history (with racial connotations?), and the
apologetic/defiant stance of the third in the aftermath of the strategic defeat in Africa serves no reason to doubt that, whether imparted orally from officers or read by the men themselves, the “Nachrichtenblatt ID GD” was one more way of mentally feeding a diet of heroism, pathos for the homeland and ultimately a desire to defeat ‘the menace from the east’ at a localised level.

Taking some time out of the combat zone to catch up on news and events contained within Die Feuerwehr.

Based on the accumulated evidence the “Nachrichtenblatt ID GD” only appeared for a short period in 1943 as GD reorganised into an armoured division at Poltava/Akhtyrka. That no copies appear to exist out of that time frame suggests two possible options:

The first is that the “Nachrichtenblatt” was limited to the rare quiet times when circumstances allowed its publication and dissemination (whether verbally by officers or read by the men themselves). It is therefore possible to assume no further issues of the “Nachrichtenblatt” were produced after June 1943 because GD was about to enter a bout of non-stop fighting and travelling (Kursk- Targul Frumos) that would take them from July into the early summer of 1944.

The second option is that the “Nachrichtenblatt” was produced throughout the following elevenmonth campaign, but due to the particular nature of war that GD found itself in (initial successful offensive followed by prolonged retrograde defence), few, or no, examples have survived for us to know for sure.

As seen in Part 1, there was a predecessor to the more famous “Die Feuerwehr”. As the Division had worked up prior to the Citadel Offensive of 1943, the “Nachrichtenblatt Inf. Div Grossdeutschland” had been handed out for information purposes. It is not entirely clear whether this newssheet was mass-produced for all ranks or restricted as a prompt for company leaders in ‘spiritual welfare’ sessions, but the current available evidence seems to indicate the latter. The information for the “Die Feuerwehr”, although scattered, is pretty comprehensive and enough clues exist to give a good idea of its purpose, its contents and its longevity. Like my previous article the following is the total of my current knowledge; I would be most grateful for any further information on both the subjects I touch upon. *Part 2 – 1944/5 “Die Feuerwehr”* The “Die Feuerwehr” first appeared during 1944 in much the same circumstances as the “Nachrichtenblatt” had a year earlier, with the Division enjoying a well-earned respite. Having stalled the Soviet advance towards Iasi and Targul Frumos in Romania, Panzer-Grenadier-Division “Grossdeutschland” was finally pulled from the line and sent into rest quarters in the Bacau area, a 100km trek that saw the first units marching south on June 15th 1944. Sometime in those last two weeks of June, as worn boots were finally prised off and battered tunics washed through and repaired, the first ever edition of “Die Feuerwehr” went to press.	Die Feuerwehr first appeared during 1944.

Above right: The first trench-times of the “Grossdeutschland”, Nr 1 Erste-Juni-folge (First edition of June) 1944. The then divisional commander was Hasso von Manteuffel, and his introductory message to the ‘entourage’ (Geleit) opens with the statement that ‘The “GD-fire brigade” wants to offer entertainment to you and thus diversion as well as give suggestions and instructions; at the same time it wants to be a further link of the GD family.’ He goes on to praise the ‘most beautiful cooperation of all arms’ on the recent battlefields, and ends on the hope of final victory. On the left an article entitled ‘Therefore we fight on the Sereth!’ a summary of the recent fighting through Romania. On the right of the page, a tongue-in-cheek narrative gives an explanation of the paper’s origins and parentage, stating that ‘I am called “The Fire Brigade” and was born in the shellfire east of the Sereth [River].’ This editorial voice goes on to claim that the paper is a ‘spiritual child’, with the mother being no less than the “Nachrichtenblatt Inf. Div. Grossdeutschland”, but sadly this mother ‘died early.’ Frustratingly, the print quality on my copy is so bad that it is hard to identify whom the editorial says the father is, but he too was apparently not around for long either. Reference is made to another relative, the “Karpaten-Kurier” (Carpathian-courier) ‘a good cousin of mine….[who] died a sudden death on travels to the Sereth..’ , and so the spiritual child becomes an orphan before being adopted and christened by the Division’s war correspondent platoon. This editorial then concludes by stating that ‘if from now I come once each week into the foremost Panzerdeckungsloch, then I do not want to be anything different than a comrade among comrades. My only task is to report for you and also of you.’ Clearly then the “Die Feuerwehr” was an attempt to resurrect an idea that had been tried before, but for whatever reason(s) had failed. The reference to the early death of the “Nachrichtenblatt” seems to confirm that only three (perhaps four) issues of that newssheet were ever printed, while the adoption of the ‘spiritual child’ by the Kriegs-Berichter-Zug suggests that at last someone was in a position to make a real go of producing an in-house paper for the Division. That it was to appear on a weekly basis in the frontline slit trenches was an ambitious claim, but one that was undoubtedly meant with the best intentions.

