Assistance on Research for 213 Infanterie Div. Soldier

[Heinrich505]

Fellow Forum Members,

I was looking for some assistance and suggestions on some research I am conducting for a friend. He purchased a photo album that reportedly belonged to a Wehrmacht soldier. There were some photographs mounted in the album, along with quite a few loose photos, and a "narrative" about the supposed owner of the album.

I managed to translate the narrative, and have the name and particulars of the soldier that the album is supposed to belong. His name is Hans Zimmer (yes, a very common name), born 3 August 1915 in Hilden. According to the narrative, Zimmer was later called to service on 5 November, 1937 and found himself in the 213 Infanterie Regiment. The narrative goes on to generally describe Zimmer's movements with his regiment. He gains the rank of Unteroffizier in October 1939. His unit then moves to the Crimea in Russian, and he is awarded the 2nd and 1st Class IC along with the infantry assault badge. During his service, he is wounded several times.

Details in the narrative place him in a recovery hospital attended by a Colonel Hitzfeld, holder of the KC with Oak leaves. Col. Hitzfeld did exist, and was part of the 213 IR. The unit was attached to the 132nd IR and participated in several of the assaults on the Maxim Gorky I, during the Second Assault of Sevastopol. After recovery from his latest wounds, Zimmer is returned to his unit and they make their way south through the Sevastopol fortresses, suffering heavy casualties.

Again, per the narrative, Zimmer participates in Manstein's amazing gamble of a water assault across the Severnaya Bay, onto the shore of the northern edge of the city proper, on June 29th, 1942. A fellow soldier reports Zimmer's death that date. Zimmer had made it across the bay in his assault boat, and jumped into a shell hole with 5 other soldiers to escape the murderous artillery fire being directed at their landing beach. A direct hit to the shell hole killed Zimmer with a shell splinter to the temple. Four of his fellow soldiers were also killed with that same shell hit.

The narrative seems to be somewhat accurate in detailing the movements of the 213 IR. However, none of the photos mounted in the album are labeled as showing Hans Zimmer, or Zimmer with comrades. If I could locate a photograph of Herr Zimmer, I could compare it to the photographs in the album. If any of you have any suggestions on trying to locate a photograph, I'd appreciate it. It may be a hopeless task though, as so much time has passed since the war, and Herr Zimmer was just one of hundreds of thousands of Landsers who found a grave in Soviet Russia.

The narrative noted that he was buried in the regiment cemetery, noted as height 200 meters eastward of Kagellenberg in the Balbektal [Belbeck] before Sevastopol. I am sure this no longer exists and was bulldozed into obscurity following the war.

While the posted pictures in the album seem to show areas where the 213th would have been stationed, some in Poland and some in France, they are not really helpful. They are mainly barracks types, very generic, and pictures of towns their unit was likely stationed. Some of the towns I have identified, due to landmarks that the soldier taking the pictures caught in the photos. The loose photos are not helpful at all, and are, in all likelihood not part of Herr Zimmer's story, just thrown in to make the purchase seem more of a deal. There are some loose shots showing training in Posen, and the 213th might or might not have been there. There are no names on the loose photos of the soldiers while they are training in the snow.

Would any of you have suggestions or ideas on how I should proceed? If I could locate a photo of Herr Zimmer, that might lock in the album, as there are many shots of the same soldier, together with comrades. I don't know how impossible this might be. Any assistance would be quite helpful.

Thanks,
Heinrich505