Leutnant Heinz Thiel was responsible for the paper’s contents.	The Kriegs-Berichter-Zug had been attached to “GD” since its formation as a motorised-infantry- division in April 1942. These embedded photographers and reporters followed the Division through its career, sending news back home for the national press and raising the profile of a Heer unit having to compete with the SS, Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine for the (ultimately limited) pool of potential volunteer recruits. For whatever reason, the responsibility for producing a paper for the troops of “GD” fell on these correspondent’s shoulders. Other than the often-superb photos we see today in publications such as “God, Honor, Fatherland”, little is known about these men. A few names however survive through the mists of time. Seen here with a model of a fire-truck (note the distinctive “Feuerwehr” painted on the side), Leutnant Heinz Thiel was responsible for the paper’s contents and may well have been the ‘voice’ of the editorial seen above. The paper’s staff were led by Unteroffizier Siegfried Arndt, ably supported by a team of photographers and artists including Gefreitere Brönner, Göttert, Stawinoga and Unteroffizier Pütz. One issue (Nr 12 September 1944), was pressed by the ‘Panzerfaust Printing Works’ although quite whom these were is not clear. It may have been a local business, or more possibly the map-making section of the Divisional staff, as it is thought that they would have had the necessary equipment. The one complete example of the “Die Feuerwehr” I have seen consists of eight pages (two sheets folded in half and placed one inside the other). Each issue was numbered, and despite the claim that it would be a weekly, the paper actually seems to have come out three times a month. This is based on the observation that each example is either an ‘Erste-folge’, ‘Zweite-folge’ or ‘Dritte-folge’ i.e. the first, second or third edition of a particular month.

Unser General! (Our General!) Die Feuerwehr, Sept 1944.

Left. Thought to be issue Nr 11 (September 1944). Under the heading ‘Our General!’ (Unser General) Oberst Lorenz addresses the troops. Lorenz became Divisional CO on 1st September 1944, and this may well be the first issue published since his promotion. Note that the banner is of a different style to the June issue. Issue 12 has exactly the same banner as the example seen here, suggesting that the June style of banner was dropped in favour of this second style. As will be seen, a third type of banner was adopted sometime later.

Each issue of the “Die Feuerwehr” seemed to follow a set layout. From the Divisional commander down to the lower ranks, all were asked to contribute something and send it to the paper via the internal post. Therefore a typical example would not only include official reports of recent fighting involving GD units, news from other fronts and the homeland, but also poems, jokes and tales sent in by the troops. There were regular features, including the compulsory crossword puzzle. Issue 12 has a crossword in the shape of a swastika sent in by a certain Gefreiter Thümmler of the Panzer Füsilier Rgt. His first clue: ‘The greatest statesman, 11 letters’. (No prizes for working out the answer.)

Another apparent regular feature within the “Die Feuerwehr” was the ‘GD ECHO’, whereby a noted date from previous years is recalled. Here (right) December 1st 1942, the defensive battle at Olenin and the hero’s death of Oberst Köhler, CO of the Grenadier Regiment. Underneath reports the award of the Knight’s cross to Unteroffizier Larsen of the Panzer-Regiment-GD.

This award was announced on 23rd October 1944, probably placing this article in the last October or first November issues. Of interest is that Larsen belonged to I. Battalion (Panther), which was attached to 6. Panzer Division at that time.

GD Echo reports the hero's death of the Grenadier Regiments CO, Oberst Köhler.

Page 2 of issue Nr 15 (October 1944), published during the Memel siege.

Page 2 of issue Nr 15 (October 1944), published during the Memel siege. This particular page deals almost exclusively with the various actions in and around the perimeter, with the exception of the article in the bottom corner. This reports the award of the Knight’s cross to Hauptmann Graf Rothkirch und Trach on 4th October 1944, for his actions the previous August in the Schaulen zone of operations. Graf led the I. (Panther) Battalion of Panzer Regiment 26, which was subordinated to GD at this time. The accompanying photo shows the Graf perched on the barrel of a Panther.

Issue Nr 20 (though to be published during December 1944) contained an address to the troops from General Der Panzertruppen von Saucken announcing the formation of the “Panzerkorps GD” and Hitler’s decision that he should command it. Along with the newly forming “Brandenburg Division”, the “Grossdeutschland” troops were told that;

‘The army looks to you full of pride, the German people with great trust; but the Fuehrer makes the highest demands of you! We will do justice to all expectations!’

So as the troops were under no illusion whatsoever of the tasks ahead, von Saucken demands that a;

"most faithful allegiance to the Fuehrer, unshakeable faith in our victory, iron comradeship with one another, unconditional obedience and honour shall be the inner qualities of every one of us! Long live the Fuehrer! Long live “Panzerkorps GD!”

To the right is , reportedly, the last ever issue of “Die Feuerwehr”, number 32, April 1945.

This has a distinctive banner, quite unlike the previous two patterns seen earlier. Now a ‘Frontblatt’ rather than a ‘Grabenzeitung’, note that this is now intended for all “GD” units (Aller GD-verbände), an indication that at some stage in late 1944/early 1945 a decision was taken to expand the readership of the paper to comply with the forming of the “Panzer-Korps Grossdeutschland”.

The Divisional history explicitly states that this last issue (of almost 1,000 copies) was a single sheet double-sided affair printed and distributed in Pillau 23-24th April 1945.

Reportedly, the last ever issue of “Die Feuerwehr”, number 32, April 1945.